Home, Finally

Monday Night

Monday night our friends thought they would see us off before we went. It was nice since it was Bryan's last night in Bordeaux. We went to the pub by my house and stole someone's table. Yeah, I know we're rebels like that.

Preparations

Bryan and I got back to my place around maybe 11:30? I have no idea really. Then we finished our packing and got in bed by 1:30am. When my alarm went off at 4am, I was less than pleased. Bryan insisted we be at the airport early just incase there were any hiccups. We waited at his terminal for an hour and a half. Fun stuff, man. Then we boarded our separate flights to Paris and took off at 7am.

20 Hours of Torture

I arrived in Paris, picked up my bag, checked my bag, got some MacDo for breakfast (the French translation for Mickey D's) and headed to my terminal. The wait seemed endless, and my flight was a little late taking off because of the strikes.

I met a girl, Madeline, on my flight who was also headed to SF and had been studying at Sciences Po in Paris. I read the hunger games, took a 20 minute nap, and watched Bridesmaids only to discover I still had 6 more hours on that dreaded plane. I will save you the excruciating details, but suffice it to say that I part of me died on that flight.

Madeline and I ran through the airport, went through customs, got our bags, dropped off our bags, and made it just in time to board our flight in Texas. Our two and a half our window turned into less than an hour to get those things done. I was depressed to not have anything to eat in Texas, since my fat ass had already scoped out the restaurant list a week prior to travel.

I sat next to the loudest, most obnoxious man on my flight. This three hour home stretch turned into the most excruciating of all my flights. He would talk to anyone who listened. And even though I was ignoring him he said "oh she's ignoring me..." but continued to talk at me.

Plus 2 driving home

When I finally arrived in SF I was three hours into the most excruciating headache of my life. My mom picked me up at baggage and she had these precious things called Tylenol. Oh la la, I was even more glad to see here then. We stopped at Taco Bell and I enjoyed my burrito on the way home.

PIERRE!!!!

OMG I nearly died when we were reunited. He cried and I held him like a baby. After I mustered up the energy, I took a hot shower and then crawled into bed with Pierre. We snuggled. It was so great.

Now I am here, typing away furiously at 6 in the morning with a case of jet lag.. Whatever, I'm just glad to be home

Weekend in Paris

Friday

B.I.A.
Marina and I decided to meet Bryan in Paris for the weekend before he flew off to Scotland. We left Bordeaux around 7 am and arrived in Paris around 10:30 am. First on our agenda was good 'ol American Breakfast. It was packed in the little diner and a mix of french and english filled the room. When my eggs and potatoes arrived I covered them in ketchup, Heinz ketchup baby, and showered my pancakes with maple syrup. Oh, it was grand.

Hotel (pictures)

We checked into our little hotel in the 5th arrondissement. They were really sweet, and the hotel was really nice but let me tell you some things we found really weird

• they don't take check - you must pay in cash or check
• they don't take anything as collateral. When I asked when we should pay, the receptionist said we can pay when we checkout or whenever really
• I insisted on paying early and he wrote my receipt in pencil on a post-it
• showers were 2.50 euro for 5 minutes

We had a really good stay though and it was affordable. If I ever returned to Paris, I would recommend the hotel, even with it's quirks.

Natural History Museum

Edouard got me curious about the taxidermy in Paris after I told him about Arcachon. It wasn't weird at all; it was actually really really cool. The first floor was sea life while the second and third floors were animals. There was even a room with endangered and extinct animals. One I saw was extinct since the late 1800s and I find it incredible they still have a taxidermic animal. Marina mentioned it is a good way to learn about animals rather than putting them in a small cage in a zoo for their entire lives, assuming the taxidermic animals died of natural causes.

Fun Fact: There was even a "Grande Tortue Rodrigues" extinct from Rodrigues Island.

After the museum we strolled the large plant garden behind it.

Eiffel Tower at Night

Last time we visited Paris we never saw the Eiffel Tower at night. It is breathtaking. On the hour the tower sparkles, so we waited 45 minutes to see it. I was so excited by the time it happened that I dropped my camera. It broke. Sad day, man. I wasn't really that depressed though because I though it was one of the best ways for a camera to die.

Saturday

Flea Market

While Bryan went to pick up his friend Katie from the airport, Marina and I went to the Flea Market. I was so cold I ended up buying a hoodie there to wear under my coat. I'm seriously going to die in this country from hypothermia. It's only October!!!!!

Rodin Museum

My favorite thing of our entire trip. God it was amazing. I think I might of squealed when we went through the entrance. There is a beautiful garden with sculptures like The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, and the Gates of Hell. Then there is an indoor museum with even more of Auguste Rodin's work and even some of Camille Claudel and letters between Rodin and Monet. Crazy shit man.

Sunday

The Louvre
Yes, we did it again. We probably spent another 4 hours there. I was sooooo drained by the time we left. We literally went to the café across the street by the time we left because we were too drained to find/to think of anything else to eat.

Monday

Montparnasse Cemetery
The ghost of Famous dead people get together and party here at night. I can't believe how many famous french people are buried here. Upon entrance, you get a little map of the cemetery where you can find the most notable names. Favorites we visited:

• Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), famous poet
• Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), feminist philosopher & author
• Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish author, playwright & poet
• Porfirio Díaz (1830–1915), longest serving Mexican President, Dictator, General
• Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935), Jewish military officer falsely accused of treason (the Dreyfus affair)
• Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), sociologist
• Serge Gainsbourg (1928–1991), poet and singer
• Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994), Romanian playwright
• Pierre Larousse (1817–1875), author of encyclopedia Larousse Gastronomique
• Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980), French philosopher & novelist

I've been spending the entire day today in my jammies relaxing after the go-go-go life of Paris.