Our top priority today was preparing for the Harry Potter 7P2 midnight premiere! Erika, Laura and I went on a search first thing this morning for the cinema so we could buy tickets for everyone. Eventually, we figured out that the cinema was in the mall. Yep, there also happens to be a mall within a 30 second walk of the apartment. Get this, there's ANOTHER H&M in it and it's huge. I died. Anyway, the mall appeared to be teeny from the outside but was GINORMOUS. It went on and on and had a library and a swimming pool and so many awfully named stores (who names a shoe store SHOESTORE? Was it so hard to come up with something even mildly creative? Do you think you're being creative by not putting a space between the most straightforward description of your store? What if I interpret it as SHOES TORE? That's really bad advertising.) and some great gelato. We eventually bought the tickets and the whole trip was interesting, amusing and a success!
Kelly has had her eye on this art gallery so, after a delicious brunch of twice baked potatoes (thank you, Amber), we went! It was really small and sadly only featured one of the pieces Kelly wanted to see, but someone who worked there gave her some advice regarding places in Paris to see street art. In the meantime, I decided I was thirsty so Ale and I left and walked down the street to get a water bottle. We ended up stumbling into this little garden area outside of some apartments that was quaint and beautiful. Everything here is beautiful and unique and a piece of art, even the people. It fascinates me. In Houston, things look practical and efficient and, at their best, pristine and modern. Here, however, lies history and careful creation and everything from small bridges to huge churches is grand and dazzling. It blows my mind that people live here, grow up here. Haha I hope that makes some sense! Anyway, we returned to the group but not before passing some people bouncing on HUGE rubber tubes (as in, floating n the river tubes) big enough for a smart car. Not exaggerating.
It was decided that time for shopping Part 2 (Part 3 for me) had come, so Laura, Kell and I got right on top of it. It was fun. We went into some unique, quirky stores and the best part of it all was the sales. Not to much say on that that I haven't said already!
Of course, after a day of exploring, analyzing, stumbling upon and a lot of shopping, we were ready for dinner. My dad had recommended this restaurant and sent me off to Paris with the address in hand. The trip there was, like most of the things we do, comical. It was at a time when the metro was completely packed, so you can imagine what it was like when the whole thing came to a slamming, unexpected halt in the middle of tunnel. The (best) most unfortunate incident was when this poor woman fell on this poor girl in a way that placed one of her flailing hands directly onto the girl's chest. The girl looked violated but was trying to hide it, the woman looked mortified, Kelly and I looked like we would die from laughter. I swear up and down that I do not usually laugh at things like people walking into poles or molestation, but I cannot help it for whatever reason! The metro picked up and the rest of the long trip there was rather uneventful. The restaurant was really cute and, get this, had English menus. Half of us looked at a chalk board and ordered the filet mignon and the other half off of the menu and ordered the pork tenderloin. Surprise! Same thing. We're just idiots. Ale and I also ordered this tomato and basil mousse which was odd (duh), but I'm glad I got it... It was something new and interesting! For dessert, we had the best dessert we've had thus far. It was amazing. We got two things (and multiples of each): creme brulee and chocolate cake with chocolate lava on the inside. The creme brulee was the best I have ever had in my life, so you know it was good. By the time we all walked out, our stomachs were aching with being too full and it was time for HP7P2.
The movie was great, probably my favorite, but we'll discuss that later. The other Harry Potter fans in the group agreed and Amber used her wand to keep us safe on the 30 second walk back home.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
But It's The Life You Lead
Yesterday was our day for shopping. And while we didn't accomplish as much of that as we had planned, it was still another good day. We started off by hitting up the flea markets in a part of town we drove through in our taxi on our way from the airport. It was a place of character, my friends. We began in your typical flea market: souvenirs clothing you would never buy, jewelry you sort of look through, odd trinkets from a random part of the globe, etc etc. After we tired of that, we stopped for a snack of french fries and hydration at a pizza restaurant and I embarrassingly ate twice as much as everyone.
