Lasts

It is hard to believe that I am getting so close to finishing my semester in Paris. It seems so much like I just live here now, but I am also hitting so many “lasts” that is hard to ignore the end of my stay here. The biggest last was probably the last travel weekend, which I passed in Scotland. To be honest, I didn’t have many expectations for Scotland, and really didn’t know anything about it except for the fact that in the United Kingdom. I was blown away by how much history and personality Scotland actually has, and how beautiful (albeit cold) it is there. I went on a bus tour of the highlands, which featured a tour of a whisky distillery, a trip to Loch Ness, and a wealth of history and culture from our driver. The most fascinating thing I learned on that trip was the fact that many of the cultural icons that we know for Scotland, including bagpipes, kilts, and speaking Gaelic, were made illegal after the Jacobite rising in 1745, and the revival of Scotland as a distinct and independent culture has been a relatively recent movement. Learning this history also gave some insight into more modern political relations between England and Scotland. I feel also feel that, while France and Scotland have next to nothing in common, each has much that can be admired through the paradigm of the other. France and Scotland have historically been allies, perhaps only united in their anti-English sentiments, and traveling between the two has been a fascinating insight into that relationship.

Another highlight of the week was the opportunity to make a trip to the temple. The trip out to the temple was made very inconvenient by the public transit, but being able to participate in the baptisms for the dead in French was a special treat. Of all the palaces that I have had the pleasure of touring the last few weeks, the temple is certainly the most personally and spiritually relevant.

I may still have a full week left, but I am already looking for my next excuse to move back to Paris for a while.