Back Where It All Began

Paris has not lost its charm. This summer started here in Paris, so what better way to spend my final weekend? I have been able to see some things I missed the first go around: The Villa Savoye (Le Corbusier), The Foundation Cartier (Jean Nouvell), and The Apartments (Herzog & de Meuron). All three of these buildings I have seen pictures of and read accounts about, but it was great to see them first hand.

The rest of the afternoon today I am going to walk around the old town of Paris, and do a little souvenier shopping. Get to bed early, and then off to the airport tomorrow by 6:00 am. I will arrive in San Francisco in the afternoon.

Ciao.

Decisions, Decisions!

So, I went to the train station this morning to book my ticket. Still not sure where I was going, I started talking to the ticket agent, and came to find out that passage to Paris is not as easy to come by as I had originally thought. I was thinking about it last night, but my conversation confirmed it: back to Paris! I cannot Handle the notion of missing my flight home (and the additional costs that would come with it)...so to circumvent that from occurring, I am going back to Paris a few days early, and from there will make a couple of day trips during the weekend to the outskirts where I can see the Villa Savoye and Ronchamp...two buildings I have been shown on countless occassions since starting grad school. I figure I can be my own judge for how brilliant Le Corbusier really is ;) I am sure I will be remarkably impressed, but it is worth the effort to see them in person. So with all of that, I will leave Berlin on the night train, and arrive in Paris at 8:30 the tomorrow morning. I have made arrangements to see Ophelie and Guillaume for dinner tomorrow (which is quite a nice bonus and surprise!), before their departure on Saturday morning for a holiday in the French Alps. So all in all, everything is working out for the best, and I am looking forward to the familiar grounds of Paris (this will be my 4th time through Pairs this summer!).