Kelly was determined to find the flea market from Midnight in Paris, so we decided that was our next mission. We walked a few blocks and actually found it! It wasn't really a flea market so much as a lot of small shops selling vintage clothing and really, really odd furniture. It was so neat! I felt like I was in another world or at least another time. Something that I, and I think the other girls as well, really love about this trip is how different it is than your typical tourist trip. We enjoy more than just famous sights, we enjoy getting (the metro is always an adventure) there and the little incidents that happen and taking the time to do things like finding the flea market from a movie. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm basically trying to say that I'm really tha)nkful to be here! Aaaaaaaaaanyway, back to the story of the day. We finished up there and started heading home when we made a stop in the leather jacket store for Kelly. Let me tell you, leather jacket stores are never to be taken lightly. Ale and I had a hilar time picking out things for ourselves. There were quite some hard choices to make! How do you choose between a magenta leather man jacket, tight leather pants and a sweet fur vest? You don't. The only reason we didn't buy anything was because we couldn't buy it all. Kelly, however, actually found something that she liked and got it.
Finally, we got back to the apartment to make a snack of chips and spinach dip (thank you, Eri and Ale) before (baha) going out to dinner. I wasn't feeling very well at all so I made sure to get some greens at the grocery store when we stopped there for spinach dip ingredients. The grocery store trips, believe it or not, always end up being a good time. This time, we got creeped on by the grocery bagger; he asked Ale for her name (duh, she said Kelly) and her age (she said 15...12...10. I'm 10).
The snack was a good one and held us over until dinner, which was yet another great time. We met up with Alvero, one of Ale and Erika's friends from their French class, at Notre Dame and all walked to this Mexican restuarant that Kelly's uncle recommended to us. Alvero. What a character. He is from Spain, but is staying here for the summer, and is a huge fan of all things Lady Gaga, Glee, Dexter, Kelly Clarkson and the Dixie Chicks. He really was so funny and interesting and nice. He told us about how he loves America and shared stories about his host families here in France and in Philadelphia. Needless to say, he made a great seventh member.
We ate dinner and went back to Notre Dame where we watched an entertaining (in many ways) number of street performers. We started at the fire baton twirler (what are they called, really?) who had almost setting a girl on fire (awkward) as part of his performance (it was one of those "member of the audience, please come up" moments). I did not enjoy this bit at all. Rather, I turned around and glanced over my shoulder to make sure he hadn't killed the innocent tourist girl on accident. Ale and I discussed for quite some time what his origin was. We decided he was Egyptian but went back and forth between that and Moroccan for a little bit. When he was done, a fun group of four young ghetto dancers were up for a turn. We decided they were extras from "Step Up 3-D." One of them was rather disturbing. He refused to walk upright and instead would hop around like a gorilla. WORSE, he went up to a fellow dancer and nuzzled her leg and she proceeded TO PET HIM. What? It was eerie, to say the least. We enjoyed their performance and proceeded on to the roller skaters. Their big trick was going really fast off a huge ramp and flying in the air over bars and then bystanders. Who was one of the chosen bystanders? Our one and only Amber. Laura got a picture of it all, so look forward to that.
It was then time for us to retire to the apartment for an early night in of cards and sleep!
Kelly was determined to find the flea market from Midnight in Paris, so we decided that was our next mission. We walked a few blocks and actually found it! It wasn't really a flea market so much as a lot of small shops selling vintage clothing and really, really odd furniture. It was so neat! I felt like I was in another world or at least another time. Something that I, and I think the other girls as well, really love about this trip is how different it is than your typical tourist trip. We enjoy more than just famous sights, we enjoy getting (the metro is always an adventure) there and the little incidents that happen and taking the time to do things like finding the flea market from a movie. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm basically trying to say that I'm really tha)nkful to be here! Aaaaaaaaaanyway, back to the story of the day. We finished up there and started heading home when we made a stop in the leather jacket store for Kelly. Let me tell you, leather jacket stores are never to be taken lightly. Ale and I had a hilar time picking out things for ourselves. There were quite some hard choices to make! How do you choose between a magenta leather man jacket, tight leather pants and a sweet fur vest? You don't. The only reason we didn't buy anything was because we couldn't buy it all. Kelly, however, actually found something that she liked and got it.
Finally, we got back to the apartment to make a snack of chips and spinach dip (thank you, Eri and Ale) before (baha) going out to dinner. I wasn't feeling very well at all so I made sure to get some greens at the grocery store when we stopped there for spinach dip ingredients. The grocery store trips, believe it or not, always end up being a good time. This time, we got creeped on by the grocery bagger; he asked Ale for her name (duh, she said Kelly) and her age (she said 15...12...10. I'm 10).
