One of the perks of my summer job is the ability to tag along on visits to the latest Parisian exhibits each summer. Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of visiting L’Atelier des lumières, where three immersive sound and light shows are currently presented. The most fabulous one, in my opinion was the Gustav Klimt show, marking the centenary of the Austrian painter’s passing and also considering his artistic heirs, such as Egon Schiele. The shows are projected on the floors and walls of a former foundry in the 11th Arrondissement. You are bathed in light and music as one image is absorbed into the next. The Klimt show is on until November 11, 2018 and I highly recommend that you make it a priority if you will be in Paris before it closes.
L’Atelier des lumières (lat-el-e-ay day loom-e-air) means “workshop of light,” and I will definitely be adding it to my list of places to return to when I am in Paris.
A tradition at my summer job in Paris has become doing an Escape Room as a bonding activity during the week that we prepare for the students to arrive. This year, a colleague suggested that we try a new venue, 
Costumed actors played the role of a troupe who have lost part of a musical score to the Phantom of the Opera. Our mission was to find the missing letters in order to complete the score. As usual, we had one hour to complete our task. If you are successful, your group will earn admission to hear the completed aria with the missing notes restored.
I don’t want to say too much in case I end up spoiling this for you, but it was a lot of fun in a tremendous setting. I think the setting was actually the biggest handicap for my group; several of them had never been to Opéra Garnier before and we lost time as they gazed around in awe at the ornate interior. It was an inventive way to explore a great Parisian landmark. L’échapper belle (lay-shap-ay bell) is to have a narrow or lucky escape. I hope that is your fate if you try Inside Opera.
For the last two years, I have tried a one word affirmation, as inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s 
My quest to lose weight was tougher. Despite some early success, no matter what I tried, my weight continued to creep up. In late summer, I found out that I had grown a rather substantial kidney stone that had to be surgically removed. Once it was gone, the weight fell off. The weight gain was really fluid retention due to a malfunctioning kidney. The lesson I learned there was that instead of beating myself up, I should seek medical advice if my body starts acting strangely. The DASH diet and I are now good friends to try to prevent the small stones in my other kidney from growing to the same mammoth proportions.
This year, I have selected SUFFICIENT, or SUFFISANT (soo-fee-zahn), or suffisante (soo-fee—zahnt) when referring to a feminine noun. How do I see applying this to my life? Well, for one thing, I really don’t need any more clothes. In my overly analytical way, I have been keeping track of what I wear on a monthly basis. I found that I typically wore five items of clothing in each major category most months (for example, five blouses, five sweaters, five dresses) and about ten different pairs of shoes in any given season. Yet, I have far more than five (or ten) seasonally appropriate items hanging at my disposal in any given month. When tempted to shop just for the sake of novelty, I’m telling myself that my wardrobe is more than suffisant to meet my sartorial needs.
I’m trying to be more reasonable about what I put my 
But suffisant also applies to things I need to do more of. For instance, part of my new anti-kidney stone lifestyle is supposed to be 100 ounces of fluids a day. One. Hundred Ounces. I have never once made this goal, peaking at about 64 ounces, and yet, the dietician and physician’s assistant both said that this was the most important change I could make. So, I’m going to be more diligent in tracking my fluid intake on my 
Next, is a 
Finally, a purely sentimental recommendation. Read a French translation of a childhood favorite. I recently finished 
When I first started spending time in Paris, I used to love to visit a bookstore in the Marais called Mona Lisait. It was famous for coffee table and art books at discount prices, dust, and creaking floors. But the Marais has gotten increasingly chic and eventually Mona Lisait shut its doors.
This year, I noticed a chic new bookstore in the Marais and it took me quite a while to realise that I was standing in a completely transformed space that used to be Mona Lisait.
The new store, 
