"The ache for home lives in us all, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." -Maya Angelou
It's the most difficult part about leaving--meeting new people, giving up your familiar routines, searching for your niche. Attempting to feel at home in a foreign place with complete strangers can be daunting to say the least. But after a month a half in Paris, I am happy to report that it is starting to very much feel like home. I've slipped into routines here with much more ease than I thought I was capable of. On Monday morning when I left the apartment, making my way to the metro felt comfortable, easy, enjoyable even. Walking there now seems like second nature; when I walk out the door, I'm on auto-pilot. It's like making the drive from Columbus to Cincinnati, walking to the girls' apartment, walking to the boys' house, or driving home from work...it's a habit now, and familiar and comfortable one at that.
Gabi and I have commented numerous times how quickly we've become comfortable with one another. It's at times frightening how in sync we are. We've started to very much look forward to our Crous lunches on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays with Emily and Carolin. I'm very thankful for the people that I've found here. Last night Gabi and I agreed, if we can take away even one great friend at the end of this experience, it makes it all worthwhile. But, I have a feeling I'm going to be taking away a few more than one.
In an attempt to keep up with my Paris to-do list, on Monday I decided to go to one of the museums on my list. It of course slipped my mind that almost ever museum in Paris is closed on Mondays (I still have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this). I finally found that the L'Orangerie museum that houses Monet's famous water lilly paintings was only closed on Tuesdays. So, I went. I got a little lost upon exiting the metro--proof that I'm not always as at home as I'd like to think :) But I wandered around the Tuilerie Gardens for a bit and managed to find it without too much of a problem.
Monet's paintings (Les Nymphéas en Français) were awesome. They were his final project, a project that he finished when he was almost 80 years old and they are huge. 4 of the paintings take up an entire gallery room and up close it looks like random brush strokes of color. But when you step back a few feet it turns into a stunning landscape of his gardens in Giverny. Thinking about it now, it's the first museum I've ever been to completely on my own before. But I have to say I enjoyed it a lot; it was sort of nice to be able to go at my own pace and stop at the things that caught my eye. I'm looking forward to checking more museums off of my list.
Tuesday I was going to go to Le Musee Carnavalet but ended up meeting Gabi, Addison, and Keesean outside Place St. Michel for an extremely over-priced cup of coffee. We came back for dinner (chicken and vegetables...Mme Dugan's meals have grown significantly less elaborate as the weeks have passed), and headed back out for our weekly wine and cheese rendez-vous with the other people in the program. Two of the things I will miss the most about this country is the bread and the cheese. Hands down. And the people. I'm really going to miss the people that I know that make Paris feel like home.
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