The snack was a good one and held us over until dinner, which was yet another great time. We met up with Alvero, one of Ale and Erika's friends from their French class, at Notre Dame and all walked to this Mexican restuarant that Kelly's uncle recommended to us. Alvero. What a character. He is from Spain, but is staying here for the summer, and is a huge fan of all things Lady Gaga, Glee, Dexter, Kelly Clarkson and the Dixie Chicks. He really was so funny and interesting and nice. He told us about how he loves America and shared stories about his host families here in France and in Philadelphia. Needless to say, he made a great seventh member.
We ate dinner and went back to Notre Dame where we watched an entertaining (in many ways) number of street performers. We started at the fire baton twirler (what are they called, really?) who had almost setting a girl on fire (awkward) as part of his performance (it was one of those "member of the audience, please come up" moments). I did not enjoy this bit at all. Rather, I turned around and glanced over my shoulder to make sure he hadn't killed the innocent tourist girl on accident. Ale and I discussed for quite some time what his origin was. We decided he was Egyptian but went back and forth between that and Moroccan for a little bit. When he was done, a fun group of four young ghetto dancers were up for a turn. We decided they were extras from "Step Up 3-D." One of them was rather disturbing. He refused to walk upright and instead would hop around like a gorilla. WORSE, he went up to a fellow dancer and nuzzled her leg and she proceeded TO PET HIM. What? It was eerie, to say the least. We enjoyed their performance and proceeded on to the roller skaters. Their big trick was going really fast off a huge ramp and flying in the air over bars and then bystanders. Who was one of the chosen bystanders? Our one and only Amber. Laura got a picture of it all, so look forward to that.
It was then time for us to retire to the apartment for an early night in of cards and sleep!
Monday, July 11, 2011
And You Know That When The Truth Is Told...
Yesterday (sorry... I fell asleep before reporting about our day!) was our day for Versailles. It started out at an early 8:30 and after a small breakfast of either nutella and bread or croissants, we were on our way. The metro there was a 30 minute ride and I didn't get hit by the door at all! I was very careful about it. As we decided that we were ready for a snack/meal, McDonalds, Starbucks and a little Parisian cafe came into sight. Ale, Erika and I chose McDonalds and the other three went for Starbucks. The McDonalds.... Well OMG. I hate to be the girl that's excited about the McDonalds, but it's really not my fault... Erika and Ale's excitement was contagious. It was huge and fancy and had a little McCafe and I laughed and laughed at all of that. We got some food and headed over to Starbucks to meet with the others, but (awkward) they were about to get food from the little restaurant so we were those people eating McDonalds at Starbucks sans Starbucks. Then, awkwardest of all, we got kicked out of the restaurant (after we were done) because we didn't order anything even though we were sitting with people who ordered something. In a huff, the three of us sat on the bus stop bench and had some entertaining conversation.
Fed and ready, we made our way over to Versailles. The lines were crazy long. And, yes, I said lines. There was a huge line to buy tickets and another to actually get in, but we made it go buy fast being the interesting and amusing girls that we are. While in a deep discussion with Ale regarding crazy Arab women parties, there was a commotion among the other 4 girls. We quickly found out that a bird had pooped in Erika's hair. I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I (and Ale) burst into laughter like immature bullies. It was hilarious. About 20 seconds after all of this, a women who worked there warned us about birds pooping on people who stood where we were. Bahahahaha. Anyway, Erika was a good sport about it all and we cleaned her up. I was happy to find out that she was not mad about us laughing at her. We got through both lines and were finally allowed into the awesome (and I mean that in the "inspiring awe" sense) place that is Chateau de Versailles. The walk through was both fascinating and entertaining. Fascinating because, just as a friend back home told me, it really made history come alive. It was crazy huge and bled wealth and extravagance. I mean, of course it did, but I never could've imagined to what extent. Anyway, I enjoyed that aspect of it. Entertainment-wise, well, let's see. There was the little boy who, despite his mother's screams and the metal chain, decided he was tired and just took a seat on one of the chair's in the king's sitting room. When his mother's yells reached a new level of desperation, he became a rebel and ran across the room, slammed his hand on the organ and ran back to his mother. That's a story they'll be telling for a long time. Then, there were the mobs and mobs of foreigners all clutching those audio guides as if they were whispering the secrets of life. At one point, Erika was completely surrounded by a group and couldn't move. I died laughing. I got really excited when we found a mob of my people, the Arabs. Last but not least, Ale accidentally tripped a man and he flew and caught himself right before falling flat on his face. He immediately turned around and glared at at the place where he tripped and then stomped off. I didn't start laughing (I'm not that horrible!) until Ale confessed to it being her fault. We made sure to make stop at the gift shop before returning to the apartment to nap.... We were exhausted!
