Tick, Tock.

The weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes...the seconds.....are passing so quickly!!!! I haven't slept more than 7 hours a night in a week, I've been going, doing, spending money, getting all the "lasts" in before I head down to Provence for a couple of weeks.  That way, I can come back to Paris on the 21st and have nothing "to do" but pack, get my life and my thoughts together, and spend one last evening on the Champ de Mars before I fly out at 7 am on the 25th.  I have no idea where the time has gone or where its going...but its passing by SO fast.  I wish I could just stop my watch and freeze my last moments looking over the Seine from the Pont Neuf, licking Berthillon ice cream off a sugared waffle cone walking down towards the Notre-Dame, and sitting on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur while the sun dances on the horizon.  

I am hopeful that this week I can get a bit of blogging in, and if its brief...forgive me.  I don't want to spend my last few weeks in front of the computer all day!  

Fête de la Musique

Last Thursday night was Fête de la Musique in Paris.  I wasn't able to go last year, so I was thrilled when we decided to get a group together this year.  Fête de la Musique is one of those wonderful things that the city of Paris does for free, for its citizens and visitors.  I wouldn't say there was a huge headliner, but they had several small, well known bands set up all over the city throughout the night for everyone to enjoy.  There were also small choir groups, 4 piece bands, random musicians, young and old set up along the streets....for your passing enjoyment.  Some delightful to stop and have a listen, but others...not so delightful.  Since its one night a year, everyone comes out of hiding and there are people wandering the streets everywhere....in some places you had to go around the crowds through a different street just to pass!  

We met at Grand Palais hoping to find Jamie XX, but turns out, you had to have a special ticket to see that show....so, we walked down the street, hopped across Place de la Concorde and wandered through Tuileries at sunset.  At that point I was certain it was going to be a good night as the sun was setting over the Arc de Triomphe and the last rays of sun glistened in the puddles of water left in the dirt.  I didn't care if we didn't see any music, for at that moment in all its glory, is what I love about Paris.  

We met Flora and her boyfriend, François...and eventually Alison on the Pont des Arts for our "lock ceremony."  Yes, its cheesy...but Laura conveniently found this little tiny lock on the ground one time and so what else better to do with it than whack that baby on the Pont des Arts?  We got our finest tipped sharpie, with our smallest, most cramped handwriting and got everyone on...barely.  We added the date and of course our nickname and wished upon the key as we tossed it into the Seine.  Then headed off to find some good music....

We stumbled upon some musicians near Saint-Germain-des-Pres who were gathering a pretty hefty crowd.  We got on the metro at Cité, down to Denfert-Rochereau were a handful of musicians were giving it a go on the large stage set up just above ground from the Catacombs.  Rozy was dying to see the Cutting Knives or Concrete Knives or something that I had never heard of, but turns out we just missed them.  We ended up catching Carmen Maria Vega's show which was pretty good.  She's very rocker chic with an intense attitude and a tongue that just couldn't stay in her mouth.  Her new single, On S'en Fout got the crowd going and the easy lyrics made every nationality sing along.  

Carmen Maria Vega....and her attitude. 

Although the metro was running all night long, it only hit certain stops and Courcelles wasn't one of them.  I got on the metro at Charles de Gaulle Etoile and the conductor came over and said that the next stop would be Place de Clichy and I quickly hopped off as I am much closer to Charles de Gaulle Etoile!  My 10 minute walk home was peaceful and silent as I walked toward Ternes with the glow of the Arc de Triomphe at my back, lighting my path home.  It might sound crazy as I was walking the sidewalks of one of the largest, most well-known cities in the world at 1 am, but I couldn't have felt more safe...more at home...than I did in that moment.  

Magical Paris.

Well, I've tried not to have overly emotional, thoughtful blog posts on my last few months here in the City of Love and Lights.  But since today is my one month marker for leaving Paris...I can't help but do a little reflecting on my time here.  Paris has changed me in a way that I can't even express in words....my friends here, my family, people on the streets, people I don't know at all and people I feel as if I've known forever.  

It's so hard for me to even think about leaving such a magical place....a place where dreams come true daily and certain places just take my breath away.  A place where wine pours like water and baguettes are a major food group.  A place where the elderly are respected and superior and the children run about like wild people.  A place where the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the glow of the Sacre-Coeur meet each other on the horizon.  A place that is my home...that is safe and warm and comforting to think about.  A place that I can imagine living for the rest of my life...but knowing there's so much more to explore.  

My move to Paris couldn't have been at a better time in my life.  I had graduated in May 2009 in the midst of the economic, jobless crisis in the United States.  I was working a part-time job in a small restaurant doing monotonous tasks every single day not really knowing what I was working towards or against.  I was adding bit by bit to my bank account so that I could have amazing European adventures....which were at that point in time, yet to be determined.  I am thankful every day for my friend Katrine in Copenhagen, whom I met at Ole Miss for even introducing me to the au pair network. I never dreamed it would take me to Paris, to the Lachaize family, nor to my life changing (if you ask my dad, crazy) decision that I am forever thankful for.  

