in the garden

Thank God it's Friday! Though the beginning of the week always starts off slowly, the days accelerate as soon as Wednesday hits. I have only 3 more full weeks left in Paris, and the rush is now starting to hit me - there is hardly any time left! Where has all the time gone?

Last weekend, my program took us to Avignon, a small town in the South of France! It was nice to get away from Paris for the weekend, to relax from the hustle and bustle and really enjoy a slower, more carefree taste of country(ish) life. Though we were met with rain on the first day of our trip, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful Palais des Papes (did you know that in the 1600s Avignon had a pope? actually, several). There was a really pretty rainstorm Saturday night - it reminded me of home! Because of the Christmas season, France  Sunday, the weather was beautiful. My friend Caroline spent the day walking around the small town, saw the bridge (the Pont d'Avignon) and even bought some souvenirs!

If you recall from last post, one of the things that I want to do is run more in the Luxembourg Garden, or well, spend more time there in general! And this week, I have definitely been able to do that! Out of the 5 week days that have passed by, I have been in the garden every single day (walking through it to get to class/from class, running, having lunch, etc)!

It's amazing to see how the gardens change with the seasons. When I first arrived in Paris, everything was very green and bright. Now, most of the trees are bare, but the grass is still green (I do believe that they replant it . . .  perhaps often) and the flowers have been changed to bring out fall/winter colors! They have also replanted a lot of the shrubbery that surround the fountains.

Since today is Friday, you may be wondering what I did for Thanksgiving - I'm still an American, after all! Well, to answer your question, I did not really celebrate it! (What?!) Thursday I met my friend Austin to have lunch in the Luxembourg Garden and that night, after my volunteering, I met up with my Host Team from Hillsong Paris for a little rendez-vous. (Most of the members are French, so they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But we did have lots of goodies to eat!) It didn't even feel like Thanksgiving in France. There are no advertisements for Black Friday Sales (their shopping season similar to black friday happens after New Years) and the supermarkets don't change their inventory to carry more stuffing and cranberries. Ah well, this just means that next Thanksgiving, I will have to make up for the missed festivities of this year, no biggie!

Something exciting though, today we had our first snow in Paris!!!!! It was wonderful!!!

Well, with 3 weeks left of school, I have lots of work to submit! This weekend will be spent working on projects and doing more homework, but I will take a break on Sunday to watch Harry Potter with some friends from school! Yes, most of you have already seen it (if you are reading this from the US or England, the film was released one week before it debuted in France), but that's okay! Until next blog . . . . we will discuss Harry Potter! (haha . . . probably not)

p.s. It was so hard for me to pick which pictures to put up. There were just so many fun ones from spending time in the garden and from Avignon! But, enjoy!

While walking home from school, one of the flower shops had these pretty flowers for sale!

 

 

Elephant sculpture outside of the Palais des Papes in Avignon

Dessert in Avignon (Meghan, Emily, Courtney)

Lights from the Avignon Christmas Market

Walking through the Luxembourg Garden after class

Check out these colors in the middle of November!

Caught in the act of replanting the Luxembourg Garden!

Wahoooo! After our Thanksgiving Picnic!!

Walking around Paris: Pinecones on a stick!

First snow of Winter! It was Beautiful!!