That's Paris for Ya!

Our first day in Paris we woke up and went first to Notre Dame! I really liked Notre Dame the first time we went there so I was pretty excited to go back. We took the metro there without much difficulty other than the weird metro machines that wouldn’t give us tickets so we had to talk to the info desk to get them. But we got ourselves over there and then walked over to the Cathedral. There were less people there than the last time that I was there and I appreciated that. They also had a Christmas tree right in front of it so that was cool as well. I again liked the church and I liked that Cassidy had a nice camera so that she could take nice pictures in there. I later stole the pictures from her so now I have nice Paris pictures. 

 

Then we walked around feeling hungry and found a little café where we got the best breakfast ever. We got fresh squeezed orange juice, a café au lait, and a very nice and buttery croissant for like five Euros. It was very good and nice to sit down and relax for a bit. We felt very French and the coffee was very delicious. I was very happy until the stupid Royals song came on the TV and got stuck in my head for the rest of the day. But it was a nice quiet little café and I really enjoyed it. 

 

Then we decided to walk around and eventually end up in the Latin Quarter for a while before making our way over to the Louvre for the free for students night.  We walked over and found the lock bridge and I counted my twenty five bars and looked down and found Thad and Mines lock! That was pretty cool that it is still there!:-D I was happy. I took a picture which is scary to do because I have to lean out over the water and I have to be sure to NOT drop it. 

Then we continued walking and ran into a little jewelry store so that Cassidy could find some earrings for her grandma. We thought it was closed but then the guy let us in anyways. He spoke English and was super nice and really friendly but not overly. He told us where each jewelry was from and that some were designed by a furniture designer in Paris and such. He was a super nice guy and I was thinking I should buy something just because he was so awesome but then Cassidy found both a ring and the earrings. SO we were good. But then! When she paid for them with her St.Helens Debit card, the guy knew that Mount Saint Helens was in Washington!!! WOW! Someone who knows a. Where Oregon is b. Where the mountain is (aka not Oregon) and c. that it exploded! That was really cool. That is better than most American east coasters here! We were pretty shocked. Then we said bye to the nice guy and departed. 

We found a store with some cheap post cards and so of course I bought some. Then as we were walking around we stumbled upon a bookstore called Shakespeare and Company which was apparently super famous! We just found it on accident! Apparently Earnest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Ford Madox Ford. The real store was closed during the German Occupation in the 40’s and never reopened but the same store was moved and then opened where we found it. It was pretty cool and also you can see it in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris! So we walked around there and then while we were upstairs the bells of Notre Dame started ringing and sounded really cool. I thought that was a fun moment. I also found a cool looking book when I was at the store which had a funny title so I was going to get it for Robyn but then when I read the back of the book I said wait this actually sounds awesome. I want this. But it was really expensive and I decided that I could wait and get it in the US where it would not be anywhere near as expensive.

From there we walked over the bridges of the Seine and found ourselves in the Marais and no longer in the Latin Quarter. We walked around and went shopping!

Cassidy was sort of looking for a black dress and I was looking for maybe something nice to wear for Christmases. Since I don’t have anything I don’t think really. I found a cute Christmas scarf later which was nice. But while Cassidy was trying on a dress I was poking around and saying I am really sick of this stupid wool hat that I am allergic to. And I thought to myself, “Why do I even own this hat when I am allergic to it?” So I went and looked at their hats and found a dark blue one that I liked and the matching scarf for not too much money. So when Cassidy bought the dress, I bought the hat and scarf and then as soon as we left the store, I tossed my wool hat in the trash. And put on my new one which is 100% Acrylic so Yay! I decided to splurge for the scarf so that it matched because I figured when was the next time I would find one that matched? Maybe never so might as well go for it. We also stopped at a patisserie and got a desir de Manon which was a chocolate fudge cake which was heavenly, to celebrate my dads Birthday the day before. It was super good but it was also a good thing that we were splitting it because we would have never been able to eat two of them. It was so rich and delicious.

Then as we were walking around the streets I noticed a lot of Jewish stores and such and Cassidy told me that this neighborhood was about 75% Jewish at one point before World War 2 happened and that was pretty much over… But it still seems to be largely a Jewish and gay population that lives there. I actually just googled a bit more about this area to explain it and stumbled upon a picture of a place that Cassidy and I actually went on accident.

