Perfecting Procrastination

Today marked the beginning of my one month countdown until the completion of my courses. I still have quite a good amount of work ahead of me, and I cannot wait for it to be over! As a disclaimer, it is not that I want my time abroad to be over, but this whole studying while in Paris thing is definitely overrated.

In the meantime, I am doing my best to procrastinate in the most awesome ways possible! I have created a food/place bucket list and am slowly checking things off.

A few weeks ago, I took care of a few of my foodie desires. Between classes, I went with a friend to La Maison Anglina--an incredibly overpriced and ritzy cafe, but quite famous for their celebrity patrons (past and present) and their hot chocolate. I had been to the cafe before, but had yet to take the plunge for the claimed infamous 7euro chocolat chaud....



I was not disappointed by the hot chocolate. However, it is not for the part-time chocolate fan. Incredibly rich and thick, definitely felt like a meal! (As a side comment, perhaps I simply haven't gone to the right place, but I have personally found that they definitely do hot chocolate in Europe so much better in the states. Angelina's in particular is basically just chocolate melted, maybe with a touch of cream. Back home, I feel like its more milk or water than anything else!)

I enlisted my housemate Julia for lunch at another restaurant I had found online, Chez Gladines, which is only about a 30 minute walk from our house. Definitely a very popular local spot for, as we discovered, good reason.



They serve delicious Basque food in quite large portions (for Paris)and at a fair price. Also, since it's located in the 13th arrondisement outside the center of Paris, the people are a little more laid back and actually reminded me a lot of Berkeley--definitely plan to go back!

What else...definitely have had too many French picnics at this point, but the weather has simply been way too nice to pass up an afternoon of baguettes, cheese, and wine! There are also endless options of fabulous places to picnic. Last Saturday, I spent about 5 hours in a gorgeous park in the north of Paris called Buttes-Chaumont.



I also have done a few "field trips" with the Buddy Program for international students at my school. Last week, I went on a tour of the Conseil Constitutionnel, which is basically the French Supreme Court.



And just today, I went to the Socialist Party headquarters.



Neither trip was "exciting," I unfortunately missed both opportunities to tour the Senate which probably would have been a bit more enticing since it is housed in the Jardin de Luxembourg building which is just gorgeous (from the outside at least). However, I'm still glad I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to get a more inside look at the French political institutions!

Tomorrow, thankfully, is Friday! I am looking forward to a busy weekend, but am hoping I can find motivation to do some amount of school work along with everything I have planned!