Sunday, March 1, 2009

oui, merci!

Just got home from the airport- Paris was amazing. I can't believe I was only there 36 hours, it felt like so much longer. In fairness, I think some of the surrealness comes from leaving at the crack of dawn to get there, but still, a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend.

After checking in to our hostel, David and Sarah and I separate from Alex, who's off to see a friend of hers for the day. I should mention that Alex is the only one of us who actually speaks French. I've got a handful of phrases, and David learned how to count to ten on the train, so the fact that we got anywhere at all is truly a feat of its own. That said, the majority of the French speak English (if you're nice to them), and are very helpful. Saturday we saw Notre Dame, the Seine, Luxembourg Gardens, and the Eiffel Tower (we walked up 800+stairs to get up there... dios mio!). The night was filled with good food, a dash of alcohol and dancing. Walking out of the club these guys were complimenting me, but I hadn't a clue what they were saying... I also met up with Ben's (one of my oldest friends, basically a brother) dad who I hadn't seen since I was eight. Also very surreal.

This morning was lots of walking around, hot cocoa and croissants, rude waiters (ah well), and the Louvre! (with no line to speak of!). We then wandered down the Champs de ElyseƩ and saw the Arc du Triumph, which is much bigger in person, (so to speak...). Ended the trip with gelato. On our flight home we remet this nice guy from Arizona (I had taken his picture earlier today at the Mona Lisa). Turns out he's been scattering his mom's ashes around Europe. What a son... the five of us were really amused by a sign in the airport that said "no firearms. no weapons. no endangered species." One feels like there's got to be a story there.

And now I'm home. With only my pictures, beginnings of blisters, and a souvenir to prove this weekend actually happened. Bit of a fairy tale, really. As much as I love London with all its edginess and history, France has its own history, in a more whimsical way. It brings out the dreamer in me. And possibly the fairy princess in me a bit, too. :P

pictures to follow... somehow.

3 comments:

  1. It's weird, but it's probably because you've started to get used to London in a way, so it no longer seems as exotic to you, the way Montpellier has started to seem so routine to me.

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  2. @ben's dad: woah... no way... how was that?

    @louvre!: how? did you arrange for everybody in front of you to be killed? there's always a line unless you're robert langdon.

    @arc du triumph comment: that's what she said.

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  3. @ colin: i love how you've backtracked and commented on all my posts... meeting ben's dad was pretty cool- had a good time. talked about the parents some, which is always interesting...
    louvre: there's actually a secret entrance a little ways off. very useful.
    arc: *facepalm*

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