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Published: January 8th 2010
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obvious. I want to post my birthday blog on my trip to Oporto, Portugal, though I MUST write about this past holiday season spent in Paris with my very best friend Charisma Lee. One of the best ways I can think of summarizing (well, the way I told my roommates). Well, we walked A LOT. And we went to cafes in the evenings, shops and museums during the day. I ate so many tiny delicious pastries that I even looked forward to each walk because I thought maybe if we trekked around long enough we would stop for a treat. It was my vacation after all, hehe.
The first day I arrived Charisma and I went to see Away We Go. It was a very good film, I liked it because it had Ted from Six Feet Under (he's been getting a lot of work lately) and Charisma is particularly fond of John Krasinski (oh her). We cooked in her tiny apartment, I awoke each morning to her cooking or writing or reading something aloud. Charisma is a morning person, I am the opposite. After I had my coffee would I only then begin to speak. We would plan out the day
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xmas 09' and make our way around Paris.
Christmas eve was spent with Charisma's friends eating a delicious 5 course Romanian dinner. We did not leave until 4a.m. (which is crazy for Charis to be out). I think that was my very favorite part of Paris, spending the holidays with good people.
On Christmas Charisma and I went out and walked around the Eiffel Towel, ate waffles, and ended up watching Beetle Juice. Throughout my visit we managed to see all of the usual momuments: The Arc de Triomphe, Musee du Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, Montmartre (Amelie), rue Mouffetard at rue Clovis, Café des Deux Moulins, and many other locations. One day we went to Centre Georges Pompidou with Rachel and Thomas, it was so very nice to see them and I was glad that Charisma was able to meet them (I will miss them when they move to Austria).
We never made it to the catacombs in Paris (a reason to return) however we did take a boat tour of the city which was so fun, a little cold, but very enjoyable. The tour was multi-lingual and traveled up and down the Seine River. The weather throughout the trip was
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some tower, lol! fairly cold. Colder than in Madrid. I purchased a Paris hat and also some gloves, though I should have heeded Charisma's advice and purchased something that would fit my head, I just really wanted the hat though...
New Year's eve was pretty memorable (from what I can remember). Charisma and I went out, we walked around a lot, she asked what I had wanted to do, though it was pretty routine what we had been doing during my stay. We ate dinner. I got a little upset over the fact that I was so far away from my other friends. I was disappointed that Javier was not in the city, or if he was, he did not bother calling/emailing me. I wanted to have plans for Paris on New Years. When would I ever be in such a place again? Charisma saw how upset I was and apologized, but there was nothing that she did at all to evoke these feelings that I had. It was nearly a longing for my friends, even though I did nothing the prior year, I simply stayed in and was asleep before the celebration began. She recommended that I go out and enjoy myself.
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the cutest little car on Charisma's street And I have to say that I did. But not before drinking in Charisma's pad, which she remembers much more accurately than I do, I have no idea what I said really before going out. I somehow made it to Marias, the Paris gay district. I don't know why but I ended up in a cab where I got into an argument with the driver because he said it was a €50 minimum for a cab on New Year's. We had it out, and in the end I paid the €20 that I had in my pocket. He dropped me off close enough to a place where I celebrated the coming year. In the end I met a fellow and he took me to his home which was pretty convenient because he lived very near Charisma. He took me home the next day, but not before bringing coffee and croissants to bed. Very nice gentleman, a bear named Marc (ironic? oui?) So Marc drove me back to Charisma's. I was pretty hungover and I needed to eat so I went out alone (Charisma was passed out) and I returned to went to bed.
So Paris was everything that people talk
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waiting for Charisma about, writers, artists, celebrities, films, etc. I am so very fortunate to have a friend who lives there, and know people who I can talk with about such experiences. I am still in contact with Marc, he is a very nice man, and who knows, it could easily evolve into something worth, well, evolving, lol! Right now all I want to do is return to my work and school and keep looking forward to travel and making a life for myself in Europe while I am here. Being abroad gives me enough perspective on how to manage time (more or less) and I just want to keep moving forward and progress. I may even take some language courses/lessons in French this coming Spring 😊
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