La soleil brille sur Paris

I am currently curled up in my bed at 5 in the afternoon, sipping coffee with a smidge of Bailey’s.  I think this is an excellent idea, especially considering I have to read a 300+ page book and write a 6-8 page paper on it before I go to London.  Which is in 4 days.

But then again, I don’t regret this decision…after all, it is 50 degrees and the sun is shining on all of Paris.  A celebratory occasion, I daresay.

I spent the morning walking around with my friends Marina and Elizabeth (the BC girl I met in Galway, who’s here visiting some friends this weekend), and we went into my new favorite bookshop in all the land: Shakespeare & Co.  It’s only a 7 minute walk from my apartment (isn’t everything?), and it has tons of English books, cute little chairs, a typewriter, and a couple of beds to lounge on.

After perusing the shop for a while, we started getting a bit hungry, and ended up finding a little gelato place called Delizie Follie.  The girl behind the counter was extremely friendly (clearly not Parisian) and let us try most of the flavors.  My parfum préférée (favorite flavor) was noisette (hazelnut), and let me tell you…it was incredible!  I had a bit of Marina’s pistachio and Elizabeth’s mango, and they were both amazing, too.  Marina went as far as to say it was better than the gelato she had when she was actually in Rome!  We spoke with the owner and the girl for a bit more and found out it was their first day, and that we were their first customers.  We felt honored.  And I told them honestly that I would be telling everyone about their fabulous gelato (which is exactly what I’ve been doing).

On the walk home, I passed the Monoprix and decided to pick up a baguette and some Boursin (on Kelsey’s recommendation, of course), as my attempts at becoming a cheese connoisseur have been lagging.  I also picked up another bottle of wine (I swear I’m not becoming an alcoholic) from the southwest region of France, in Cahors, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I also really love wines from the Fronton region, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a good one since the wine tasting; I’m working on it, though.  Anyways, so the Boursin was delicious, and I think I liked it more than the Brie I had the other day (which was still very good).  Spreadable cheese is just a beautiful thing.

Since the weather has been beautiful all day, I decided to take advantage of it, and went to the Jardin de Luxembourg to do some of my reading.  I didn’t get very much done, but I did enjoy the soleil (sun) and the fact that tout le monde was relaxing and taking it all in, just as I was.

…and here I still sit, with an empty coffee mug, only 20 pages read, and the realization that I should probably start reading before I go to Marina’s later for a Sciences Po/Boston College wine & cheese party.  Oh dear.