il y a une fois quand j'ai crié "Bonne Année!!!" dans les rues de Paris...
Yes, I'm still blogging about December. My blog, my rules, right? Right.
Between Bordeaux and Paris, Kate and I spent three days in Niort, mainly to save money on lodging and food. We didn't do much in Niort (not much to do in my town, honestly), but it was nice to relax. Of course, we did go out one night...
...to Uncle Sam's karaoke bar. Oh, yes. Where all the cool people hang out. And by "cool people," I mean Niort's version of white trash. Like the women outside who Kate overheard talking. One of them was mad at her boyfriend or trying to get back her ex-boyfriend or something. So she decided to pretend she was pregnant. Erm. Right. Great idea. Of course, according to her friend, it really was a great idea. So... yeah.
But we had fun regardless. We sang one of the few English songs available, Come Together by the Beatles. I'm sure everyone there was thinking, "What are these two American girls doing?!" but we were just having a great time.
After Niort came PARIS!!!!!!!! In case I haven't mentioned this ad naseum, Paris is my favorite city in the world. We had to take a very early train to save money on tickets, but we ended up traveling first class. Not too shabby! We checked into our hotel, the Port-Royal Hotel. My parents and I had stayed there several years ago when they visited me during my study abroad program. Hostels in Paris are so expensive, especially during the holiday season, that it was actually cheaper for us to stay in this hotel.
Our séjour in Paris was pretty calm. We had the chance to meet up with Rob, another teaching assistant, for vin chaud in the Latin Quarter. We had exchanged a few emails, but it was our first time hanging out, so that was cool. I introduced Kate to Shakespeare & Co., which is just what I do. We checked out Christmas lights all over the city. We went shopping. I made a very significant French purchase that I'd considered ever since I studied in Versailles.
We enjoyed a nice enough dinner for New Year's Eve in Montmartre. The restaurant had a guitar player serenading the diners. Kate and I were his favorite patrons, by far. In fact, the bartender or the waiter or someone had to tell him to pay attention to other customers because he spent too much time by our table. I'm going to take a wild guess and say he liked us best because we were the only non-couples, non-families, plus we sang along with him.
It was a fun night, watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight, shouting "Bonne Année!" and "Happy New Year!" at hundreds of strangers from around the world. We both spent too much money, but honestly, when will I again be in Paris for New Year's Eve?
We said our good-byes at Starbucks the next day. Kate was headed back to Marseille, but I was headed to Saint Germain-en-laye to see my cousins! Not only Stu and Beccy, but also their kids, Jocelyn and Corey, who were home for the holidays. Although my original intention was just to spend a few hours there, I ended up changing my train ticket to the next day so I could spend the night with them.
As always, I had an amazing time with them. They were holding their annual New Year's Day soup party, which is a casual drop-in affair. I very much enjoyed the bilingual conversation. We 'kids' escaped later in the evening and watched old home videos. Yup. So much fun to see Corey and Joc as little kids.
January 2 I reluctantly left my favorite cousins and favorite city/suburb for Niort. All in all, I had a lovely holiday, despite having spent way too much money.
Between Bordeaux and Paris, Kate and I spent three days in Niort, mainly to save money on lodging and food. We didn't do much in Niort (not much to do in my town, honestly), but it was nice to relax. Of course, we did go out one night...
...to Uncle Sam's karaoke bar. Oh, yes. Where all the cool people hang out. And by "cool people," I mean Niort's version of white trash. Like the women outside who Kate overheard talking. One of them was mad at her boyfriend or trying to get back her ex-boyfriend or something. So she decided to pretend she was pregnant. Erm. Right. Great idea. Of course, according to her friend, it really was a great idea. So... yeah.
But we had fun regardless. We sang one of the few English songs available, Come Together by the Beatles. I'm sure everyone there was thinking, "What are these two American girls doing?!" but we were just having a great time.
After Niort came PARIS!!!!!!!! In case I haven't mentioned this ad naseum, Paris is my favorite city in the world. We had to take a very early train to save money on tickets, but we ended up traveling first class. Not too shabby! We checked into our hotel, the Port-Royal Hotel. My parents and I had stayed there several years ago when they visited me during my study abroad program. Hostels in Paris are so expensive, especially during the holiday season, that it was actually cheaper for us to stay in this hotel.
Our séjour in Paris was pretty calm. We had the chance to meet up with Rob, another teaching assistant, for vin chaud in the Latin Quarter. We had exchanged a few emails, but it was our first time hanging out, so that was cool. I introduced Kate to Shakespeare & Co., which is just what I do. We checked out Christmas lights all over the city. We went shopping. I made a very significant French purchase that I'd considered ever since I studied in Versailles.
We enjoyed a nice enough dinner for New Year's Eve in Montmartre. The restaurant had a guitar player serenading the diners. Kate and I were his favorite patrons, by far. In fact, the bartender or the waiter or someone had to tell him to pay attention to other customers because he spent too much time by our table. I'm going to take a wild guess and say he liked us best because we were the only non-couples, non-families, plus we sang along with him.
It was a fun night, watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight, shouting "Bonne Année!" and "Happy New Year!" at hundreds of strangers from around the world. We both spent too much money, but honestly, when will I again be in Paris for New Year's Eve?
We said our good-byes at Starbucks the next day. Kate was headed back to Marseille, but I was headed to Saint Germain-en-laye to see my cousins! Not only Stu and Beccy, but also their kids, Jocelyn and Corey, who were home for the holidays. Although my original intention was just to spend a few hours there, I ended up changing my train ticket to the next day so I could spend the night with them.
As always, I had an amazing time with them. They were holding their annual New Year's Day soup party, which is a casual drop-in affair. I very much enjoyed the bilingual conversation. We 'kids' escaped later in the evening and watched old home videos. Yup. So much fun to see Corey and Joc as little kids.
January 2 I reluctantly left my favorite cousins and favorite city/suburb for Niort. All in all, I had a lovely holiday, despite having spent way too much money.