For dinner, we stayed in and made pasta with tomato and basil sauce. Then, for dessert, we went on a search for creme brulee and chocolate cake! At the last minute, we decided not to stray far and randomly chose a place. Luckily, it was amazing! I was so excited and, on top of that, Amber really liked creme brulee after trying it for the first time. The cake-eaters were pleased as well and it all turned out to be a successful outing after a long, tiresome but great day.
Claire and Trent, it was so lovely to skype with you.
Song of the day (a classic haha)- Bass Down Low by The Cataracs
Fed and ready, we made our way over to Versailles. The lines were crazy long. And, yes, I said lines. There was a huge line to buy tickets and another to actually get in, but we made it go buy fast being the interesting and amusing girls that we are. While in a deep discussion with Ale regarding crazy Arab women parties, there was a commotion among the other 4 girls. We quickly found out that a bird had pooped in Erika's hair. I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I (and Ale) burst into laughter like immature bullies. It was hilarious. About 20 seconds after all of this, a women who worked there warned us about birds pooping on people who stood where we were. Bahahahaha. Anyway, Erika was a good sport about it all and we cleaned her up. I was happy to find out that she was not mad about us laughing at her. We got through both lines and were finally allowed into the awesome (and I mean that in the "inspiring awe" sense) place that is Chateau de Versailles. The walk through was both fascinating and entertaining. Fascinating because, just as a friend back home told me, it really made history come alive. It was crazy huge and bled wealth and extravagance. I mean, of course it did, but I never could've imagined to what extent. Anyway, I enjoyed that aspect of it. Entertainment-wise, well, let's see. There was the little boy who, despite his mother's screams and the metal chain, decided he was tired and just took a seat on one of the chair's in the king's sitting room. When his mother's yells reached a new level of desperation, he became a rebel and ran across the room, slammed his hand on the organ and ran back to his mother. That's a story they'll be telling for a long time. Then, there were the mobs and mobs of foreigners all clutching those audio guides as if they were whispering the secrets of life. At one point, Erika was completely surrounded by a group and couldn't move. I died laughing. I got really excited when we found a mob of my people, the Arabs. Last but not least, Ale accidentally tripped a man and he flew and caught himself right before falling flat on his face. He immediately turned around and glared at at the place where he tripped and then stomped off. I didn't start laughing (I'm not that horrible!) until Ale confessed to it being her fault. We made sure to make stop at the gift shop before returning to the apartment to nap.... We were exhausted!
For dinner, we stayed in and made pasta with tomato and basil sauce. Then, for dessert, we went on a search for creme brulee and chocolate cake! At the last minute, we decided not to stray far and randomly chose a place. Luckily, it was amazing! I was so excited and, on top of that, Amber really liked creme brulee after trying it for the first time. The cake-eaters were pleased as well and it all turned out to be a successful outing after a long, tiresome but great day.
Claire and Trent, it was so lovely to skype with you.
Song of the day (a classic haha)- Bass Down Low by The Cataracs
Saturday, July 9, 2011
You Got Your Passion, You Got Your Pride
The day started off with a slightly earlier start, but still embarrassingly late. Granted, the Disney girls desperately needed their sleep so it was certainly excused! Amber had a good birthday, and it was such a treat to celebrate her 18th with food, fun and adventure in Paris. After we all had a nice breakfast of nutella sandwiches, coffee and chocolate milk, Kelly and I went to Etam for some quick shopping while the other girls got ready. I was in awe of the place; it was huge. I spent some time just walking up the staircase with my mouth wide open... it was, oh, 8 stories? During check out, it was a relief to have a sweet (and gorgeous) cashier after yesterday's terrifying ones. As pathetic as it sounds, it really brightened my day!