The Place des Vosges is considered by many to be the most beautifully built square in Paris. It was built by Henry IV and soon became one of the most exclusive areas to live. Napoleon himself considered it the jewel of Paris. Victor Hugo lived at # 6 while he wrote Les Miserables but during the 19th century much of the aristocracy had abandoned the neighborhood and the area was taken over by shopkeepers and immigrants, vagrants, artisans and artists and Jews. SAY WHAAAAT! We were right there! We were right where Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables!!! WHAAAAT! Mind = Blown!!! We actually ducked into this place because I saw people looking in and decided there may be a short cut to get through the big block instead of going around it. But then when we got in, we said hey this is gorgeous so we should sit here for a bit. So we did that for a while and Cassidy took some pictures. But I had no idea it was famous! But I guess that is Paris for you! So much history that everything is something awesome!

Then we left there and tried to go to a café that Cassidy had found that looked interesting in her guide book, but then it was closed so we kept walking until we ended up by the Louvre and found a place.

I got a burger and when we asked for tap water the waiter was a complete jerk and brought us a 6 euro bottle of water which wasn’t even that big. What a jerk. I know what is said was correct. And so that was just stupid. Most expensive water ever. We didn’t tip him anymore than we had to. But in the end Dinner was on Thad! He had given money to Cassidy to take me out to dinner so that was nice of him :-) My burger was delicious and really hit the spot.

Then after dinner we were going to wait around another two hours for the free Louvre tickets to start but we were so bored we decided to just pay for it and go in. It was pretty cool. This time we went to the sculptures which I found pretty exciting. They can really do a lot with marble! I really liked one which was of Mars and it had a big sea shell and such. We also saw the Michelangelo sculpture but I was kind of unimpressed. We also went and found this sculpture of a lady with five kids and because of time she only had one hand so I made a joke about it. Then slowly over time I got into a funny mood where I started taking pictures of things that I didn’t understand or didn’t like or found funny. I later put them on my Instagram so if you have me you can check that out for some hilarity. But I was having a good time and in all seriousness there were a lot of really cool stuff there. We also went and saw the maybe Aphrodite statue which was only found in like 1980 in Greece. But it doesn’t have enough detail to really know if it is her or not but I guess now it is super famous. I tended to like the not famous works more than the famous ones. They seemed to not be as interesting to me. I really liked a sculpture of Venus and Cupid, the two gods of love. They were cute.

After that we went and looked at the Napoleon Apartments which were SO luxurious. I really liked them. There was so much detail and furniture and fabric and gold and richness. Cassidy and I decided we wouldn’t mind living there. Except that then there would be people looking at us living there all the time. That would not be the best thing ever. After a while we got tired and went and got some Starbucks in the lobby. We were sitting there and decided to call it a night because we were so tired and had to be up for Versailles in the morning. So after buying croissants at Pauls, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. 

We took the subway back which wasn’t too complex and then when we got there I took a nice long shower. It was the best. Cassidy uploaded some of her pictures to Facebook and then I kept the rest. I instagramed a lot of pictures and laughed at myself that I was on such a roll that day. Sometimes I will admit my humor is pretty stupid but then sometimes I can actually be pretty funny. This was just a night with a combination of the both. OH! Also at the Louvre we saw my history teacher with his girlfriend. I didn’t say anything and he didn’t see me I don’t think but it was super weird. I hate when that happens and judging from talks with my mom teachers hate when it happens too. It’s just sort of awkward.

Then after my shower I had to edit my Literature paper and send it to Cassandra which was my entire point for having to bring my laptop (It sucks to carry around with my back.). I finished it and fixed some bizarre sentences or sentences that didn’t really say anything and then added a little note to my professor on the bottom thanking him for his dedication and work. I have heard rumor that he is getting fired which kind of sucks… But then after that I talked with Cassidy for a few hours until we decided we should actually go to bed. Then she went to sleep and I wrote some blogs but I didn’t actually write this one because I was behind still! It is constant now to be behind!!! Ahhh!

