…buuuut, it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside!  Sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, and just a wee bit of a chill (that I actually find quite refreshing!)!

Therefore, I made an executive decision and decided that I’m going to go explore Paris in all its sunshine-y, late winter-y beauty.

Alas, no blogs for the time being.  But fear not!  I have class later on until 9:15, but after that, I will be sitting down with a bottle – I mean glass – of red wine, and blogging the night away :)

*   *   *

…several hours later…

Okay!  So I am finally in a position to get my life in order!  I had a pretty busy week, what with a paper due on Tuesday, a paper due today, and an exposé today in my Environmental Diplomacy class.  My exposé was on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is the leading scientific and intergovernmental body for the assessment of climate change.  Its job is to provide to the world with accurate scientific, technical and socio-economic information.  The whole point of exposés is to unearth the controversy or questions surrounding your assigned topic, and so I focused on how politics is affecting the IPCC, and whether or not the IPCC will be able to overcome the problems it is currently facing (i.e. conflicts of interest, political fragmentation, political pressures, etc.).  Alright, I suppose that’s enough of an environmental lesson for now.

Moving on!  After I got out of class, I was in an incredibly giddy, adventurous mood, as I said earlier on in today’s entry.  I decided to check out Rue Mouffetard, which is known for its cute stores, cafés, restaurants and markets.  It was such a great, interesting little street!  It took about 10 minutes to get there from my apartment, and then about 20 minutes to walk slowly from one end to the other.  I found a few tiny stores who had cheap shoes, clothing, and accessories (who knew stuff like this existed in Paris?), and saw a Greek restaurant and a sandwich shop I want to try sometime over the next few weeks.

After I reached the end of the street, I sat in a little park where parents were watching their children play.  Little French kiddies are adorable!  One mother was teaching her little girl how to slide down a slide.  Unfortunately for her, the poor girl wasn’t quite grasping the concept, and her mother eventually gave up, laughing.  Another mother and her 1-year old son were sitting next to me on the bench, and he just smiled and giggled when I said bonjour in my little kid voice.  As I was sitting there watching the children play, I realized how quickly life flies by.  Those little kids aren’t going to be little kids for long.  It’s kind of crazy that my own childhood is becoming fuzzy in my memory, and I’m only 10-15 years removed from it.

Anyways, I eventually decided to head back towards my apartment, and as I was passing the Panthéon, I decided to wander in and check it out.  I got in for free (woohoo, Sciences Po ID strikes again!), grabbed my little info booklet, and started walking around.  I saw Foucault’s pendulum, which was pretty cool.  What I thought was more interesting, however, was checking out the cyrpt down below.  I saw the tombs of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Pierre & Marie Curie, Jean Moulin, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas and Emile Zola.  So many famous people!

After my crypt wanderings, I sat on the steps just outside and admired the beauty of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.  I took a few pictures, and then eventually started my long walk home.

I arrived in 3 minutes.  As in 120 seconds.  Man, I just love the location of my apartment.

That being said, my lucky streak has continued.  I went into the lottery for 4-man apartments with my biffles (aka best friends) Ashley, Victoria and Nadia, and we wanted to block with our other friends, Lindsey, Caitlin, Erin & Kristina.  The whole idea of blocking is kind of hard to explain, but basically it means going into the lottery with another group of four people because you want to live next door to each other.   We ended up getting a great time slot, and selected a building that houses all seniors and is in a great location.  We’re living right above the other girls, and we’ve got a great little apartment that has a living room, a full kitchen, and two bathrooms for the four of us.  I AM SO EXCITED!

But totally don’t want to be a senior.  Because that means the real world is just around the corner.  Crap.

Today was largely uneventful.  I had French today, and went out to lunch afterwards with a few girls from the class.  We went to this place called the CROUS, which is a student cafeteria where you can get quite a bit of food for not too much money.  I ended up getting some seafood paella with fish (bad call on the fish…I’m still nauseous thinking about it), and a little apple-y tarte for dessert.  It only cost 3.45 euro, which I guess in the grand scheme of things isn’t bad at all.

Other than that, I worked on my two papers and exposé all day.  Fun.  This whole school thing is interfering with my life over here…

Simone’s mother arrived in France just before I left for Ireland, and she and Simone have just returned from a lovely little trip to Bordeaux.  I didn’t get the chance to sit down and talk with her until today, and I’m so glad I was finally able to!  It was so much fun talking to her about her life and her travels.  She has been to so many different places, and knows so much about culture.  I liked hearing her talk about her experiences thus far in Paris, and also how she has been able to relate the literary history to the physical places she has been seeing.  She actually just finished reading Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and left it for us to read if we ever get the chance.

As I said, it was quite nice sitting here on the big, red, comfy couch chatting with her.  I was doing some research for my exposé while she prepared us a delicious dinner of chicken noodle soup!  It was so delicious and really hit the spot, especially with the chilly weather we’ve been having the past several days.

Not much else is going on my life, though; I have a lot of work this week, so the blogging might be lighter than normal!

• Dublin!  Guinness Factory, Kilmainham Jail, Temple Bar
• Galway!  How I’m moving there.
• Wine Tasting!  And how I want to know anything and everything about all wines everywhere (also known, perhaps, as connoisseurship).
• Other…fun…stuff?  Can’t think, too tired…but, more soon…I PROMISE!!!

Anyways, we finally boarded the plane, and as we took off, I marveled at the adorable innocence of children around the world.  In front of my, there was a little English boy telling his mother he thought that clouds were the consistency of cotton candy.  Behind me, there was a boy telling his father that he wanted to be a professional traveler when he grew up.  They were both so adorable.  I didn’t get a chance to listen to them very much, because within minutes, I was passed out, most likely with my tongue hanging out and a wee bit of spittle beginning to form at the corner of my mouth (kidding…sort of).

