My First Visitor!

Allo again my dearest of dears! It has been another wonderful week in Paris and this time I'm actually able to update this baby on time! School had officially set in, with homework and projects galore. Even better I've had my first visitor here in Paris. A friend for many years, Michael came to stay for a week during his spring break. It was great to have him here; it gave me an excuse to be touristy again and I've known him so long that I was able to be totally relaxed and just have a good time.

Michael's stay here was quite the whirlwind of a visit. While it felt like it would be a lot of time, we didn't get to do nearly everything we wanted. Michael arrived early on Thursday and I went to pick him up at the airport. The poor guy was quite tuckered out, but technically I couldn't allow him to sleep when he wanted. It's better to get over jet-lag by staying up! For his first day here we mostly walked around my neighborhood, sat in a cafe, and enjoyed relaxing in Paris. He was too sleepy to go out with the crowd, but I was perfectly fine spending the evening in.

The first two days of Michael's visit we devoted entirely to churches. Not that we're the church-going type, but they are really beautiful places to visit. We began with Notre Dame on one day, the next we saw three churches with my friend Matt. Of the churches we saw, it's hard to decide which is my favorite. I'm a big fan of Notre Dame, but Saint Sulpice was also a beautiful sight. Saint Sulpice actually has a few frescos painted by Delacroix, an interesting fact that I didn't know until we entered the church. It also has a very beautiful fountain in front, of which a picture is posted. It's easy to say we got our fill of religious motifs and gothic architecture. We also attempted to go to the Museum of the Arab World. Sadly, we arrived with only an hour left before it closed, we didn't feel it was enough time to really see the place. Another time I'll try to go back and see it again.

Friday night we headed out with a very large group of people to the Louvre. It's free after 6:00 on Fridays for those under 26, the perfect opportunity for Michael and I to see it. Going with such a large group was not our best idea. We were running through the museum so the girls with were with could see their top highlights, the Mona Lisa, Napoleon's apartments, and a few other pieces. We never did find another time for Michael and I to head back and take our time there, which is really too bad since it's probably the best museum in Paris. I think it just means he'll have to come back again and see it all!

One thing Michael and I accomplished was making meals at home, the much more economical way of feeding ourselves. We were very proud of our cooking abilities, or rather the surprising delicious outcome of our limited cooking abilities. From sandwiches and pasta to chicken and even fondue, we really cooked for ourselves quite a bit. I got Michael very accustomed to a bottle of wine with dinner. As you can see in the middle picture, I generally used him to open the wine!

To make up for having to run through the Louvre, we visited Orsay and the Pompidou Center. Orsay was a quick visit for me before class one morning, Michael stayed and was able to take his time. I was jealous to say the least. Pompidou, which is the modern art museum, was definitely interesting but we could only take so much modern art. It's a little heavier than the rest. Orsay was my particular favorite, largely because it had some of my favorite artists like Van Gogh but also because we had a lot of energy and could play silly the whole time.

I'll have to complete updating this later; there was a lot more that we did while Michael was here. The rest will be up soon!

Miss you all!