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Published: November 8th 2009
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Mom drinking her cappuccino at the cafe below Sacre Coeur! :)It's been about 2 weeks since I last wrote and boy oh boy do I have quite the update! I wrote this blog a few days ago and ever since my last incident of losing the entire blog I made sure to hit the save button. Well just my luck I lost internet connection as I hit the save button. EVERYTHING WAS GONE. Hours of writing went down the drain. It was 2am at this point and I was ticked. So I went to bed, took a break and now I’m writing again. I'm not too happy considering I have to rewrite everything, but I hope it will be just as good as the first one!😊
Soooo as you all know, the highlight of my trip was the past 10 days when my MOM CAME TO VISIT!!!!! We had such an amazing time touring France, living the French liestyle, drinking the most delicious wine, eating enough bread to feed the hunger, and of course...the pastries. WOW! So I figure the easiet way to do this is to go day by day...let's see how much I can remember!
Saturday, October 24th I basically couldn't sleep the night before because I
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Mommy and Me :) was SO excited to go to Paris and see my mom! I woke up around 5:30, skyped my fabulous sisters, and left the house to catch the bus before anyone woke up. I'm so sneaky! I made it to the train station and took the normal train...which was only 20 some dollars...but took 3 hours! Once i arrived in Paris, Jackie picked me up and we spent the day and night together! I faced my fears and had a salad with liver in it for dinner. I give myself a pat on the back for trying...but that won't be happening again! We had a wonderful time as always and once again I couldn't sleep because I was too excited! Mom would be in Paris when I woke up!! EEEP!
Sunday, October 25th MOMMA'S HERE!!!! Woohoo!!! I went to the hotel and waited for her to come down. Seeing her come out of the elevator was the BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD!!! I squealed and ran and will remember that reunion forever! 😊 Poor mom was so exhausted from the flight and loosing 6 hours (a whole night's sleep), that I felt so bad to have her walk to the
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The beautiful Louvre at night! apartment. We ended up taking a taxi for about 3 minutes and made it to the most adorable and quaint apartment! It was tiny, but adorable! We only stayed long enough to drop off our bags and then headed to the train station where we reunited with Estelle!!! ( our exchange student who has become a good friend!) We took the train to her house and spent the afternoon there for lunch. It was great seeing her parents, brother, and grandparents again and wonderful for my mom to meet them all. We had escargot, foie gras, meat, salad, cheese, desserts, wine, wine, and more wine! Even though mom was a zombie, she still had a great time! When we returned to Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower. I couldn't wait to see my mom's expression when she saw the tower at night. It's beautiful. After a long day for me and even longer day for her, we went to bed excited for the days to come!
Monday, October 26th Hmm let’s see....AH! Cathedral day! We went to Sacre-Coeur, Notre Dame, Jardin du Luxembourg, cafes, and dinner! Sacre-Coeur was beautiful and we enjoyed looking at all the mini stands
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Peppers and tomatoes at the market in Old Nice! along the way. We ate lunch at a café just below and had a delicious goat cheese salad and a smoked salmon crepe! After that, we toured Notre Dame then met up with Jackie at Jardin du Luxembourg where we sat and people watched! 😊 We had a coffee and at café and dinner at a great restaurant and hit the hay!
Tuesday, October 27th Shopping day!! We woke up and went to the market across the street to buy some nummies ! We bought fruit that we never ate and Lebanese food that we did eat!! I got suckered into buying to avocados…haha. They had a special buy two for the price of one. Well usually I say no to these kinds of nice offers but the work for avocado is “avocat” which also means lawyer. I was very confused and just said yes, ok without really knowing what was going out. Lol Needless to say, the avocados remained in the bag. Well after that we went to the Galaries Lafayette and the Champs-Elysees where we saw the Arc and people watched again! Later on we met up with Marissa and had a fantastic dinner and saw the
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Hand painted candies at the market in Old Nice! Louvre at night. It was so beautiful and calm and we were able to see inside some of the windows. Seeing the statues with absolutely no one inside was haunting yet beautiful at the same time! It was a great end to a wonderful day.
