Parents visit!

Alright, so my last visitors just left. My parents were here for ten days, and it was so much fun acting like I was on vacation again, and seeing them, and getting lots of free food! They had been to Paris two times before, so they were pros at getting around. We hit up some of the classic touristy spots (St. Chappelle, L'Arc de Triomphe, Musée D'Orsay) as well as some places I hadn't been to before (Musée d'art modern de la ville de Paris, Bois de Bologne, L'Orangerie, Le Concergerie, Musée du Moyen Age). They also got to see my apartment and meet Jean-Paul, and see Reid Hall and Paris VII as well.

A couple of other interesting things that happened:
1) I finally went to the harp store my teacher back home kept telling me about. It was pretty sick. It's basically a harp retail store (aka a room filled with harps). There aren't any stores like it in NYC! They also have a room in the back that harpists can practice in. As soon as I mentioned my teacher to the store owner, she perked up and said, "Ah, oui! June Han! Elle est très mignonne!" ("Yes! June Han! She is su cute!") and we set up times for me to play. I must say, it was fun to play harp again. Here is a pic of the store.



2) My Mom's cousin lives in Paris, so we met up with him and his long-time girlfriend. This girlfriend (Esther Shalev-Gerz) is an artist and currently has an exhibition at the Jeu de Paume! For all you New Yorkers, that's basically the equivalent of getting an exhibition at the Whitney or the Guggenheim. It's pretty cool. My sister Hannah and I went there when she was visiting, but I went again with my parents, and then we met and hung out with her! The exhibition is very intellectual, video-art, etc.--not quite my style, but still very cool. I also got to meet my great-uncle and his French wife for the first time!

Now, this week, I'm doing my second round of dogsitting for my sister's colleague Louis. Panda is adorable and my first real experience with dogs! (I have always been a cat person but now I can say I am both.) In order to keep her company, I'm supposed to stay at their apartment in Belleville, which is really fun. Belleville is basically like Chinatown, Brooklyn, and Queens, all rolled up into a Parisian quarter. I have such a fun time staying there and love snuggling with Panda.

And next week, I am going to Prague and Budapest!!! I am so excited and keep researching things to do. If anyone knows either of those cities well, give me ideas, please!!