We returned as quick as we could to the apartment to meet up with everyone and really start the day as a group. It was a really quick walk which is pretty common for a lot of the things we do here. The apartment has a really great location.... 3 H&Ms, remember? We dropped off our purchases and it was finally time to go out and about in Paris. First thing first, we needed to figure out money for Amber and Laura and find a bank. Before telling you a fun little tale that happened during the walk, I need to explain one quick thing. I don't know why, but there are a TON of random waist-high poles here everywhere. Laura, sweet Laura absolutely crashed into one and sort of stumbled back (thank God, she didn't fall). It was hilarious. I made sure to warn her about every single one I saw afterwards. For whatever reason, she found my helpfulness not helpful as much as she found it annoying? Whate'er.
We got the money all sorted out and decided to get some Arabic food at a restaurant that Ale and Erika had tried once before and enjoyed. The food was good and pretty authentic. To get there, we passed through this neat area with really cool street performers. When I get home (internet here isn't good enough to upload pictures), I'll put up the pictures I took of the three of them. We spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around Le Marais (same area as the Arabic restaurant), an area much like Houston's Montrose. It was filled with cute, unique shops and we were quite entertained. There were bakery's with creatively shaped breads to stores with really cute skirts (Erika, Ale and I all got the same one and plan on wearing it one the same day haha) to a calligraphy shop where I got Claire and Trent little gifts! Haha we even went into the Nike store because I thought I might find something there for my sweet little brother. Before we returned to the apartment, we spent about an hour sitting and chatting in a coffee shop where Erika got a "milkshake" and Kelly found out that a "mochaccino" does, in fact, exist.
The evening proved to be much more amusing than our relaxed, pleasant afternoon! We donned warmer clothes, grabbed some blankets and took the metro for an evening at the park next to the Eiffel Tower. The metro smelled, well, horrible. I almost gagged, but we made the best of it and it turned into a lot of laughs. Now, about the Eiffel tower. Let me tell you, the place was hoppin'. We were not the only ones with this great idea for there were so many groups having a good time. This provided a fun atmosphere and it ended up being a really nice evening with a really great view! Of course, pictures will be provided. We stayed long enough (about an hour) to watch the lights twinkle at the beginning of the hour, and then went home to get something to eat for dinner and, duh, not to miss the metro before it closed. I, probably out of karma for making fun of Laura, got smashed by the closing metro door. Everyone went "ooooh" and it was pretty darn awkward, but it certainly humbled me. Sorry, Laura. Once back in our area, we were on the hunt for food! First, we stopped at McDonalds where Erika got fries. The... manager? (he was dressed in a suit but certainly worked there) was very excited by the fact that we were foreigners. Upon hearing that we were from Texas, he said, "shook norees?" Which I SOMEHOW managed to understand. He was saying, "Chuck Norris." I responded, "Chuck Norris!!!!!" And he, in his excitement, did a few karate moves. It really was a great time and we promised to return tomorrow. In order to feed the crepe craving bunch (Laura, Kell, Amber and I), we hit up a little cafe close by. As we were all waiting for the crepes to be made, I got a new boyfriend. So sorry, Trenton. The 40-year-old Arab man making our crepes proclaimed his love for me. I mumbled, "love ya, too" and blushed. He then asked me for my name (I said Kelly to save my own rear) and he asked (jokingly. All of this was a joke) what I was doing afterwards. When I mumbled a response about a hotel with angry parents, he pretended to rip off his shirt and join us. It was all slightly creepy, but his affections paid off later when we were harassed by a strange man mid crepe enjoyment and I beckoned him (no joke) and he came and got the guy to leave. Amber enjoyed yet another nutella treat and has come to love the stuff! How thrilling. We are now home and all getting ready for bed! Goodnight and sorry for the length of this one!
Listen! God Only Knows cover
We returned as quick as we could to the apartment to meet up with everyone and really start the day as a group. It was a really quick walk which is pretty common for a lot of the things we do here. The apartment has a really great location.... 3 H&Ms, remember? We dropped off our purchases and it was finally time to go out and about in Paris. First thing first, we needed to figure out money for Amber and Laura and find a bank. Before telling you a fun little tale that happened during the walk, I need to explain one quick thing. I don't know why, but there are a TON of random waist-high poles here everywhere. Laura, sweet Laura absolutely crashed into one and sort of stumbled back (thank God, she didn't fall). It was hilarious. I made sure to warn her about every single one I saw afterwards. For whatever reason, she found my helpfulness not helpful as much as she found it annoying? Whate'er.
