Kristen !

Today is June 28th, over two weeks since Kristen left Paris after spending a marvelous week with me.

I had just moved in to my new home in the 5th when Kristen flew into Paris the day after my birthday.

We immediately started profiter-ing and wandered around my favorite ways - to the Pantheon, Jardin Luxembourg and Notre Dame…then to Ile St Louis and back home again.

Gosh, how can you not love this girl?

The highlight of the week was definitely visiting Giverney- Monet’s home and gardens. Although a day trip, we probably spent only about two hours in the gardens- us and about every American tourist over the age of 50 that is!

Exploring the wilderness:

That night we were taken out to dinner by Violet Brown- in probably the swankiest restaurant I have seen and/or eaten in in Paris- but not in a good way. Side note- I work with Violet in the President’s office and she was in Paris as part of Haverford returning a lost Descartes letter to the Institut de France. Back to the restaurant- It was a kind of factory in proportions and had opera singers perform throughout the night which made the evening a kind of weird mix between spectacle and dining…in other words, not exactly my kind of place…but still really generous of Violet to take us out to dinner.

Violet et moi :

The next day was the returning of the Descartes Letter at the Institut de France. Kristen and I then helped work the event, greeting people at the entrance and handing out their name tags. Afterwards we more than adequately enjoyed the champagne and other goodies being offered. The surprise of the evening was definitely seeing one of my English professors- Maud McInerney, who it turned out is in France for most of the summer and invited me to spend some time at her country house! Score!

Flashy flashy: