Paris!

[I have been existing with minimal wifi for some time now, but rest assured: I did write this post while still in the airport in Paris]

I was confused as to what to get my host parents as a gift. How am I supposed to know what they want (I don't even know how many of the there will be, or if there will e young children or what) ? And perhaps I should have started looking with some sincerity before the Paris airport? Which actually has a surprising number of good shops? I went with a box of macarons, because everyone likes macarons (hopefully), and a baby Dora, because I guess I've lived a while in Orlando and the plush mickeys were more expensive and less cute.

Last minute shopping aside, Paris was excellent! Also, last minute essay writing aside. I really probably should have finished before my last day in Paris (and then the first three libraries I visited were closed, under construction, and had no visible entrance, respectively, and he fourth had no AC, power outlets, internet, or printer, which kind of covers every reason for me to be there in the first place). But! Those things aside, Paris was lovely!

I walked something like 8 miles each day, covering large swathes of random sections of Paris, and eventually and against my  better judgment visiting most tourist attractions. The Eiffel Tower is actually pretty cool! It is very tall, and has many angles. And Musée d'Orsay had a great collection of impressionism and post-impressionism and a neat statue of a polar bear!

Linguistically, it was totally a success (sometimes it was easier for me to communicate with them in French than from them to talk to me in English)! Gastronomically, I ate pretty cheaply but had a nice crepe and some other good simple French meals. I also payed the most i ever have for a tiny bottle of iced tea: 3,80€! Architecturally, Paris has some nice old architecture, but really, you see one Haussmannized Boulevard, you've seen them all. The occasional scattered arch detracts from he monotony, and then there is the occasional cathedral which is rather impressive, so I guess all and all I would s Paris has good buildings.

I also found someone spinning fire poi at the Cathèdrale de Sacre-Coeur! Unfortunately, I was too distracted by the fact that my nook (eReader) was suddenly missing to take any good pictures. And then! After walking away, frustrated that doesn't already lost it and come to think of it forgotten to sink my ebook collection to the laptop I brought, some man ran up to me and said (I think) that some little kid had taken it.

So: Paris! I still have all my belongings, and it was pretty nice! And now: off to India!