France 2012-2013

Day 1

I arrived in Paris around 9 am. The flight was sooo long, but I’m so happy to be back in my favorite country. Chris and Brooke picked me up from the air port. Customs took forever to go through, like 2 hours. As soon as I got to Brooke’s house, I went straight to bed. I kept waking up and going back to sleep, but finally worke up at 9 am.

Day 2

I took two trains and made it to Guyancourt! Max and Mar picked me up from the train station. I love Guyancourt. It feels almost like my own neighborhood. I caught up with my friends and saw Justine too! Her English has gotten sooo good! After about an hour, Maxime asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. Well, he forgot to mention that we were going to pick up Guillaume and Thibaut… Wow lovely. My favorites! Not. Also, we didn’t go to the mall. We went to Carrefour. We ended up filling up an entire shopping cart full of booze. Including 2 cases of German beer. We then proceeded to go back to Maxime’s house where they began a full game of Beer Pong.That went on until Marion called us to the table. She made a lasagna, it was soo good! :) The boys made some pasta and ham dish and they ate both. Maxime’s friends stayed until around 2:30 am. 

Day 3/4 New Years Eve- New Years Day

I ended up sleeping until around 1 in the afternoon. I was still not situated with the time change as it’s totally killing me. For this entire day, I didn’t really go anywhere or do anything. Around 4:30, Marine came! I hadn’t seen her since last time and it was nice to see her again! At about 6, Marion’s boyfriend came. They are adorable together! I totally approve. By 8, everyone had gotten there. I saw a lot of the people I had met before, Mama, Guillaume, Thibault, Clement and Marion, his super clingy girlfriend, P-Lou, I think is his name, Jessica, Maxime’s Alice and some people I had never met before, including some of Justine’s friends! It was a lot of fun. I talked to a lot of the people and learned some new French words!  Everything tasted like it was mixed with nail polish remover. At midnight, we counted down to the new year and then kiss-kissed everyone in the room. It was so fun.  After midnight had come and gone, I hung out in the kitchen with a bunch of Maxime’s friends. Guillaume decided that he wanted to love me and Mama said that he would sing like last time if I was awake at 6 am. He also said that he will never sing Brittany Spears again because he is too mature for that, Lana del Ray is much better. Then I had a nice conversation with a few of Marion’s friends about guns and education in America. We also talked about Obama and health care. It was fascinating. I thought I was going to be asleep, but apparently not, because at 6, Mama didn’t want to sing anymore. :( When I went to go to bed, there were 2 random shirtless guys there. I went back down stairs and told Maxime that if he didn’t move them, I was going to sleep in his bed. He didn’t move them, so guess what, Maxime didn’t have a bed. I slept until around 1:00 in the afternoon and a lot of people had gone home. Maxime made crepes for breakfast/ lunch. I love crepes. This is so cliche, but they’re the best in France. After everyone left, I got my stuff together and said good bye. Marion took me to the train station at about 5. I was doing great until I caught the wrong train. It scared me but I called Brooke and she found me a new train. 

Day 5

Today, I slept in until really late. Almost 1:00. I still haven’t gotten adjusted to this crazy weird time difference. It will happen, I just need time! I was still really sad from saying good bye to my friends in Guyancourt, so I decided it was time for some retail therapy. I went to La Defense, which is the business area of Paris. It looks so cool and extremely modern. It’s like the exact opposite of the heart of Paris. I think I may go there tomorrow. We’ll see! :) 

Day 6

I decided to go to the Champs Elyeeses today to do some retail therapy. Leaving my friends was really tough and I needed to go do something fun. What better than shopping and Paris together. I rode the train to La Defense and from there I took the subway to the end of the Champs. Right outside the Metro station was a Christmas market!!! It’s the last week, so perfect timing on my part! :) They had tons of tiny booths with everything from tea to pizza to barbeque to jewelry. I couldn’t resist myself and ended up getting a Nutella crepe that was the size of a medium pizza before it was folded up. After the Market, I rode the train/ metro back home. On the way, I stopped and got some Mc Donald’s! I am usually completely opposed to eating anything from there, but I wanted some chicken nuggets and that’s the only place to get them. I just have to say that Mc Donald’s in France is a whoooole lot better than it is in the great US of A. I like it in France a whole lot more. After I got my take out, I went back to the Mccarty’s house and at and chilled out! 