We got the money all sorted out and decided to get some Arabic food at a restaurant that Ale and Erika had tried once before and enjoyed. The food was good and pretty authentic. To get there, we passed through this neat area with really cool street performers. When I get home (internet here isn't good enough to upload pictures), I'll put up the pictures I took of the three of them. We spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around Le Marais (same area as the Arabic restaurant), an area much like Houston's Montrose. It was filled with cute, unique shops and we were quite entertained. There were bakery's with creatively shaped breads to stores with really cute skirts (Erika, Ale and I all got the same one and plan on wearing it one the same day haha) to a calligraphy shop where I got Claire and Trent little gifts! Haha we even went into the Nike store because I thought I might find something there for my sweet little brother. Before we returned to the apartment, we spent about an hour sitting and chatting in a coffee shop where Erika got a "milkshake" and Kelly found out that a "mochaccino" does, in fact, exist.
The evening proved to be much more amusing than our relaxed, pleasant afternoon! We donned warmer clothes, grabbed some blankets and took the metro for an evening at the park next to the Eiffel Tower. The metro smelled, well, horrible. I almost gagged, but we made the best of it and it turned into a lot of laughs. Now, about the Eiffel tower. Let me tell you, the place was hoppin'. We were not the only ones with this great idea for there were so many groups having a good time. This provided a fun atmosphere and it ended up being a really nice evening with a really great view! Of course, pictures will be provided. We stayed long enough (about an hour) to watch the lights twinkle at the beginning of the hour, and then went home to get something to eat for dinner and, duh, not to miss the metro before it closed. I, probably out of karma for making fun of Laura, got smashed by the closing metro door. Everyone went "ooooh" and it was pretty darn awkward, but it certainly humbled me. Sorry, Laura. Once back in our area, we were on the hunt for food! First, we stopped at McDonalds where Erika got fries. The... manager? (he was dressed in a suit but certainly worked there) was very excited by the fact that we were foreigners. Upon hearing that we were from Texas, he said, "shook norees?" Which I SOMEHOW managed to understand. He was saying, "Chuck Norris." I responded, "Chuck Norris!!!!!" And he, in his excitement, did a few karate moves. It really was a great time and we promised to return tomorrow. In order to feed the crepe craving bunch (Laura, Kell, Amber and I), we hit up a little cafe close by. As we were all waiting for the crepes to be made, I got a new boyfriend. So sorry, Trenton. The 40-year-old Arab man making our crepes proclaimed his love for me. I mumbled, "love ya, too" and blushed. He then asked me for my name (I said Kelly to save my own rear) and he asked (jokingly. All of this was a joke) what I was doing afterwards. When I mumbled a response about a hotel with angry parents, he pretended to rip off his shirt and join us. It was all slightly creepy, but his affections paid off later when we were harassed by a strange man mid crepe enjoyment and I beckoned him (no joke) and he came and got the guy to leave. Amber enjoyed yet another nutella treat and has come to love the stuff! How thrilling. We are now home and all getting ready for bed! Goodnight and sorry for the length of this one!
Listen! God Only Knows cover
Friday, July 8, 2011
Take Your Phone Off The Hook and Disappear For Awhile
After a nice, long nap, we decided to go to a free concert in which a French rock band entertained us with their mediocre music in which every song started out uniquely only to end up being the same song. The people attending the concert were entertaining as well; they were characters to say the least and had rather amusing habits. Eventually, our stomachs starting rumbling and we scidaddled to a dinner of crepes and sandwiches. It was lovely. We then went dancing last night at 9:30. The Parisians dance quite magically. It's a series of head bobbing and shoulder shaking and the crazy ones have almost violent hand motions/seizure-like movements. We got back at 11:00 and were asleep by 11:30. It was much needed rest!
Today, four of us (Kell, Amber, Erika and Laura) went to Disneyland Paris in honor of Amber's birthday. Out of exhaustion and a craving for shopping, I decided not to go. Instead, I spent a magnificent day with Alejandra. She is funny and witty and very easy to talk to. I woke up pretty late (whoops) and after a breakfast of a nutella sandwich and milk, we were off to H&M. Let me tell you, there are so many H&Ms here. It's so exciting. Ale and I were enjoying our day of leisure until the evil check out lady at H&M refused to take my credit card and informed us that we had "one owah" (one hour) to get money and come back. Our search for an ATM was a stressful one in which we repeated "we have one owah" over and over again to ourselves in hushed tones. One was found, and all was well and purchased.
