weekend in parisssssss
well, I'm desperately trying to catch up on all the really amazing things that have been happening with in the past couple of weeks, and I am almost a month behind!!!! yikes!
But I can not go forward without mentioning the absolutely fantastic time I had with Jessie, Jon, and Ellen in Paris. Jessie now lives in Paris full time-- chanceuse! (lucky duck!)-- as an au pair to the most amazing family in the entire world! When they heard that Jessie was having friends over they invited us up to have a drink with them and talk for awhile. The mom is British and the dad is French and they have the two most adorable little children ever! Which reminds me-- that I should email the Rabils-- who are the best family on the other side of the Atlantic! Anyway.....
I arrived in Paris the weekend before I went back to the States- so friday night I got all my things down to the train station- which was quite a feat since my bag weighed almost as much as me- and finally got into Paris. Then all my instincts failed me and (hanging my head) I took the metro the wrong way-- TWICE! yeah. it was pretty bad. By the time I got to Jessie's metro she had almost given up on me, but I finallllly arrived! haha. Thenn, we had to get my bags up to Jessie's place, but thankfully the family let me leave my bad in their apartment because her room is sooooo tiny, I honestly couldn't believe it. I am so not exaggerating when I say that I have both closets and bathrooms which are bigger than that. The room was packed to overflowing with four people in it and my bag would never, never, never have fit! haha. also, she lives on the seventh floor! so carrying the bag up there would not have been pleasant- but as the parents live on the second floor adn there is an elevator, that worked out well.
Hmm,...also- that night, we went out to one of our favorite bars from when we were in Paris. Its a sangria bar, which our teacher Severine introduced us to one night- and its amazing. Its called Le DIX-- apparently because its the number ten building on the street. The sangria is just absolutely delicious- but a serious headache the next day. Its the sugar that does it. you could drink just one glass and still be in bad shape the next day. anyway. we met Jessie's friend John there- which was fun. He's a nice guy, an engineer working in Paris for a year-- Jessie knew him at UD, so it was nice to have a common link. It was a kind of weird night,- at one point I got into a big fight with this John, because I thought we were going the wrong direction- haha,, he was so right, which I realized and apologized for, but he wasn't impressed. haha. oh well. also- somehow we knocked over a Vespa- that was stressfull! all in all a good night!
we also revisited the fountain that night, though I have no pictures of that as my camera broke halfway through the night! :(
The next day we got a good start on the day- not necessarily early- butttt, once we were actually awake we got right into the day! haha, we started by just walking around and seeing interesting things. We walked down to Odeon and through the markets around there, trying to find some food and water-- and eventually just stopped in a grocery story! haha, not as french as a market, but still does the trick when your stomach is insistant! But we made up for it by finding a park and eating in the open in the best french way. We found a park that had these benches which were open books-- so you sat on the pages-- it was awesome.
Jon and Ellen-- too cute for their own good
me and Jessie-- every time I looked at her when she was posed like that I just started laughing, so it took a couple minutes for a successful shot!
After the park we wandered down to the Seine where we admired the view and tried to decide what to do for the rest of the day
we decided to walk through the Tuileries ( a garden that faces the Louvre- full of statues, fountains, cute french couples, crazy americans, and lots of trees and flowers.
we reenacted the 'seduction' of a famous french statue- which was fun- though we did get some stares and laughs. It was all in fun though, and kind of a rite of passage- everyone assaults this statue.
this is my favorite though there are many, many pictures of the statue.
then we rode out to the famous cemetary of Paris- where lots of famous people are buried. We each picked a grave that we wanted to see- but we got a little off track of finding them because Jessie and I decided to run away and play hide and seek with Jon and Ellen! haha, that was a mistake- we never did find our way back to the 'main' path, but after two hours of searching we did find the four graves we wanted to.
1. Oscar Wilde- my choice
--- for some unknown reason everyone kisses his tomb. it was fun- but slightly disgusting since it was covered with other people's kisses already- haha, but here it is.
Jessie helping me get ready for the big kiss.
there she is.
2. Edith Piaf- Jessie's choice
--- her grave was inexplicably covered in flowers- and by covered I mean-- I wasn't sure we were looking at her grave because I couldn't read the headstone- and I had to eavesdrop on other people to be sure.
3. Molière- Ellen's choice
-- Molière was buried in this little enclosed yard, actually not even buried- it was one of those crypt like things-- I dont really know how to describe it- it wasn't a house but it was above ground. anyway,.. no pictures of that-- (my camera was broken and so i'm relying on the pictures that Jon and Jessie took)
4. Jim Morrison- Jon's choice
--- I was expecting something really cool, I mean.. its Jim Morrison- but sadly- no. It was this dinky little headstone stuck completely behind another one so that you could only see it from an angle-- with all this fence stuck around it so no one could ruin it.
hmm-- then we had the delicous delicious mi-cuit gateau au chocolat-- (half baked chocolate cake)(with creme anglaise)!!!! it was the best. Jessie waited for me to eat it and it was everything I remembered and more. haha.
that night was pretty lax, especially as I had to get up super early to get the metro to the airport. and ....that was my weekend in paris. It was really fun and I wish all my weekends were like that!
