Parisian Aesthetic

As we approach the end of our Parisian adventures, time seems to run faster with each passing minute. We try to fit in as many quintessentially Parisian experiences as we can, but we're no match for Father Time. Regardless of our chronometrical shortcomings, we embrace the experiences we have selected. Le Tour Eiffel on Thursday evening stunned us all with its manmade beauty, a beauty magnified by nature and splattered with orange rays as the sun set beyond the Seine to the west. The next evening, Notre Dame seemed to have jealously noted our awe of the famous tower, for the church took on rich, sun-drenched hues of its own when we visited after our final day as interns. Despite my non-Catholic origins, I found myself in awe of this sacred building from the inside and out. Regardless of one's personal beliefs, it is impossible to ignore the artistic passion and inspiration engraved in every column and stained-glass window of the church. Perhaps it was just the incense, but I was nearly overcome with the sheer beauty of the structure, astonished at the creativity of the human species.

If I have learned anything from these past few weeks in Paris, it is to seek aesthetic pleasure with a constant hunger for discovery. I have learned to take joy from living in the moment, recruiting all the senses to appreciate the here and now. I must thank the Parisians for offering me more than my fair share of aesthetic inspiration, between my visit to Le Musee de L'Art Moderne today, my visits to the Tour Eiffel and Notre Dame earlier in the week, or my many photograph-worthy meals throughout the trip (and yes, I took an enormous number of pictures of food.) Paris has taught me that I can find beauty not only in the expected places, but where ever I choose to seek it. In fact, aesthetic fulfillment is around every corner, whether it is in the form of an artisanal baguette or an intricately meandering trickle of water headed toward the gutter. 

-SM

Nearing the end

Here we are just a few days away from heading back home. It's been a fantastic trip on all fronts. The students - Heydi Malavé ('11), Casey Deluca ('12), Sadie McQuilkin ('12) and Bethany Fowler ('13) have been exemplary in every way and have been excellent Ambassadors of St. George's. I've had the pleasure of watching them blossom in Paris as they took on their internships and learning about the city and French life simultaneously.

I saw each of the girls in action at their respective internships: Heydi (Curie Institute) slicing mouse tumors to view under a microscope; Sadie (Curie Institute) working with the mosquito robot; Casey (Tg Communication) working on translations and preparing for a Bobbi Brown product launch; and Bethany (NLB Conseil) translating the website and participating in client interviews. All in all, it was a productive two weeks for each student who had the opportunity to work with experts in their respective fields and were able to both observe the daily operations of the companies and "learn by doing." I have no doubt that these were valuable learning experiences and that each of the girls will walk away with new skills that will help them in the future.

In addition to the internships, I've kept everyone busy exploring the city. We've packed in about as much as we possibly could -- from museum visits to walking through different "quartiers" to viewing Paris from above to eating amazing food -- it's always a thrill for me to expose my students to the city that is so near and dear to my heart. As a teacher, I love to see the moments when the connection is made between something learned in the classroom and then seeing or experiencing those things first hand -- whether it be an expression, a painting, a street, a monument, a crêpe or macaron -- that moment of connection and understanding is a powerful one!

Tomorrow we'll be taking a short excursion to the outskirts of Paris to St. Germain en Laye. I have a good friend who lives there and we're going to take the opportunity to get out of the city for a few hours and have lunch with her. St. Germain en Laye is a charming town just a half hour outside of the city and known for its château (birthplace of Louis XIV) and is also known as horse country.

That leaves us Sunday and Monday. Sunday is host family day. Monday will be our last day together in Paris. There may be a visit to the Rue Cler to provision for a picnic on the Champs de Mars followed by a trip to Ile Saint Louis for ice cream at the famous glacerie Berthillon. I think that would be a perfect way to end our quite perfect three week trip!

TGIF?