Wednesday, October 28th Chez moi! We went to Tours! I was so excited to show mom where I’m living. We arrived, bought brioche, went to my house and ate it, went back to the city and bought pastries as big as our heads, went to lunch at a great sea food restaurant, had fabulous wine with great legs in Place Plum and took the TGV back to Paris! One of the reasons I wanted to go to Tours other than showing mom where I live, was to eat the amazing scallop meal I had just two weeks prior. When we were at the restaurant and looking at our menus I noticed it wasn’t there. I asked the waiter why and he said they switched from their summer to winter menus. I could have cried…I poured my heart out to him and he said not to worry, that he will make sure we get the
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Us with the famous Monte-Carlo casino in the background! dish! He was an angel…and mom and I ate the great scallop meal! 😱
Thursday, October 29th Cousins in Paris?! Yes, that is right! Somewhere down the line of ancestors we have cousins in Paris. At least that’s what we are assuming since we have the same last name. haha Anyways, we met Thursday at his home for lunch with his daughter and his wife. We had a really nice time meeting them despite our embarrassing mistakes. When the little girl walked in, mom asked Mario if she was his granddaughter…whoops! Well she’s not the only one who made a boo boo…you know that song “Your mom is goodlooking?” Well I heard Mario say that and I responded by saying, “Yes she is! Thank you!” Turns out he was just singing… mom and I both turned beet red. After lunch we spent the day relaxing and later on we went on a boat cruise on the Seine River for our last night in Paris. Around midnight as we were finishing up packing for Nice, I realized I forgot something…..my PASSPORT….in Tours.
Friday, October 30th I’m an idiot. I forgot my passport in Tours because I didn’t think
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Beautiful view in Monaco/Monte-Carlo. I would need it. Seriously Alana?! I’m flying in a foreign country! Our flight to Nice was at 12:45pm…let me tell you how our morning went. The alarm went off at 4:45, we left the apartment at 5:30, took a taxi to the train station, took the 6:50 TGV to Tours, ran like a race horse out of the taxi, took a cab to Fondettes to grab my passport, took the same taxi back to the station, took the next TGV back to Paris, caught another cab and drove to the airport, went through security and everything and STILL made in on time for out flight. I have NO IDEA how we made it, but we did. Big mistake on my part! Thought momma was going to hurt me! But she was great about it…after all, we were together in France so we couldn’t be too upset right? We arrived in Nice and walked around the city for the rest of the day. It’s so beautiful there…it’s a small city sandwiched in-between the mountains and the sea. Each direction you look gives a fantastic view!
Saturday, October 31st Happy Halloween!! Mom and I went to Italy! San Remo to
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Smile!! :) be exact. We went for the market and my goodness was it huge. It basically seemed like it wrapped around the entire block. We bought some great things there but I can not say because some of the items are Christmas gifts for Adam and my dad! Shh! I wanted only 2 things while we were in Italy…pizza and gelato. We went to a family restaurant and whitnessed an argument among the workers! Our poor adorable waiter dropped a glass and who we think is her father came over and hit her on the head! She left and never came back!! Yikes!! After that interesting experience we went and bought gelato. Yes, it really is delicious!!!! Wow!!! After we spend most of the afternoon in Italy we hopped on the train back to Nice for dinner and relaxing by the sea. I have to say, Italy was great, but next time I go back I need to learn more words than just hello and thank you! Oh I almost forgot…Halloween! It’s not really celebrated here…they are just starting the tradition. We saw a few kids walking
around in their witch and spiderman costumes going restaurant to restaurant asking for candy!
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The most beautiful Russian Orthodox Cathedral we have ever seen. It was cute.
