She's A Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas

Hey, tout le monde. It's Noel Eve and I just wanted to wish everyone a cheery and healthy holiday!!
♥Haggertys&Co

Such Sweet Sorrow

So here it is, the last time I write from France on this blog. How is it already here? I cannot believe my bags are (mostly) packed and ready for the haul back to Long Island. It is time to go home, no matter how much it hurts me to leave here. Time to go home.


























Home is where the heart is. Problem is, part of my heart belongs to Paris. It'll be an adjustment once I get back, but I need to be with my family. I need to be with my friends. I need to be with my puppers. That's where my real home is.





























I've made a home for myself here, but I'll be content to live with my memories of it until the next time I return. It won't be the same, of course. I won't have Carmen there, and I won't be picking out the pastry of the day to eat in class, but it'll be wonderful all the same. It's Paris. How can it not be?











I've had some pretty rough days here. But all the same, a bad day in Paris is better than no day in Paris at all. I've grown and learned.





























The little clarinet player who lives above me is playing Jingle Bells. Squeaking Jingle Bells. Same difference. (Ugh, maybe it's bagpipes??) Well, my dears, this is it. I am going to go zip up my suitcase and get ready for sleep, because tomorrow is going to be a wicked long day. It's been a pleasure sharing my travels and experiences with everyone.






















And so, unless you are the fam, (in which case I will be seeing you in a little over twenty-four hours) happy holidays, be healthy, be happy, say hello once I'm home, et...

















AU REVOIR!!! ♥

Déchirais en deux

Please


















don't













make













me













leave.

Histoire de Paris

In honor of finishing and handing in my Histoire de Paris dossier, I thought I would write about the course. It was hands down my favorite class this semester. We would walk around Paris and learn about different architectural styles and the history of that building. For my dossier, I wrote about Gothic architecture. Namely, Notre-Dame. Because it's awesome.






Sun or ran, cold or freezing, we would trek around. We learned about Pont Neuf, which is actually the oldest bridge in Paris.

SO. COLD.

Sometimes we goofed off. But it was the only way to keep our brains from freezing....

We learned about Fontaine St. Michel, and architecture during the Haussman/Napoleon area.

We went to Place Vendome...

Place des Vosges, where Victor Hugo once lived.

Hotel Soubise...

Les Invalides...

Entertainment on my part was provided by taking tons of pictures of Carmen whenever I darn well pleased.

We had such a great teacher. She was very knowledgable as well as generous. We would stop in cafes when it was cold, and she would recognize certain people, including one time some French actor.

I can now describe architecture to you. Well, in French. But I think that's even cooler. I love being able to identify different styles and elements in the city where I live. Too bad I won't be able to apply any of it to architecture on Long Island.

One class down. One dossier down.
Five days until home. Five pages until I'm finished with my other dossier.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Everything Is Beautiful At The Ballet

So I've been pretty stressed lately. I'm not good with exams. Even if I study, I panic when it comes to test taking, so I get discouraged and just don't bother studying at all which leads to bad grades all around. So getting bad mark after bad mark back is very frustraing.

Then there's the dossiers. I finished my dossier on Gothic Architectuer, thanks to a lot of pictures. Now rumor has it my Civ dossier on the 100 Years War is 15-20 pages which is NOT what I was expecting. How many times can I write "The French lost the battle"?? Yes people, I just made a deragatory remark about France. Get over it.

I'm sick of feeling so torn between two places that I love. I know I'm going home, so at this point I just want to be home. And I know as happy as I'll be there, part of me is going to miss the crap out of this place.

As a result of all this stress, I haven't been sleeping well. My body just doesn't let me sleep. It's cruel.

So tired, cranky and frustrated I went to the ballet at the Opera Garnier. How can you not be cheered up at a ballet? Especially when you're at the opera house where Phantom of the Opera takes place?

A lot of the people from AIFS who went left before the show was over, including Carmen. I stayed through the 3 1/2 hour spectacle, and loved every moment of it despite the uncomfortable seats. The story was romantic, the ballerinas restored my hope in a world of good things, and I left feeling pretty good.

Well, couldn't end there, could it? No. I was in the metro on the way home and this skeezy drunk guy starts on the "Bonsoir, mademoiselle" and trying to hide the huge 1664 bottle in his hand and following me. I figured if the creep tried anything I'd stab him with my apartment keys. I go into my clutch to get my keys and... oh that's right... Carmen brought the keys since we went together... Carmen who's already upstairs in bed on the 6th floor of the apartment... merde. I did get into the apartment but oh my goodness I had the biggest panic attack in the world.

Today was moderate, and moderate is good. I'll take moderate over a day like yesterday any day. But I am going to go and work on my papers a little bit, and I'll update again soon.