Paris, France

Paris, the final stop of our last major trip on this study abroad adventure. This reality was hitting home to all of us as we were here. It's unbelievable how fast the time here has gone. But what a way to end it! Paris, France! Our meetings here were with the International Energy Agency as well as the French Foreign Ministry. Both meetings were interesting, as we had not had much exposure to either organization although both are very important in the world.

The sightseeing in Paris was of course amazing. Above is a picture of the Louvre, where some of the world's most famous pieces are kept, such as the Mona Lisa and statue of Venus. What struck me most about not only the Louvre, but the Eiffel Tower too was how large they were. The Eiffel Tower is so famous, that nearly every has a picture in their minds about how big it is, but when I got there and looked up at it, it truly was marvelous to see how tall and impressive it is in person. With the Louvre, it's only an art museum, right? Well don't tell the French. This museum would take days (plural) to get through, if one was to even go slowly through it. It's unbelievable. The best part though was that on Fridays after 6pm, students get in free. A couple of friends and I went there to mostly see the famous works, so two hours was definitely enough. Anything past that and we felt guilty that we couldn't appreciate the artwork for how good it truly is.

On Saturday, we ended up having the entire day to ourselves (no meetings!!) and were able to explore the city to our hearts' desires. A bunch of us headed to Versailles, the famous palace outside of Paris about 30 minutes or so. Also unbelievably large and ornate. After that, I came back and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then headed to Notre Dame and walked back to the hotel. That night, IES paid for a farewell dinner for us in honor of a good trip. The food was amazing. At the end, our "family" members (the close group of us that have hung out since the beginning) shared our favorite aspects of the trips that we've taken together. For me, I was happiest that I met the people that I did and that we had so much fun together over these past few months. It was really a bitter-sweet moment. But overall, what a fun bunch of trips! Now we begin to wind down and prepare for our final papers and tests as well as our model EU summit at the end of April.

I want to wish everyone who reads this a Happy Easter. I miss you all and I hope that everything is going well. Spring has definitely arrived in Freiburg, and I hope it makes its way to you as well. Ciao for now!