Acting like a tourist

With only 3 weeks to go, and only 2 of which being spent in Paris, I decided I should make a list of things I want to do here before I go and start doing them. The orangerie in the Tuilleries just opened after several years of reconstruction, so I tried to go there last Saturday. It's a deceptive name; there are no oranges or orange trees there, it's a museum designed by Monet and filled with his works. The weather was pretty bad, in fact a tempest was on it's way into Paris, but I walked out there all the same only to find that they had closed the orangerie, and the Tuilleries, due to the incredible winds which had almost stopped me in my tracks at one point they were so strong. Upset that I walked out there for nothing, I waited for the storm to die down some and then walked back home, vowing that I would be back.

On Sunday I went to the Parc Montsouris and on Monday I visited the Musee national du Moyen Age and the church St. Sulpice. The ancient galo-romain baths in the museum were really cool to see, and I was definitely amused by all the signs posted around the obelisk at St. Sulpice (featured in the Davinci Code) describing the actual purpose of the obelisk and assuring everyone that it had nothing to do with a religious cult or the Priori of Sion. Just as I vowed, I went back to the Orangerie on Tuesday in force (aka with my friends), only to discover that it was closed once again, this time because Tuesday is the day that most national museums in Paris close, so it was really my own fault. We decided to go the Musee Marmottan instead, which also features the works of Monet and was not closed. We then went to the Bois de Bologne (also appears in the Davinci Code) where I did not find any shady characters doing drugs or offering their "services". I did find some nice lakes though, and walked around for a bit before going to Rolland Garros to find out about tickets to the French Open, though I don't think I'm going to go.

Yesterday I took a day trip out to Chantilly, home of a nice chateau, gardens designed by Lenotre, and whipped cream. The chateau and gardens were good to see, though it rained for most of the trip, making a walk through the gardens not so much fun. The whipped cream however was the star of the show. I had a hot chocolate topped with the famous cream in a cafe that is part of the gardens and it was amazing, the best I've ever had to be sure. I could've bought a whole bowl of it for 4 euros, but I decided that would be overkill. Last night I ate at the Moroccain restaurant that's part of the Mosque here in Paris. The mosque also has a teahouse, a hammam where you can go to get messages, and a store; it's not your average mosque. The food was excellent, especially the mint tea, the lamb, and the bhaklava, though I ate FAR too much and had to walk for over an hour just to feel comfortably full again.

I still have a lot of things left on the to do list, but since I have an exam coming up Wednesday they might have to wait a bit, or I might have to try to sneak them in between bouts of studying. I'm going to have company soon, since a girl from Emory (Minoo if you know her) is coming to stay with the same host family as me for the summer program. I'm really excited, since we are pretty good friends, and since having her around might make the situation with my host family much more pleasant.