You may have noticed that I have been particularly vacant on my blog activity lately. This is because of a series of events that have kept me very busy. My last day of classes was two weeks ago today and I hurried to have all of my assignments and papers done shortly after that. It felt very surreal having classes come to an end; not only did it mark the beginning of the end of my semester here in Paris but it also marked the finalization of my fourth year of my degree. While I am continuing my studies next year and won't be graduating until then, it seems a bit terrifying to think that I could technically be ready to graduate by now. This aside, the fact that the academic portion of my Paris semester is over reminds me of how quickly time has flown by. I still feel like I have just have arrived in Paris, and while I have learned a lot and navigated myself around, I still feel like I could spend many, many more months here. Getting to know Paris has been a very rewarding, eye-opening experience and I have learned a lot about a different culture and about myself. It's hard for me to articulate exactly what the last few months have been like, but I can safely say that I am so glad I took the chance to come here. I only wish it wasn't coming to an end so quickly. I have made some great friends that I think will be around for a while and I am so glad that some of them will be coming back to Guelph with me next year.
Below you can see a picture of some of my classmates and I on our last day of class:
While the completion of this semester made me very sad and happy at the same time, I didn't have much time to reflect on it because I was quickly whisked away on a new adventure. Two weeks ago I flew to Oslo, Norway to meet up with my best friend from home, Allie. Allie is studying in Karlstad, Sweden and we had been planning a Scandinavian trip together for some time. We spent two nights in Oslo and took an overnight ferry to Copenhagen on the third night. The ferry sailed through the Norway Fjords and the Denmark straits and gave us an amazing view of this undiscovered area of the earth. In Copenhagen we spent three days and then took the train to Karlstad, Sweden where Allie is living. I got to see her Exchange experience and compare the differences between our two semesters. Karlstad is a very remote area of Sweden, which was a big change from the hustle and bustle of Paris, but also a very relaxing one. After three nights in Allie's home, I ventured on to Stockholm by myself. While I was apprehensive about traveling alone, I felt there was no point in coming all the way to Sweden and not seeing Stockholm. I wandered around the city for a day, exploring the old city, the royal palace and the modern art gallery, and spent the night there by myself. It was a nice break to travel alone and move at my own pace and do the things that I wanted to do. I have often felt that I would be too nervous to travel alone but I am really glad I took this time to myself and did things the way I wanted to. I've learned there is something to be said for doing things on one's own.
I flew back to Paris last Sunday and while it might seem appropriate that I had a break from traveling at that point, the adventuring only continued. Last Monday myself and three friends took the 7 A.M. train to Nice, France. We had talked about seeing some other areas of Paris and the warm, relaxing beaches of the Cote d'Azur only seemed appropriate. We spent four nights in Nice and enjoyed the bright, balmy weather. We took a day trip to see the luxurious Monte Carlo in Monaco and walked along the boardwalk to see the sun set in Cannes. It was neat to see a different glimpse of France, one which is very different from Paris. My favourite memories of this last trip include mornings spent on the beach eating fresh strawberries bought from the Cours Saleya market and enjoying paninis while walking around Old Nice. It was also just really nice to spend some time with my closest friends made here in Paris, as we could reflect on the past semester and come to concluding thoughts about how time had passed.
And now I am just freshly arrived back in Paris and am looking forward to my last few days here. I have five days to spend time with people here and say my goodbyes and then my Mom arrives to come see things with me. After she is off, my boyfriend Pat will be here as well. I hope to get my last few "must-see" items crossed off my list and say goodbye to the city properly. I will hopefully get to some blog posts done as well, so that I can show off the pictures I have from my latest adventures.
Goodnight and thanks for reading!
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