Day off from Classes Spent in the Beautiful Paris Weather.

   Another beautiful day in Paris! I cannot believe it... this last week it rained non-stop and as soon as it is almost time to go back to America, the sunshine comes out!! What a tease! Paris was very busy today because most everyone had off from work and school. Adrian and I decided to take full advantage of the beautiful day and walk to Luxembourg Gardens. It is a large park in Paris, more specifically the second largest park in all of Paris. The Garden is also located right in front of the French Senate. I have to say...those Senators have an awfully nice view.

    We spent awhile in the garden walking around. I am not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post or not, but most Parisians do not have backyards. They take a lot of pride in their parks because they treat them like they are their own yard. On days off from work and holidays they spend time in public parks. In nearly every park in Paris there are chairs everywhere that the park provide for people to relax in. The parks provide chairs because they realize this is where all of the people go and they want them to keep coming back! Every park I have been to in Paris is so well kept up, Luxembourg was so exception. The park was absolutely gorgeous with flowers in full bloom and green everywhere. When Adrian went to the park a few weeks ago he said nothing was in bloom yet and it was a very different feel.
       There were soooooo many runners out today too. Everywhere I walked I was dodging a person running. I am not sure if there was a special event going on today or the French just REALLLLLY like to run!
     Adrian and I spent awhile people watching at one of the fountains in Luxembourg Gardens where little kids were controlling sail boats in the water. I became especially fascinated with a little boy shoving his sail boat with a stick. He had a lot of personality pretending to be a ninja and a solider all in the same five minutes.

       
     After Luxembourg Gardens Adrian and I walked to the Latin Quarter. The Latin Quarter to Paris is sort of like the Canal Street to NYC. Lots of shops, vendors and restaurants line the streets up and down. I have been to the Latin Quarter before, but it never gets old. It is geared towards College Students and Adrian and I quite enjoyed wandering the streets for a few hours. We finished up our last minute Souvenir shopping and also grabbed a quick bite to eat. Once again, it was VERY busy today. Not only did everyone seem to be in Luxembourg Gardens, but everyone seemed to be in the Latin Quarter as well! There were also a lot of police around Paris today too because of a large protest going on right between the Latin Quarter and Luxembourg Gardens. Adrian and I could not quite figure out what the protest was about, but it seemed like it had to do with immigration.
   We came across a lot of street shows while walking around. This one stuck out to me the most. It was a piano and violin player right in the middle of an intersection where people cross the street. They were actually pretty good too!

   
    After a relaxing day wandering Paris it was time to head back to Campus, because although I had the day off from classes...it is finals week!! I am happy to report after about five hours of homework I finished my final paper for my European Union class... twelve pages! I am going to happily submit it tomorrow. I have lots of homework and things to do the next few days. I am glad I was able to have a relaxing day in the sun with Adrian today. Our time together is quickly disappearing.
   I also began packing tonight. If anyone knows me I tend to pack fairly far in advance. I actually finished packing already believe it or not!! It is just so weird packing my life up to go home.
   I posted a status today on Facebook and I feel like it basically sums up my life right in this moment, "Four days until I am half way done with college, four days until I am finished with College Theology and Philosophy for good, four days until I am back in the United States, four days until I have to leave Adrian again for four months, four days until my trip of a lifetime is officially over and four days until I get to see my family I miss so much....damn... life is surely bittersweet." Life right now is very bittersweet. I will be leaving a lot behind on Saturday, but I will also be gaining a lot on Saturday as well.
    I already began writing my last Blog post in Europe...very strange.
   Thanks for reading this brief Blog post. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful pictures from Luxembourg Gardens. SEE you all soon!

XOXO

Shann