Day 7

I woke up around noon again. My sleep schedule hasn’t been normal at all since I arrived in France. It’s almost time for me to go home and I’ll just have to readjust anyways. This is a day that I will never forget. It all started when I was waiting for the train at the station in La Celle Saint Cloud. I had barley missed the train, so I have about a 30 minute wait. The station is really small, the inside just has a few ticket machines, an information booth and 3 or 4 benches. I sat down and began to read a book on my iPad. After a few minutes, this little old lady sits down next to me. She asks me when the next train is, I answer in French and then she starts speaking rapid French back to me. I can’t understand so I tell her that I don’t speak very much French and ask if she speaks English. She then starts to speak perfect English back to me! It turns out she worked some as a museum curator and ended her working time as a representative for a publishing company! Apparently she has been all over the world. She then tells me how much her job meant to her and how traveling is the best way to learn and experience anything.The crazy thing she said that I will never ever forget is “If you love what you’re doing, everything will work out int the end.” This woman’s advice will stick with me forever. This was precisely what I needed to hear. :) 

When I got on the train, I sat next to this other lovely woman who spoke French with me the whole way and taught me all kinds of new phrases and ways to say everyday things. This is why I love France. You actually learn what French people do and say. It’s the best learning experience! :) This was also day was the day I decided to visit Montmartre. This is the mountain outside of Paris where Sacre Coeur is perched. I LOVE Montmartre. It is my favorite area of Paris, I think it might even be my favorite place in the entire world. It makes me feel like I’ve stepped back in time. It’s like how I imagine Paris was like when Ernest Hemingway walked the streets. It’s perfectly unchanged. I decided to treck up the many flights of stairs to the top so that I could visit Sacre Coeur. To me, this is the most beautiful church in Paris, maybe even the world. It just has something about it. I can truly feel the presence of God when I’m in there. It’s powerful. The view from right outside of the church is beyond stunning. You can see all of Paris. It’s the most beautiful view I have ever seen. I just want to sit up there and never leave. 

Day 8

On Saturday, I flew to Toulouse! :) The flight was only about 45 minutest. I am so glad I decided to make the trip to toulouse. I loved it. It is a beautiful little city. It’s full of life and color. Unlike Paris, the buildings are all in various shades of peach and orange brick. It’s beautiful. As soon as I landed in the airport, I saw Alice and her mom! It’s was amazing seeing them. I was supposed to get to visit them over the summer, but that didn’t go as planned. We left the airport and headed straight into down town. As soon as we got there, Alice’s mom let us out at the main metro station. The metro in Toulouse is  a lot smaller than the one in Paris. It only has 2 lines, while Paris has a ton. It was so easy to navigate! Alice and I went into downtown. We walked around and shopped for a while and then we met up with some kids from her school. It was pretty fun, the kids didn’t speak English, which was confusing, but it was really fun. Afterwards, we went to this one kid’s house for a few hours. After we left, we went to McDonald’s again. Haha I love French McDonald’s. It’s delicious. After we ate, we went back to the station at the end of the line nearest Alice’s house. Since she lives in the country there are no regular bus routes. What you have to do is, go to the main station and every 30 minutes a guy comes out and if there are people, he takes this small van like bus to where ever they want! It’s like a taxi service, except it’s only like 2 euros. We got to the stop just in time, which was great because 30 minutes in the cold would have sucked. At the stop there was a couple, a guy and us. The driver asked us all where we need to go and then we got it. When the driver started driving, it was the most terrifying experience of my life. HE WAS A CRAZY DRIVER. It was pretty much a rehashing of the Night Bus in Harry Potter. It was horrifying. Alice and I were pretty terrified. He played with the radio, took turns and round abouts at like 50 miles an hour and it was the scariest experience in a car I’ve ever had. Finally we stopped and he told us that some of  us needed to get out and onto another bus at the stop. We were really excited until we realized that we were the only two that didn’t have to make the connection. That’s right, we rode all the way, the 20 minutes into the country, on the French Night Bus. 

