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Published: February 7th 2008
Ahh, I´ve finally gotten to it.
The France Report.
You had to wait, because I had to wait. My flight to Paris from madrid was delayed by 2 and a half hours (so THATS why it only cost 19€..), so my arrival to beauvais airport which is actually a one hour bus ride outside of paris was at 11:00 pm on a saturday night. The parisian adventure begins with me saddled between my 2 backpacks, a throng of tourists who a few hours before were locals treating me like foreign dirt, but now that i know how to ask where the metro is, im king kong with these spaniards.
So that was the nice part. I could understand things without steam coming out of my ears. The not nice part was the since of dread: I hadn´t exactly booked a night at a hostel. The clean and recommended hostel was full, so i emailed the managment to see if i could squeeze in, and they said that if i came in early in the evening then there MIGHT be a cancellation they could hold for me. I thought i would wing it. But i thought that before my plane was delayed, and when i was supposed to be there at 9. Strolling in at midnight, i was a little anxious.
But, my russian front desk pal was a bit snarky with the american in front of me so i turned on the canadian charm. Noone had cancelled, but he let me take a bed anyway and told me that if they did indeed show up then i need to be nice and make up a story that doesnt incriminate the hostel and sleep on a mattress on the floor. I can do nice, as it turns out because 2 confused guys showed up an hour later. Being the italian stallions that they were, i even got to keep my bed. My pal Fabio slept on the floor mattress. Its a dog eat dog world out there, i tellyah. I digress.
The next morning before my noon train to lyon, i managed to sneak in a visit to the eiffel tower. Breathtaking!! It was one of those moments that just hits you and your heart is all aflutter. I saw it from a distance this time, saving my up close viewing for the following friday when i would return to paris at night. Definitely a highlight and set the bar for my day.
As what has become my style, i almost missed my train to lyon, and sat in first class until they checked my ticket. Immediately reunited with the long lost honorary ´pegger ANNE CLAIRE BELLOT (exchange student from my grade 12 year, and so much more), we set off for her apartment and a walk to the city centre. First things first, I love that in france they take their sundays. Shops are all closed, leaving the city quiet and quaint. So we strolled around town, had some chorros (the beautiful thing about spain and france is that they borrow the best things from the other country). The week followed that trend : anne claire had class during the day so we would meet for lunch, I would explore the afternoon away, and then we would shop, and make a french dinner. I have never had so much french cuisine in my life!! Nor have i ever had so much cheese... One night we went to Ophélies for raclette, and there were 7 of us feasting on this melted stinky cheese and meat and potatoes. So unhealthy, so delicious, so authentic. Afterwards, Antoine played guitar and sang french songs, we even got a little "Frere jaques" in there (and of course, wonderwall--universal britpop). Another night we went to Fourviere, a huge church that overlooks the city... beautiful view. We also explored the citys traboules with deborah that night, ancient passageways through vieux-lyon.
The partying we did was on my last night--Student night. (I was there from a sunday to a friday so that didnt go too well with school). What a laugh!! It was very a la Die Machine: they have all these boat bars on the river, so we went to Le Sirius, and it turned out to be 80s night. After le sirius closed we went to Le marquis, and caught the bus home at an ungodly hour in the rain. Could not have been more fun!!
After way too little sleep and a bit of a shaky hand, it was back to paris for me and the beginning of a cold which i just got over yesterday. My roommate laura reminds me that there is no better timing for a cold than at the end of a good trip and when youre unemployed. Fair enough, i´ll count my blessings.
But that being said, im no longer sick and that just makes me unemployed.
So before i find myself on the ha´penny bridge with a paper cup in my hand, I best be going!
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yo momma
non-member comment
you still inspire me
I sure hope you consider something language oriented cause you write brilliantly. What a great time you had! Let us know how your job search is going; we will continue to encourage you...