Last day of Real Class

This morning I woke up at 10:20 and took a shower. When I was done I set up breakfast and then woke up Cassidy. She didn't really want to get up so during breakfast we decided she would stick around the house for the morning. Over breakfast I monologues about whether or not I should skip my literature class today because it wasn't really going to be anything great and I already had the final topic for the paper. I eventually decided that I would write the final paper instead of going to class because I never had missed any classes since being here so I may as well miss the last one. But mostly I decided that because then I could write the final in that time I should do that so then I don't feel stressed out about it in Paris I can just edit it and send it to Cassandra to print it. So that's what was decided. I did go to my History class.

I got there LaSia and Cassandra were already there. Cassandra paid me back for the second Lyon tickets we had to buy and then we sat around and waited for class to start. We talked a bit about what was going to be on our final and then when Patrick got there I told him I wasn’t going to class because of Paris and getting ready. I figured then when I was absent he would tell the professor. We had class which got done pretty quickly and we got out about a half hour early. I was glad for it and then after talking a bit to LaSia, said goodbye to everyone for the weekend and went home to grab Cassidy. I packed and she was already packed and then we decided to leave to go get crepes before going and having tea/writing my paper. I got apple sauce and brown sugar and after eating half of it threw it away. I don’t like hot apples I decided. Apples should be cold and refreshing no matter what form they are in. Including apple pie. Should be cold with ice cream. Cassidy had brown sugar and butter and liked hers. Then after that we went to the tea place and each got our own pot of tea because Cassidy said I couldn’t finish one on my own. Well Challenge accepted! I chose a passion fruit tea which I really liked. I haven’t ever really branched out from just breakfast tea but I kind of like fruity teas I think? (Good Christmas Gift anyone). I don’t like green tea though. 

But we drank tea and I wrote my paper while Cassidy read or internetted or did whatever she did. I was too concentrated on my paper to really be paying attention. I did finish all of the tea (Challenge successfully passed) and also got all of my paper cranked out. Just as we were finishing up, one of the girls from my class, Morgan came down and was like hey I thought you left for Paris? And I was like umm yeah we are soon I just decided I wanted to write it before we left because it would be more productive and less stressful. She seemed to agree and said that I didn’t miss anything. We were there for like 3 ½ hours though just chilling with our tea. It was nice. 

Then we left and went back to the apartment and Madame was there. We talked to her a bit and started sitting around while she went to watch paul. We decided to have a bit of the leftover Pizza and while we were eating it, Beebow got sick and I had to clean it up. It was gross. I hate cat puke. I almost puked myself. He also threw up on the sofa which then after Cassidy ate her pizza and I barely stomached mine, we went downstairs and talked to Madame and I told he and she went upstairs to like throw some product on the sofa. Paul gave us both some tennis ball shaped gum which was super cute. He was excited about it. He didn’t want us to leave and was sad that it was Cassidy’s last time here that he would see her because we get back late Sunday and then she leaves early on Monday. So that was a bit sad but he was happy I wasn’t leaving for good yet. 

Then we went and got our stuff and left to the station stopping at Monoprix to get some breakfast snack foods that we could eat in Paris. Then we got on the train to the station and arrived there more than an hour before our train. We sat around and waited and used free wifi and got drinks and chips from the vending machine. Then pretty soon the train came and we jumped on it after noticing that hey 2^nd class and 1^st class are pretty much exactly the same to us… Weird. I literally saw that the only difference was the seat but it was pretty much the same. Then we sat on the train and I wrote blogs and Cassidy read a Paris book. After a while my computer died so I switched to sketching in my sketch book. It was relaxing and felt good to do something creative. 

Then after a bit we arrived in Paris where we took the metro to our hotel. Cassidy was a bit freaked when we got out of the metro stop and I looked down the streets to find the hotel. But I knew which one it was going to be on. She didn’t believe me until we were within visible distance of the sign though. It is only a block down from the stop. We signed in and then got to our room. It is very similar to our Lyon one (same company) and has the two bed thing with a bunk bed. So I took the top and gave Cassidy the big bed. I like having my own bed. Then we noticed our shower and toilet are separate which is a bit strange but also very French. Our shower is literally its own room which is cool. Also our bathroom doesn’t have a lock but it isn’t like we don’t know where the other person went so it isn’t a problem. Then sat around and made jokes for a while and then eventually went to bed. She took a shower and I Skyped Thad a bit. Though it feels weird to talk with him when I know that she understands what I am saying. It feels less private even though we aren’t saying anything important or very like private. But anyways then we went to sleep for our first day in Paris!