Being an au pair has been a privilege..... An incredibly eye-opening experience. Although my time here hasn't been the fanciest, most glamorous 2 years spent in Paris....the people I've met and the places I've been-the crazy, the bad, the beautiful, and the breathtaking have made it all worthwhile.  It's the unforgettable moments like Ashleigh saving an escargot in Giverny, Marie-Césare and her face full of cotton candy, Edelweiss and charcuterie with Taylor at an outdoor café in Budapest, and random "Rozyisms" that I will remember for the rest of my life.  

It's hard at this point in time for me to focus on what's to come...because I am so terribly heartbroken to leave Paris....but I am working on it!  (I am!) Excited to see my family and friends back home, nervous that all my stuff isn't going to fit in my suitcases, anxious as to what my next job and adventure will be, devastated to leave the Lachaize family and mostly Marie-Césare, sad that I will no longer be able to look out my window and see the Eiffel Tower......emotional overload doesn't even begin to describe my feelings.  

So, for now, I am going to savor these last few moments with my friends, eat a million crêpes and macarons, revisit some of my favorite museums and sights for the last time, spend a sunny 10 days in the south of France, and when I return from the south 4 full days by myself in Paris....just as I began some 20 months ago.  Being thankful for the person I've become since moving to Paris and the blessings that have passed my way...and looking forward to the adventures ahead that are certainly on the horizon....

just in the distance between the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre-Coeur.  

Giverny, Round 3

Yes...another trip to Giverny.  But oh, Giverny......oh I love thee.  I wanted to pop over to Giverny just one more time before I left France and Sunday's sun was just the perfect answer to finish off the weekend.  I am a Giverny pro, and I'll say 3rd times a charm.  The flowers were in full bloom, the lilies were beautiful, bright, and open and the tourists were covering the small village.  

I'll give Laura the credit on this beautiful photo! 

The roses were absolutely stunning.  

Laura and I totally didn't coordinate our blue dresses.  

Aren't they lovely?  Just like the painting..

I'm going to have to create some collage of all my flower photos from Giverny.  I've got some great shots....from 3 different times of the year.  That will have to be a when-I-get-back-to-the-states project.  One of many....

What an awesome place to set up your easel and paint?  "No worries, just spending today painting the flowers in Monet's garden." 

Anybody know what kind of flowers these are?  With the cute little spots on the inside?  

Since I did my French class presentation on Monet's home and gardens in Giverny, I have been ever so interested in Monet's paintings and life.  It has inspired one last trip to the Musée Marmottan Monet here in Paris.  As much as I loved the Dufy exhibition I hope the classic Monet's are back in action!  

Things That Are Making Me Happy...

Things that are making me happy this week:

Photo Booth session with Marie-Césare one afternoon....

My flowers from the florist, Marc, that brighten my apartment...

My little swimmer...

And the fact that Nashville was the travel feature in one of France's newspapers, Le Figaro, on Wednesday.  

Excellent worldwide coverage for Nashville and the "country of bourbon" as they call it.  Lynchburg/Jack Daniel's got an entire side article feature!  Their "things to know before going" were: People under the age of 21 cannot drink....ha!  Found that to be pretty funny.  

Aujourd'hui-Fête de la Musique! 

Modern Art.

Last weekend we spent quality time with Paris' finest collection of modern art.  Not the Pompidou, but the newly redesigned Palais de Tokyo and the Musée d'Art Moderne.  They are just next to each other, and connected by a courtyard/restaurant in the middle.  Just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Trocadero, the Palais de Tokyo (opened in 1937) is the center of modern art in Paris.  It hosts bizarre exhibitions and has quite a hefty permanent collection.  

Exhibit A:

Palm leaves with an extension cord wrapped around it?  WHY is this art?????? 

I struggle with this sort of modern art, as I just can't figure out who gives someone the "ok" and says, "this is FABULOUS, we should put it in a huge museum in PARIS."  What makes this ball of chains modern art?  What makes it art at all?

Perhaps its my traditional southern view of things, or my practicality...but forgive me-I just can't figure it out.  

Did find this pretty neat.  It's old gasoline cans and pressure cookers with the world cut out of the sides like a globe.  

Silly Photo Booth.

The Musée d'Art Moderne also built for the international exhibition of arts and technology in 1937 was the eastern wing of the Palais de Tokyo until 1961 when it was inaugurated into its own museum.  In May 2010 there was a theft of 5 of its most important paintings valued at 100 million euros.  It is the second largest museum art theft following the theft in Zurich in 2008, valuing 162 million euros.  Just in case you were wondering, 3 men were brought in for questioning a couple of years later...but they never pinpointed the thief.     

Buren's Wall of Paintings

Henri Matisse, The Dance

Robert Delaunay

Robert Delaunay's Eiffel Tower

Bernard Buffet's Les Folles

I can appreciate more Picasso, Matisse, Modigliano, etc. in the Musée d'Art Moderne versus electrical cords on the wall and half eaten sandwiches on a table.  It just doesn't make sense.  Maybe that's the point of modern art...to not make sense?  In the gift shop at the Palais de Tokyo there was a joke "pill" and the package said, "Take one if you need help understanding modern art."  I should have bought 50 of them.  There were various others which were quite hilarious. At 8.90 a pop we decided to pass on the pills for now.  I'll just stay away from modern art museums and leave my confused mind to another topic.