Sunday, November 1st Old Nice! Many stores were closed since it was Sunday so we decided to go to the market in Old Nice. First of all the buildings are beautiful. They are all old and different colors and something about the old and quaintness made it beautiful. The market was great. The flowers were unbelievably gorgeous; there were even some made of wood! There were also hand painted candies and sundried tomatoes and peppers! Mom bought some great things to take home! We ate at an Italian restaurant and then went to visit the most beautiful Orthodox Church we've ever seen. It was so beautiful that mom cried from the moment we walked in until the moment we left. It was that incredible. We bought beautiful icons and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in a park watching children play and ate more ice cream. teehee (
Monday, November 2nd Last day in the beautiful South of France. 😞 We spent it in Monaco and saw the famous Monte-Carlo casino! I have to say of all the places we went, Monaco was the most beautiful and rich. The views were unbelievable and
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Beautiful. breathtaking. Mom and I splurged and went all out for our last lunch. We had appetizers, wine, main meals, cheese plate, dessert, and cappuccinos! D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! After that we were feeling lucky so we went to the casino! Mom lost money, but I for one had GREAT luck!!! I won a whopping 8 Euros playing the slot machine!!! I was so excited!!! We were absolutely exhausted by the end of the afternoon and took the train back to Nice. The train tracks are along the coast so no matter where went, we had a fantastic view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Tuesday, November 3rd and Wednesday, November 4th I’m combining these two days because they make me sad. We flew back to Paris on Tuesday and spent the rest of the day looking through all the pictures we took and talking about the new memories we made over a glass of wine. Wednesday was the worst day ever. I hated going to the airport and hated saying goodbye. I tried really hard to be strong but I just wasn’t strong enough. It was so hard for me to think about my amazing mom leaving and going back to my
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Me and my Gelato...Yes, I'm sorry to say Aunt Sue...but I did eat it all! host mom who is nothing like my mom. I felt like a little kid who didn’t want to let go. Since Jackie’s boyfriend was taking the same flight, we met at the airport and spent a few hours together after our goodbyes. We were both pretty down so we tried to fix it by eating fatty foods and buying chocolate. I returned to an empty house in Fondettes since my host family was on their way back from England. The house was freezing. Their only source of heat at the moment it the fireplace and I certainly didn’t know how to take care of that. So I sat in my room with my scarf and gloves on, unpacked, and ate chocolate while I wallowed in self pity.
This trip was one of the best ever. I am so thankful that my mom was able to come visit me and even more thankful that my dad worked so hard for her to come. My parents are two extremely selfless people and I’m so blessed to have them. Mom: thank you for a trip I will never forget. I love you both so much.
Well this weekend was pretty exciting. Axelle, my six year old host sister, had her birthday party. There were 16 six year olds… can you imagine how I felt knowing I was going to be with them all day? They were all screaming and running around like they ate pounds of sugar, not to mention talking faster than the speed of lightening. I was so terrified that I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them, but I did it! I was able to talk to them all and answer their screams without hesitation! They understood me and I understood them! One little girl asked me what language I spoke. I told her English and she was like wow…I speak French. Haha it was so cute. Another one asked me where I live and I told her the United States! She asked if it was far and I said it was very far away. She asked, “One hour by car?” I said more like 7 hours by plane! She was shocked!! Little kids are so innocent and sweet. Speaking of sweet….seeing French children greeting each other with kisses was the cutest thing ever. They all kissed me goodbye too. They are SO respectful and polite. I loved them all!
Today, Loic and I had a chateaux day! He took me to see Vendome, Blois, and Chambord! We had a great time and the castles were beautiful!!
Well, I think this is long enough…I’ll update much sooner next time!! Promise!
Hope you all are doing great and I can’t wait to come home and see you!
BISOUS!!!!
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Aunt Sue
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Hi Alana, That gelato sure looked good. I probably would have had a hard time not eating all of that if you could believe it. I am so glad you are having such a wonderful time and had such beautiful memories to treasure with your mom. Keep having fun and I look forward to seeing you at Christmas. Stay well. Love, Aunt Sue