Starting to feel like it's crunch time...and so I'll spend this Sunday focusing on my final essays (due in less than a month!). At least it's raining so I don't feel guilty for staying in on a beautiful day :)

My final essays are pretty intense and require a lot of independent research (ex: the theme of 'les baigneuses' (bathers) in 19th century art) and a comparison between Baroque, Renaissance, Classic, and Romantic music. Interestingly - I've just found out that my grades from this semester do not have any influence on my overall GPA at Wheaton....I have to forget this little fact if I'm going to have any sort of motivation to do my work....

Friday night I went on a tour of Nice's contemporary art along the tram line with Sheridin, my host mom and her friend. The tram line is only 3 years old, and while it was being constructed the city of Nice hired artists to install pieces along the line. Some of the pieces are visible all of the time (lampposts in Place Massena) but some take a little investigating to find. 

Lamppost with all different types of lamps

"Waterfall of things" painted on an apartment building

bench made to look like stones

end of the tram line

out to dinner after the tour

 On Saturday Celine and I went on a tour of the Astronomy Observatory of Nice. Although most of the information given on the tour was way too scientific for me I still really appreciated seeing the facilities. The Nice Observatory is one of only two in France - and was built in 1878. Most of the equipment, including a 22m long telescope is just as old as the building.

view of nice from the observatory

HUGE telescope used for tracking planets and stars