But I can not go forward without mentioning the absolutely fantastic time I had with Jessie, Jon, and Ellen in Paris. Jessie now lives in Paris full time-- chanceuse! (lucky duck!)-- as an au pair to the most amazing family in the entire world! When they heard that Jessie was having friends over they invited us up to have a drink with them and talk for awhile. The mom is British and the dad is French and they have the two most adorable little children ever! Which reminds me-- that I should email the Rabils-- who are the best family on the other side of the Atlantic! Anyway.....
I arrived in Paris the weekend before I went back to the States- so friday night I got all my things down to the train station- which was quite a feat since my bag weighed almost as much as me- and finally got into Paris. Then all my instincts failed me and (hanging my head) I took the metro the wrong way-- TWICE! yeah. it was pretty bad. By the time I got to Jessie's metro she had almost given up on me, but I finallllly arrived! haha. Thenn, we had to get my bags up to Jessie's place, but thankfully the family let me leave my bad in their apartment because her room is sooooo tiny, I honestly couldn't believe it. I am so not exaggerating when I say that I have both closets and bathrooms which are bigger than that. The room was packed to overflowing with four people in it and my bag would never, never, never have fit! haha. also, she lives on the seventh floor! so carrying the bag up there would not have been pleasant- but as the parents live on the second floor adn there is an elevator, that worked out well.
Hmm,...also- that night, we went out to one of our favorite bars from when we were in Paris. Its a sangria bar, which our teacher Severine introduced us to one night- and its amazing. Its called Le DIX-- apparently because its the number ten building on the street. The sangria is just absolutely delicious- but a serious headache the next day. Its the sugar that does it. you could drink just one glass and still be in bad shape the next day. anyway. we met Jessie's friend John there- which was fun. He's a nice guy, an engineer working in Paris for a year-- Jessie knew him at UD, so it was nice to have a common link. It was a kind of weird night,- at one point I got into a big fight with this John, because I thought we were going the wrong direction- haha,, he was so right, which I realized and apologized for, but he wasn't impressed. haha. oh well. also- somehow we knocked over a Vespa- that was stressfull! all in all a good night!
we also revisited the fountain that night, though I have no pictures of that as my camera broke halfway through the night! :(
The next day we got a good start on the day- not necessarily early- butttt, once we were actually awake we got right into the day! haha, we started by just walking around and seeing interesting things. We walked down to Odeon and through the markets around there, trying to find some food and water-- and eventually just stopped in a grocery story! haha, not as french as a market, but still does the trick when your stomach is insistant! But we made up for it by finding a park and eating in the open in the best french way. We found a park that had these benches which were open books-- so you sat on the pages-- it was awesome.
Jon and Ellen-- too cute for their own good
me and Jessie-- every time I looked at her when she was posed like that I just started laughing, so it took a couple minutes for a successful shot!
After the park we wandered down to the Seine where we admired the view and tried to decide what to do for the rest of the day
we decided to walk through the Tuileries ( a garden that faces the Louvre- full of statues, fountains, cute french couples, crazy americans, and lots of trees and flowers.
we reenacted the 'seduction' of a famous french statue- which was fun- though we did get some stares and laughs. It was all in fun though, and kind of a rite of passage- everyone assaults this statue.
this is my favorite though there are many, many pictures of the statue.
then we rode out to the famous cemetary of Paris- where lots of famous people are buried. We each picked a grave that we wanted to see- but we got a little off track of finding them because Jessie and I decided to run away and play hide and seek with Jon and Ellen! haha, that was a mistake- we never did find our way back to the 'main' path, but after two hours of searching we did find the four graves we wanted to.
1. Oscar Wilde- my choice
--- for some unknown reason everyone kisses his tomb. it was fun- but slightly disgusting since it was covered with other people's kisses already- haha, but here it is.
Jessie helping me get ready for the big kiss.
there she is.
2. Edith Piaf- Jessie's choice
--- her grave was inexplicably covered in flowers- and by covered I mean-- I wasn't sure we were looking at her grave because I couldn't read the headstone- and I had to eavesdrop on other people to be sure.
3. Molière- Ellen's choice
-- Molière was buried in this little enclosed yard, actually not even buried- it was one of those crypt like things-- I dont really know how to describe it- it wasn't a house but it was above ground. anyway,.. no pictures of that-- (my camera was broken and so i'm relying on the pictures that Jon and Jessie took)
4. Jim Morrison- Jon's choice
--- I was expecting something really cool, I mean.. its Jim Morrison- but sadly- no. It was this dinky little headstone stuck completely behind another one so that you could only see it from an angle-- with all this fence stuck around it so no one could ruin it.
hmm-- then we had the delicous delicious mi-cuit gateau au chocolat-- (half baked chocolate cake)(with creme anglaise)!!!! it was the best. Jessie waited for me to eat it and it was everything I remembered and more. haha.
that night was pretty lax, especially as I had to get up super early to get the metro to the airport. and ....that was my weekend in paris. It was really fun and I wish all my weekends were like that!