A lack of mimes, but plenty of duck

So. The program ended Thursday afternoon, somewhat anti-climatically after my last final, and then my friends and I had an amazing pre-goodbye dinner on Thursday evening at a fancy French restaurant, in which I ordered amazing escargot, duck, and apple crumble. Meaghan is leaving Tuesday morning, so we've been pretty much planning every single meal we're going to have until then--i.e. going to all the restaurants we've been meaning to go to all semester but for some reason never went to, along with David Lebovitz's newest recommendations. So far we've had delicious couscous at a Moroccan restaurant, the most fabulous duck confit you've ever dreamed of at a Southeastern French rotisserie, the best scrambled eggs in the world (seriously, you will never find better scrambled eggs until you come to France--no exaggeration), true French brunch, warm and authentic crêpes from a street-cart on rue Mouffetard, the freshest salad with loads of eggplant and avocado, and of course, lots of wine.

This week was probably the most relaxing finals week I've ever had in my college career. Having that week of hell (before spring break) literally paid off, because I was not stressed out in the slightest. Sure, I had a lot of final exams, but they seemed to be a lot easier than my final papers and projects and things that were due weeks before. Wednesday night was the last Wine Wednesday, as well as Beatrice's birthday (unfortunately we didn't know until that night! She's 67!) and our last dinner with her. It was fun because her grandchildren and her daughter were there (as usual), as well as her sister (who lives in the same building) and her neighbors. She made quiches, there were lots of cakes, and then everyone just hung out and talked afterwards. I've been told multiple times this semester (something that I learned) that I can't keep my thoughts from showing on my face, so I tried extremely hard to not look as confused as I felt, because they were all talking so fast and I was extremely tired from finals and wanting to leave to go to Wine Wednesday, but I'm glad I stayed. My listening comprehension, as horrible as it was when I arrived, has definitely gotten better while being with Beatrice. But then after everyone left I ran to Wine Wednesday, which has turned into watching Glee and drinking wine during certain parts of the show. Fun times. Sad times too, since it was the last one before New York (where the tradition will obviously continue). Thursday, like I said, was the last day of the program and our fancy dinner, and then Friday we went to the Museum of Natural History and saw a lot of animals with two heads in jars, as well as other creatures and bones. It was overwhelming, disgusting, and fascinating, all at the same time. There are still a lot of museums I need to cross off my list before I leave, but I'll probably get to those next week. When Meaghan leaves on Tuesday we're going to Amsterdam for three days, and then coming back on Thursday night to say goodbye to Alena and then I have about a week left in Paris--it's going to fly by! The weather I swear has gone from winter to spring (still not quite summer) in the past two days, but watch, I just jinxed it. Watch it snow tomorrow because of me.

I'm sorry I keep talking about the kids at Beatrice's, but seriously, I need to talk about Alix. I want to take her back to America with me. I'm not kidding. I walk in now and her face lights up and she just follows me to my room (walking now, along with the random dogs hanging out in the apartment--Beatrice has started babysitting animals as well as children) and plays with me in my room. She's adorable. And the sounds she makes are so interesting because they're not the same sounds that an American baby makes. Beatrice walked into the living room and wondered where everyone was, and then she saw that they were all in my room, hanging out on my bed. And ever since our last dinner I've been talking with Beatrice's grandchildren a lot more--I guess the fact that Julia left Friday and I'm leaving in two weeks makes us realize that we should be comfortable with each other by now.

I bought a Mini Diana + camera last week (a fun toy film camera) and I've been playing with it the past few days. Just ran out of my first roll today, so I'm excited to get it developed on Monday--let's hope the pictures actually turn out and I can post them here. In other news, tonight (Saturday) was Night at the Museum in Paris, in which most of the museums were free and open to the public until 1am, with ballet and music and mimes and things. I got to cross off the Orangerie off my list (Monet's Water Lilies, among others--so cool! Monet apparently designed his room himself), but we arrived too late for the mimes. Boo. I want to see at least one before I leave. And gypsies dressed in stripes don't count.