Before I knew it, the pilot was announcing our arrival in Dublin.  I got off the train and felt a smile bubbling up.  Everything was in English!  It felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders; I hadn’t realized how stressful it was to constantly be thinking in French and trying to figure out how to ask for directions, advice, and suggestions from people, until I no longer had to do it.  In addition, I saw these weird, shimmering white things on people’s faces…teeth?  Could it be?  Were people actually…smiling?!  Yes, genuine smiles, even early in the morning.  Hell, even the simple thought that I was in Ireland was enough to put that large, dopey grin on my face.

I hopped on a bus to get to the heart of Dublin, and just missed the walking tour I wanted to go on.  I managed to find the tourist information office and grabbed a map and some brochures.  I thought I knew where I was going, but as I’m directionally challenged, I ended up on a random street corner, holding my map upside-down (and probably inside-out) trying to figure out where I was headed.  I must have had an absolutely bewildered look on my face, because a kind-looking older man came up to me and said, You look like you could use a bit of direction! To which I responded YES PLEASE!  And with that, kind old Jerry began leading me to the bus stop, which was easily a 10-minute walk out of his way.  We discussed some Irish history, the best places to grab a pint and eat fish & chips, and he was the nicest stranger I’ve encountered in months.  I mean, geez, ask for directions in Paris and you get scowled at!  Talk about a difference!

Anyways, I got on my bus (thank you, Jerry) and was off toward Kilmainham Gaol.  I made it just in time for the guided tour, where I learned a lot of interesting things about both the jail and Irish history.  The jail was built in 1796, and operated as a prison for around 130 years until 1926.  Our tour guide told us that children as young as seven years old were imprisoned for crimes such as petty theft, which I still can’t get over.  I’ll spare you the rest of the history…

After taking some spooky photos in the jail, I made the 15-minute walk to the famous Guinness Storehouse!  I was overwhelmed by how tall it was – seven stories, and shaped like a pint of Guinness to boot!  The tour itself was self guided, and I learned all about the ingredients in Guinness (barley, hops, yeast, water!) and how they are combined to make the perfect pint.  The tour culminated in a free pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar, which is the 7th floor of the building.  It offered amazing views of Dublin, so I snagged a seat by the window and looked out onto the city sprawling in front of and beneath me.  It was incredible.

I slowly enjoyed my pint, and eventually decided to make my way from the Storehouse to my hostel.  After a lovely 40 minute stroll through Dublin, I arrived at Isaacs Hostel.  Chrissy had actually done the research on hostels, and I must say, she did a great job.  It was located only 5 minutes from O’Connell Street, and about 10 minutes from Temple Bar.  The hostel itself was really nice, new and clean, and the desk staff was extremely helpful and friendly.

After I dropped my stuff off, I decided to explore the city some more.  I walked down O’Connell Street and peered into the storefronts (English bookstore? SO AMAZING).  I walked by the beautiful Trinity College.  I walked down Dame Street, and “accidentally” stumbled upon a little pastry shop Kelsey highly recommended, called Queen of Tarts.  I knew I simply had to go in, so I ordered some of their famous carrot cake.  I (very carefully) shoved it into my purse to save it for after dinner (pretty sure I looked ridiculous carrying around a piece of carrot cake, but…well, that’s just me).  Carrot cake upright in tow, I decided to check out Beshoff on O’Connell Street.  This was the fabulous fish and chips place that Jerry recommended earlier in the day, so I had high expectations.  I ordered the cod and chips (even though I think Jerry told me the haddock was where it was at), and was very pleased with the delicious greasiness of the meal.

With a tum full of fish and chips, I decided to head over to the Celt on Talbot Street to wait for Chrissy, who was due in within a couple hours.  It was an adorable little Irish pub with live music and great beers on tap.  I tried Cashel’s, which the bartender told me was similar to the Bulmer’s I originally ordered.  Lo and behold, I discovered my affinity for cider!  I had a few pints and ended up talking to the bartender and to a Scottish girl and her mom.  I still can’t get over how friendly every one is!  After a few hours in the Celt, I was feeling pretty sleepy, so I headed back to the hostel.  Chrissy made it eventually, and the two of us decided to call it a night so that we’d be recharged and ready to roll for our tour of the Wicklow Mountains early the next morning.

After less than 24 hours in Dublin, I was already wondering why I didn’t choose Trinity College instead…

I heard about this great guided tour out of Dublin to Wicklow, run by OVER THE TOP Tours.  I’ve been e-mailing back and forth with the woman, and I called her today to give her my credit card info to make the final reservation.  We had a GREAT chat; she used to live in France for 5 years when she was younger, and we were talking about how cold some French people can be, and how excited I was to go to Ireland, where most people are ready and waiting to help you with a smile.  Sweetest e-mail response after, too, telling me how “lovely it was to chat.”

Note to all those who care about me/will be looking for me: I might go to Ireland and never come back.

I haven’t really figured out what kind of impact this is going to have on my blogging, but we shall see…

Planned more Ireland stuff today…going to do a walking tour of Dublin, grab some lunch, and then check out the Kilmaingaol Jail!  Or maybe the Guinness Factory, depending on what Chrissy and I decide to do Saturday. We’re thinking of making a day trip to Wicklow, which is basically nature at its finest.  Sunday we’re heading to Galway and spending the day there.  I’m planning on doing a tour of Connemara and the Aran Islands on Monday, and then Tuesday I’ll spend half the day exploring Galway some more before I head back to Dublin to fly to Paris.

Sorry my blogs have been lackluster as of late…I’ve been crazy busy!

Anyways, I’ll give you some more details about these things tomorrow after I’m FREE!

I know you can’t wait…