Today was my last day at the Curie Institute. It's hard to believe that it's almost been three weeks here in Paris and that my internship is already over! Even in these last couple of days I've learned so much. I was completely on my own on Wednesday when it came to the whole process of acquiring a tumor from a mouse intestine. Yes. The WHOLE process. This bumped my "sacrifice" count to 3 mice. I opened the mouse up and cleaned the intestines (some tricky business, and not very pretty either). Then I cut the intestines into smaller sections and cut them longitudinally so that I could see the inner surface of the intestine. Sure enough there was a small hard mass of tissue that was indeed a tumor. Many processes later these very tumors were cut in thin slices and put on slides for viewing under the microscope.

On Wednesday we also got to see the Louvre. I personally was not disappointed when we saw the Mona Lisa. True we couldn't necessarily get close, but it lived up to its name. Mystery galore. Anyway, for Casey's sake, I won't get too into it. Then we must have found the only restaurant in France that served American food (but with a French twist). There were fried chicken wings, burgers, and chicken fijatas, and last but not least tiramasu au nutella. YES. tiramasu (which is AMAZING) + nutella (which is delicious) = best dessert I've had during the whole trip.

Yesterday there was a going away party! It was actually just a coincidence that it was my last week too. There were interns finishing their Master's as well as a group leader who was retiring. It was amazing to see that scientists had lives outside of the "bench". They slowly emerged from the building into the sunny courtyard and enjoyed ice cream and cake just as you and I would. Veronique, who was working with the rest of my lab group, was one of those departing. She had gone to Stanford for a year so she got to tell me all about it, and kept telling me how much she had enjoyed it. She got me really excited to go to college next year! Overall I had a really great experience at the Curie and hope that others will be able to go next year!

Yesterday we also climbed the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Of course I benefited from my handicapped privileges (I got to ditch the stairs to ride the elevator up the Arc de Triomphe), but Mrs. deHorsey gets her props for reserving tickets to the Tour Eiffel. We didn't have to wait in line or anything! We had wonderful views of Paris. We also dined at restaurant that was right across from the best view of the Eiffel Tower. And I had macaroons for the first time! I must say they are surprisingly delicious (raspberry and caramel flavor anyway).

On a side note I had a mini-escapade sans bequilles (without crutches) and it turns out that I can kind of walk. But after that my atrophied crippled leg was quite sore, so maybe I will delay further rendezvous sans bequilles until I get back the United States.

----Heydi----

Un Jour avec les Petits

The family I'm staying with has a lot of children. Five, to be exact, plus three if you include me and the other foreign kids. With five kids already you might wonder why the parents would want to house more, except that with a number like that how could a few additions change anything? The two youngest in the family are lovingly referred to as "les Petits", a phrase I'd probably translate as "youngsters" or "little ones". The little ones include a five-and-a-half-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister; both of whom are completely and irresistibly adorable. Unfortunately though, my schedule doesn't align very well with that of the little ones. I wake up as they are leaving for school and usually don't come home until after they have already been put to bed. This is too bad, not only because I don't see much of them, but also because in order to reach the family's washing machine one must traverse the children's bedroom. Every time I thought of doing my laundry, the children were either asleep or their mother (who'd promised to show me just the right process) was not home. After a couple days of "how about tonight?"s and "definitely tomorrow"s I was in dire need of some clean clothes. I told Mme deHorsey, and she agreed to let me miss out on the group activities for a day so I could match my schedule to that of the little ones. The plan was a success.
I got back from work as they were eating their after-school snack and set up the washing machine while they each took a bath. For whatever reason the kids didn't have school the next day and so they convinced me to spend the evening staying up with them and waiting for the load to finish. We started by drawing in marker, and I have consequently perfected my sketch of the infamous "grand monstre vert" (basically a green blob with yellow eyes and purple hair). Dinner was delicious and afterwards I let the little ones advise me on which dessert to choose (mousse in a pudding cup. They have good taste). We practiced our geography with a Where's Waldo like book of Northern Europe. And finally, their mother read a story about the beauty of nature and the power of the individual. The little ones went to bed, likely without having understood either of these morals, and I took out the fresh laundry before headng up to bed as well. It was a long and productive day for me and les Petits. I can only hope that Mme deHorsey and the other girls had as much fun.

-Bethany