Spa Day!

Today I woke up at 5:40 because I wasn’t sleeping well at all. I had a final this morning at 8:50 and I was really worried about it. I usually don’t sleep well before tests but when I don’t feel prepared for it at all it is almost impossible. So I did exactly what I do at home, woke up and went to study in the living room. Madame wasn’t even up yet but then about twenty minutes into studying I could hear Beebow meaowing and Madame shushing him. Then he realized that someone was awake in the living room because he came in and started eating at the plant so I threw mice at him until he stopped. Madame woke up not too much longer afterwards and she was pretty shocked I was awake. She had breakfast while I studied and she asked me about how it was going. And I told her it was going not very well. 

And then really bad thing happened. I opened my email to look for notes and found that our train to Paris this weekend was cancelled because of a strike. So then it was a major freak out on top of an already freak out, and then Madame tried to help me figure it out but she didn’t really know what was going on. So then it was kind of a real disaster. I ended up buying new tickets for a train that we learned would be running. It gets in later so that kind of sucks but in the long run we can get a refund for those tickets and then I bought new ones which ended up being cheaper than the first ones. So that is a good thing! 

Then after that I commenced again at freaking out for the test and then Dad told me to cool it and I tried. I stopped studying and got ready to go to class. I walked there and then when I got there I learned that I wasn’t going first at 8:50 but wouldn’t do my test until 9. So that was a bit stressful in itself because we had to be at the spa afterwards and I had to go back to get Cassidy to go relax. It was a stressful process. I ended up getting the map of Aix which I had to explain all of the history of the city and point to where things were and name neighborhoods and stuff. Yeah it was not easy to do and I was definitely nt prepared for it because it wasn’t on the original list but was added. And it wasn’t limited to this part of the term because it encompassed the whole term which I think is a bit unfair. I did really terrible on it but for some crazy reason he gave me a B+. I was shocked. I think it was because he was taking pity on me. At the end he was like you didn’t want that image did you? And I was like NOPE. Especially because the girl before me had literally the EASIEST image! It was totally unfair. But I got an A in that class because I never missed any days so I got bumped to the A rank from the B+.  YAY! And now that class is DONE! Win! 

After that I had to run home in order to find Cassidy which as a bit stressful. I was worried we would be late. On my speed walk home though I noticed that one of the dumpsters that I usually walk by had been melted/lit a fire in. So now it was melted green plastic and burnt stuff all over the corner of the road. It was kind of interesting to me because I have never seen anything like that. Anyways I got home and then Cassidy was chilling at the table but was ready to go so I grabbed my swimsuit and then put away the breakfast stuff before we headed out. We had sort of purposefully forgotten our sandals so we got there and bought two pairs of white ones for 8 bucks. Not bad but I liked them because they were not dirty and smelled like plastic rubber (which I liked) and then we signed in and they took us and we got our bathrobes and towels which we could exchange whenever we wanted. We also got a little locker where we were able to put our stuff with our own four digit combo. It was safe. Then after that we went and sat in the waiting lounge area but not for long because then we were called for our first spa treatment!

The first one that we did was a air bath. It was a standard bath with air jets that was like a massage thing and then it also had grapefruit oil added into it. It was pretty cool. I had the lady turn mine up to be nice and warm. She was really nice. The bath was funny because it would boil over all the time but the room was designed to be like that. It was nice and relaxing and smelled nice too. 

Our second one was actually like a class. It was an aqua ball stretch class which was in this little like pool thing with two instructors. There was only one other lady including us in the class and after we took it we thought to ourselves, yeah that was kind of a class for old people. We did some light stretching on the bars which felt really good because I haven’t had good stretching while I have been here because the floor is uncomfortable to do it on and then the bed I just want to sleep in it. So it was kind of nice to do that and then near the end we floated on pool noodles (called fries here!) and had our ears under the water and just floated and then every once in a while one of the instructors would come around and turn you or move you. It was very relaxing and felt kind of weird but it was nice at the same time. 