Day 9

This was Sunday. I slept in as usual because I never fully adjusted to the time difference.   When I woke up, it was time for Sunday dinner. At lunch, I saw Florent and got to meet his very sweet girlfriend Jenna. It was fun and I can now say I’ve tried Fois Gras. I didn’t like it, but hey, I tried it! After we ate, Alice’s mom drove us into down town so we didn’t have to ride the dreaded bus again. In Toulouse, almost everything is closed on Sundays. I like this and respect that they keep this tradition alive. This particular Sunday was one of the best Sundays I have ever had. It was because of how peaceful and relaxed it was. This is what I love most about France. The concept of time isn’t a big deal. Everything is done at a leisurely pace. There isn’t a need to hurry. I love it.

Alice and I visited churches in downtown one was called St. Jacob’s something or other, and the other one was the very famous St. Sernin. Both churches were absolutely stunning. I love cathedrals. They are the best things to go see. You get to see so much culture and art all in one place. After we visited the churches, we went to 2 bakeries. One, we went to for me to get a Coca Cola and an eclair, complete with chocolate filling instead of creme, and the other for Alice to get a baguette. I made fun of Alice the entire time because it was just so completely cliche French of her to buy a baguette and walk around the city munching on it. After a while, we were cold and hungry so we called her mom. We thought about going and seeing a movie, but I had an early flight the next morning and she had her first day at school. When her mom came and got us, she asked what I wanted for dinner. I was dying to try a Kebab, a very common Arab dish in Toulouse. I had seen about 20 Kebab restaurants around the city, but alas, it was Sunday. We decided on Pizza. It was a cool idea because now I can say I’ve had pizza from a pizza truck. We drove to a little pizza truck to order the pizzas. On their menu, low and behold, was a kebab pizza! We got that one and the traditional ham and cheese one. Kebab pizza is fabulous. Now I can’t wait to go back and have an actual kebab. After dinner, Alice and I talked and relaxed until it was late and we were exhausted. 

Day 10

Alice and I said our good byes, complete with tears and the knowledge that we would be reunited very, very soon. Alice’s mom took me to the Airport. I was so sad to leave Toulouse. I think I have decided that is where I want to be if I go to school in France. I love it and I love that wonderful family. I felt so at home, even though I was 5500 miles away.

My flight was short and when I arrived back in Paris, I navigated my way through the train back to Brooke’s house. I was relieved to be back in Paris, but it was a very sad day. It was my last and final day of my trip and I had so much to do. I decided that I wanted to go see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. I caught the train back and made it there all right. I saw Notre Dame and it was just as beautiful as the first time.  It hasn’t changed at all. After I fought through the tourists, I got on the Metro and went to the Eiffel Tower. :) I saw it in the late afternoon and it was as stunning as always. All was going well until it was time to get on the train back to La Defense. I ended up getting on the wrong platform, which basically meant that I went in the opposite direction. About an hour later, when the train stopped, I was all the way in Guyancourt, where my friends, the Louage family lives. This is about 25 minutes from where I needed to go. I was so freaked out, but thankfully I’d been in that station many times and was able to get where I needed to be. The sad thing was, being lost for 2 hours really exhausts you. By the time I made it back, the mall had closed, ruining all my chances of buying the last souvenirs I needed to get. 

Day 11

The morning I was supposed to leave, Brooke had so wonderfully arranged for a car service to take me to the airport. It was awesome. This large Mercedes came and picked me up. It was the coolest thing. The driver was wearing a suit and everything. We spoke a little about my trip and my love of France on the way. When I got to the airport, he unloaded my luggage and even walked me to my terminal. It was pretty special. When I finally got through the awful security and almost had a fight with Air France, I got to my waiting area and had an hour and a half until boarding began. While I was waiting I ate my very cliche French breakfast. It was all going well until this guy from Africa started blasting African music from his cell phone. The song literally lasted 20 minutes. His phone died for about five minutes, but he unfortunately found a power outlet. :( This sucked. I listed to that for the entire time. I have had enough traditional African music to last me the rest of my life. When I boarded the plane, I was so sad. I hated leaving France. I had so much fun and learned so much about myself on this trip. I cannot wait to return.