Bonjour!
I have a few updates but nothing that exciting. This week and next week we have exams, then I have to pack, and I return home! I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly here. I am really enjoying my time and feel like I have gotten the most out of this experience.

At the end of spring break, I actually spent three days in Toulouse in the south-west of France. I have two French friends who live there and they invited me for a visit. It is a university town with lots of young people and fun shops. It is also the headquarters for AirBus (like the airplanes) so there are lots of people from different countries who live and work there. It is a really charming town and some of the buildings date back to the 1500s and 1600s. While I was there I got to visit an art museum, do some shopping, and relax! My friends are a couple and the girl Sophie is British, so I actually ended up staying at her house, where there was British/American satellite TV. I was in heaven sitting around watching trashy MTV for a few hours every day. My last night, Philippe organized a crepe party with all his friends. We all talked and stuffed ourselves with crepes, then we headed out to the local English pub where everyone hangs out. It was fun to actually meet French people and talk to them about college life here. Overall a wonderful trip!

For the past 5 days, Alissa was here in Paris. She is one of my very best friends and it was her first time here, so it was a pleasure to take her around and see the sights. I also had class so she was on her own part of the time but we both had so much fun. The two major things we did together that I really loved were Versailles and the Cluny Museum. Versailles I had seen before, but it was under a lot of rennovation. I got to see the whole thing this time and many rooms were open that I was not able to see before. It is really an amazing place and it's crazy that kings only lived there for 3 generations (I had thought it was much longer). The Cluny Museum is the largest museum of the Medieval period in Paris...possible in France. They have a great collection of everyday objects from the period which is pretty rare. They also had some great art and sculpture. When you go to Notre Dame Cathedral, you see that in the front a lot of the figures are missing their heads because they were knocked off during the Revolution. I had always wondered where all those heads went and apparently it was in the Cluny! I was really excited to see them there some of them are really remarkable, still with traces of their original painting. We also both loved the main attraction, which are the tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn. They are a set of 6, representing an allegory of each of the 5 senses plus one very mysterious one. They were gorgeous and we spent a lot of time there sitting and staring, and obviously left with lots of postcards and merchandise. We also had great dinners, fun shopping, and nice girly talks together and it was a wonderful trip.

Last night I got to have a lovely final dinner with Bruno and family. The food was delicious and we talked about my time here, my rabbinic studies, religion, and lots of other things. I am hoping to be able to see Astrid this summer and when I come back to Paris I will definitely come visit them! They are great people and fun to be with.

Right now, I am trying to figure out packing and studying. The last thing I want to do before I leave is get to Giverny and see Monet's gardens with my roomate. We had been planning on it and it never happpened. I am hoping we can go the Friday before we go home at least for half the day. We will see...