Then after that we had a color changing shower. It wasn’t exactly a shower though it was like a mist room. Or like a sauna but with hot water mist. It felt almost like what sitting in a rainforest would be like where you don’t feel like you are really getting sprayed but it feels warm and you are like dripping all over. It was interesting. I like that it changed colors. Both Cassidy and I were like confused on what we were supposed to do because there was a chair but it was folded up when we went in so we both did a bit of standing and sitting. It was fun though. The water felt good and then after each thing I could feel my skin getting softer and softer. I liked it. Then the lady came and said it’s time to get out! Cassidy and I had about forty minutes before our last thing which I think was because it was lunch time so they want you to eat at their restaurant. But we kind of decided to wait until afterwards and then we would do something. So we went to dry our hair in the meantime because our last treatment didn’t involve water, and then we would be ready to leave after and it gave us something to do. 

We dried our hair with the fancy and quick hair dryers. They seemed really strong to me, but Cassidy said they were pretty normal so I bet I just don’t know hairdryers very well because in the States I never use them. But after we dried our hair we went and sat down to wait in the lounge when the lady came and asked if we wanted to do it early. We said sure why not and then went with her tout suite. We got instructed to sit on the heated table and then they rubbed oil all over us and when we laid down they wrapped us up in plastic and then we just got to lay there all cocooned and warm with oil. It was very relaxing and I had to concentrate on not falling asleep because not only was I that relaxed but I was also very tired from this morning! We laid there for a long time it felt like, I think longer than the 20 minutes it was supposed to be. Then eventually she came back and uncocooned us and we showered ourselves off from the oil. It sort of worked getting it off and sort of not because of the whole oil-water thing. But we did the best we could and then called it good. 

We got out and changed and then I accidentally forgot to change out of my swimsuit bottoms but by the time I realized it, it was too late. So oops. Then I ran over to the school because it was the closing ceremonies and I was originally going to skip it because I would be so late, but then I decided to go anyways. Cassidy got sent to the cave to wait and read while I went to that. It was kind of fun but also a bit boring. How many times can you hear someone give an award for a class and say “I wish I could give it to the whole class but I can only give it to one person. But the whole class was sos great…etc.” before you are like okay it would have been faster to just give every person at the college a stinkin’ award and just give one speech. But Jonny got an award! That was pretty cool! There were also a bunch of students there that I didn’t know because they were from the art school so they were never around. It was an interesting thing and a few people gave nice speeches about their experiences here, and then it was over. Well almost. They had the idea that it was going to be possible to get a picture of all of us… All 140… I said hahahah yeah no I am starving and grumpy and am not going to wait 20 minutes while they try to get a picture where you can see all of our faces. No one will notice when I am not in it, and I have taken so many pictures it is not like I will be forgetting who went to school here. So I ditched and grabbed Cassidy and she said I am starving so we left and went to get food. We were going to get crepe a go-go but we decided that we were so hungry we would get real food at the 24hour place (which is called le Cintra). We both ot cokes and then the breaded chicken that I like with green beans and French cries. The chicken this time was twice as thick as it has ever been when I have gone there before and it was just SO MUCH food. It was very very very good and I got about half but then could not finish it. Cassidy couldn’t either so we just called it quits after we were full.
 

After that we went back home and grabbed our computers/homework and went to Coco Boheme again so that I could get some work done before going to class. Cassidy insisted that I get a hot chocolate because she says that it is the best she has ever had. I have to say, it was very good. But I also have to say that the hot chocolate at the Lindt candy store by the Opera house in Paris that I went to with Grace was indeed better.  But it was good and I translated some Hemingway to French for my class and actually did a pretty good job! I left Cassidy to go to class and then once we got there my professor gave us all callissons and chocolate which was very nice of her. They were both very good and this was the first time I actually thought that the callissons tasted good. Before then, I had figured they were kind of over-rated. But these ones were good! I did well on the translation part and we talked a lot about different words and had more questions than usual today.

Then after that she gave us the verbs we need to study for the final which was super nice of her because that was the problem that I had on the last test so I will be good this time because I am going to do a good job studying. I am really happy that she did that though, I may actually not get a C in that class now? One can hope. 

