So today was my last day in Pau. It is pretty hard to believe that this is all over, and tomorrow, I will be in Paris. I slept in pretty late, and got up around 11:30, and took a shower. I spent about 30 minutes taking care of some final things in my room, and finished packing. I didn't really know what else to do, so I just spent the rest of the afternoon practicing. It was nice to just play for a while. I still sound like crap, but I sometimes have moments of decency. At around 4:30, I decided to go over to the dorms. It was very weird leaving my room for the last time, and weird seeing it just as it was when I arrived.
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| I didn't get much of a view today, but I will miss this out of my window. |
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| Goodbye, bedroom. :( |
When I left, Jean-Francois gave me a local bottle of wine, which was really nice. It was a little rainy, so he drove me to the dorm. Nobody else was home, so we planned for me to come back later in the evening to say my official goodbye. Once I got my stuff in the dorm, I took a bus to the train station to buy my ticket to Paris tomorrow. It was cool. I thought of the first train ticket I bought in France, from Toulouse to Pau, and what a challenge it was. I have definitely made a lot of progress. Too bad I have to leave. After I bought my tickets, I walked around Pau a little, just because. Everything looks creepy in the rain, with a dead tree in front of it.
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| Bye, church. |
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| Bye-bye chateau. |
After I got back, I hung out with Breanna and Zach for like an hour, and then I walked back to Chez Goemare to say goodbye. We sat in the kitchen for a little bit and drank wine/juice/water and talked. I was glad to see everybody one last time. I gave the family a deck of playing cards with the Texas flag, a Dallas magnet for their fridge, and a set of wind chimes from Texas. They seemed to genuinely like the gifts, so that was good. I stayed for about 30 minutes, and then I had to go for dinner. It was very sad to leave them, but I am so glad I had such a wonderful host family.
Unfortunately, because it was Monday, Chez Maman was closed, so I went with Jenny, Erin, and Courtney, and we got our last kebabs. They were really good, and I'm glad I got one more.
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| The inside of kebab place. |
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| Dinner company. |
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| Never again. :( |
After, we went across the street to Le Garage, and spent the rest of the night there. It was fun, but also pretty weird to be there for the last time. There were a lot of people there, and so, there were lots of good byes.
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| Laura and Su Su |
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| Jenny, Chelci, and Courtney |
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| Lauren and James |
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| Erin and Jordana. |
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| Me with Laura, James, Chelci, Amelia, and Fabrizio. |
So it was really weird saying goodbye to all of these people, but I am so glad they were all so great. Overall, it was a really great group, and I think we all were really lucky to be a part of it. I am really sad to say goodbye to Pau, and would rather not. However, I am really glad it was such a fantastic experience, and that I will have so many great memories.
Now, I'm off to Paris and beyond. Three weeks and I'm home.
December 19, 2011 5:22 AM
ReplyDeleteDear Aaron,
One of the ironies of life is that the ability to experience pleasure and happiness carries with it the risk of feeling pain and sadness as well. They are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have the one without the the other; And the greater your capacity to enjoy the pleasurable things you've experienced in Pau, the more acute will be your sense of loss at their coming to an end.
The fortunate thing is that your memory of the sadness will quickly fade, while your happy memories will remain with you for the rest of your life--all the more so because of the wonderful record you've kept of your visit.
Many further discoveries and adventures await you in the remainder of your travels. A new door has been opened for you that relatively few have the chance to enter, and even fewer have the capacity to truly appreciate.
More than anything, you are fortunate to be feeling so sad about the end of your stay in Pau, because it implies the depth of your appreciation of the things you've experienced there, from every can of Orangina, to every kabob, every walk to and from campus, Les Mousquetaires du Convent, your flight over the Pyrenees, your classes, and many nights spent with friends from around the world. You are a very lucky guy!!
Love,
Mom & Dad