After getting some great things there, we went to Zara and stopped at the supermarket. For dinner, we randomly picked a place and intended to find this supposedly really good place for creme brulee (recommendation courtesy of google) after a good meal. We ended up just staying at this restaurant for a dinner of steak with pepper sauce, french fries, salad and a dessert of creme brulee. The creme brulee wasn't the best I've had to say the least, but the dinner made up for it. It was delicious and filling and warm and exactly what I needed! In fact, it was so good that we took the rest of the group back for dinner upon their arrival about 3 hours later. They waiters remembered us and were so excited to see us back so soon and with friends. While our waitress (the second time around. The first time waiter loved us and was a sweetheart) was scary (the people here have very little patience with my awkwardness), everyone seemed satisfied. On our way back home, we grabbed some nutella crepes (yum) and retired to the apartment for a night of much needed relaxation and chatting.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
But Then If You're So Smart, Tell Me Why Are You Still So Afraid?
After being delayed about an hour (sorry for about 293847397 goodbye texts), we began our nine hour flight. It was.... rather uneventful. I did that thing about 40 times where you don't think you fell asleep because it was so light and horrible, but time has passed, so it must've happened. There were two magical little babies that provided much entertainment for Amber and I for they were cute and lovely. Finally, we arrived. The airport was more like a funhouse filled with odd ways of transporting people. Instead of escalators, they had these terrifying electric ski slope-esque things that made you almost fall. THEN, they had this giant center room area filled with all these tubes that we went in to get across the airport. I took pictures.
Finally, we got to baggage claim. Let me tell you, there is nothing like a foreign country to humble you. I am not a shy person nor do I lack confidence (sometimes too much confidence, I'm sure), but I became a soft-spoken, hesistant person here.
Then, Kelly got coffee and a treat. I broke out my cliff bar. Just so you know, Trent, it was delicious.
The ride was long, but entertaining. Amber was mistaken for a moment and saw a speed limit sign saying 90, got very nervous that we were going to speed to the death, and then remembered the whole kilometers thing. It was amusing. There was a small incident on the way. The question involving the incident is, "did we hit the biker or did the biker hit us?" He was fine, but there was some yelling.
While waiting for Erika and Ale to come back from their French class, Amber posed an iteresting and terrifying question, "Wouldn't it be funny if this whole time they were in Paris, TX and we came here and got stuck here?!" Funny indeed. There was another incident in which I loudly yelled the apartment address number to Kelly and was overheard by a creeps Parisian man. We immediately assumed we were about to get "Taken," only to realize that we weren't being very subtle American girls to begin with. We've survived thus far.
Now, after a nice lunch, I'm off to nap and then we will go celebrate Amber's 18th birthday! Happy birthday, Amber!
P.S. Claire, buy your AWOLNATION tickets.
A favorite plane tune: All I Need by Awolnation
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Slow Down, You Crazy Child
Off to France France France yet again-gain-gain! I am in a preparation frenzy (Molls has heard all about this... I'M STILL SORRY), which is frustrating considering I am all packed and ready to go! After a 9 hour flight with friends Kelly, Amber and Laura (Laura will actually be on another flight at the same time), we will land in Paris to visit Erika and Alejandra for ten days! I am so excited. I don't know what I want to do first.... eat creme brulee, go shopping, go to the Louvre and stare at my favorite sculptures for hours, eat more creme brulee? Anyway, I'm rambling now, but, maybe this time around I will actually put up the pictures I take in France instead of just saying that I will! Until then!
P.S. While last year, I played Home every day and stole lyrics from it for every blog post title, I've found a new song for summer 2011. Granted, it's a little odd considering I'm going to France, but oh well, it's still wonderful.
Listen away- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZdiXvDU4P0
P.S. While last year, I played Home every day and stole lyrics from it for every blog post title, I've found a new song for summer 2011. Granted, it's a little odd considering I'm going to France, but oh well, it's still wonderful.
Listen away- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZdiXvDU4P0
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I Know I Will Hear What I've Heard Before
"Is it wrong, wanting to be at home with your record collection? It's not like collecting records is like collecting stamps, or beermats, or antique thimbles. There's a whole world in here, a nicer, dirtier, more violent, more peaceful, more colorful, sleazier, more dangerous, more loving world than the world I live in; there is history, and geography, and poetry, and countless other things I should have studied at school, including music."
— Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)
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