Then after that I went back to Coco Boheme to get Cassidy and then we headed back to the house to get Madame. I changed my clothes and then we grabbed Madames two cakes that she made and went off to the potluck/party thing for students and hosts that the school was having that night. It was in the same place as Thanksgiving but it was more of a walk around style. There were a ton of people and it was very loud. I mostly hung out with my friends because Madame kept telling me to go join them when we stuck by her. She was happy to be able to show me off though and my friend who came all the way from the states to see me and stay with her. She told me she didn’t really know very many people but that she had fun talking to them and getting to meet some. The school had bought drinks for everyone and the food was brought out in groups. It was all easten very fast though! The school drinks were champagne and apple juice. I stuck with the apple juice. But the stupid thing was that there weren’t enough servers for the drinks because Yamina when she asked for helpers had said no to all of the girls because she said it was too hard for them… So it was Kelan and Michael who poured the drinks for everyone. Because as a girl I obviously can only help serve 100+ pieces of pie and wash dishes, but I can’t lift a bottle of champagne or apple juice four inches off of the table to pour it. Okay. Yeah that isn’t sexist at all. >.> I hate sexism like that. Or I guess maybe it is gender roles. Well whatever it is it is something I disagree with and do not like at all.

After a while Madames cakes got brought out and I told everyone that it was my host moms and then grabbed a piece for me and Cassidy. It was very much liked by the students. I even said that sometimes I get to eat it for breakfast with nutella. And some of the sorority girls heard and were like “You eat this for Breakfast?!” and I was like “yeaaah” Apparently they did not approve. But whatever. Like they have never had pound cake for breakfast. But it wasn’t exactly pound cake. Cassidy thinks that it might be beer bread or that it tastes a bit like beer bread but more cakey. I have never had that so I wouldn’t know but I don’t think there is beer in it because I never saw any on the counter when she has made it. We missed the chocolate cake because I wasn’t sure if it was hers or not until it was too late. But that is okay. I have had it and I know it is the best. :-) 

Then after a while we decided to leave and so we said bye to Madame who told us she was leaving soon too. She told us to go out with my friends so we did. Tonight was the Merry Unbirthday party/white elephant secret santa party that I had come up with like two weeks ago. I had drawn LaSia’s name and had bought my gift for her when we were on our trip to Vaucluse. We walked along and took pictures of the Hotel de Ville and then I picked Patacrepe for dinner/dessert because they had lots of options and lots of seating inside that would be able to fit us. Cassidy ended up buying me a drink saying it was for helping supply alcohol for Megans Bachelorette party. So that was nice of her, and then she got one as well. She also had a super chocolatey crepe which she couldn’t finish and I had a fruit salad. My drink was so strong I ended up dumping the sauce from my fruit salad into the drink to make it taste a bit better. But it was very nice of her. We did secret Santa and LaSIa guessed that it was me who gave her a keychain of both a box of tampons and a can of raviolis. I thought it was a pretty good gift myself! Useful because you can put it on your keychain but also pretty stupid. Cassandra got Patrick a Pont magazine and a pony trivia game. Patrick ended up getting me and gave me a really nice glass ball with the shape things inside of it which is really pretty but also very heavy. But it was a nice gift, not really a white elephant. Gina got a bar of soap and loved it even though it was supposed to be funny. I made a snowman from Cassidies merangues and marshmallows that are so strong that no one wants to eat them. 

Then after that we called it quits and left for the night. I made a stop over to Cours Mirabeau because we were so close so that Cassidy could see it lit up at night before she leaves soon. Kind of sad already… But it is nice. Sometimes I look over and I am just happy to see a familiar home face. And happy that I don’t have to try to make everything okay. I can just talk and nt have to explain people or places or things. And sometimes I look over and just think, I’m really glad that someone it here to experience this with me.
 

When we got home we raved to Madame about how great her cakes were and how all my friends like them. Then after that we loked at the trains to be sure they would work and I made a list of things that I needed to print. I figured out how to get remboursed for the ticket tht was cancelled and then figured out after a mini freak out that indeed I had only cancelled the wy there and not also the way back. That was a bit frightening. The second train actually ended up being 20 euros cheaper than the first, so that is nice! Extra ten euros to spend on something else! Then we made a plan for the next day and after attempting to talk to Thad who’s internet was totally busted, went to bed.