Paris, Je t'aime

Hello friends and family across the world. I know, I know, I have been remiss in updating my blog. I am very very behind. But you see, I didn't realize anyone even looked at it. I was pleased to hear from my mom that an update had been called for. And thus, I will selflessly push aside the paper I hope to complete today, and reach out across miles of land, water, time, space, language (I say this because enunciating all these barriers may help substantiate my choice of working on the blog instead of my finals, haha), and tell a little about my trip to Paris.

Paris was a horse of another color from Roma and Florence. On my Italian weekend excursions I attempted to do it all. Site-see, eat, drink, visit friends, and walk walk walk. It was exhausting, but I felt successful. Arriving in Paris, however, I had an entirely different outlook for several reasons. Number 1) we're talking about Paris here. PARIS. Nuff said. If this statement makes me a francophile, euh, je suis une francophile. No matter how hard I tried, I knew I would feel defeated in trying to conquer this city in a weekend. Thus I arrived at Charles de Gaulle with my white flag merrily waving. Number 2) I was staying with one of my favorite people in the world- Chirstine Turner- in her fabulous, chandelier adorned apartment in the 3rd arrondisment near le Bastille. She's already done the touristy thing, and I wouldn't make her do it all again. Plus, no matter how beautiful Paris is, it will never be as important to me as she is. My priority was drinking in this city with a friend in any way we saw fit. Number 3) there is no doubt in my mind that I will be going back to Paris. No question. I WILL be returning. Now that I have defended my seemingly un-planned and incomplete visit, I shall proceed with my musings.

I arrived on Friday afternoon, not exactly sure where I was. I popped out of the subway near the Bastille, blinking in the sunlight, scanning the crowd for Christine. Finally, I found her (looking fabulous as always, but particularly Parisian. not sure why), and after hugging in an intersection for about a year, we grabbed meat from a local butcher, bread from a local baker, and went to the apartment to make dinner. There really is nothing like sipping wine, devouring french bread, and cooking steaks in a beautiful apartment in Paris. Some friends from Christine's school came filtering in, and we headed off to another apartment in the neighborhood. What a great night with Boston College students in Paris. What a network we have!

The next day we got going a little slowly. Ok, so it was a bit of a late night. After a lunchfast of eggs and pasta, an a viewing of High School Musical 3, we set out on a gorgeous day. Mais, bien sur il faisait beau, c'etait Paris!! We grabbed a cappuccino at the corner cafe and walked to the Notre Dame Cathedrale. Did I go inside? No. The line would have made me kill myself. My self preservational instincts run deep. From there we walked to the Louvre. Did I go inside? Of course not, read the reasons listed above. Instead we sat in the Tuilleries at a cafe and had lunch. From there we walked on the Champs Elysees, poking into shops and ending up at the Arc de Triumphe. Everywhere we went, we were confronted with pages of history. What a storybook life, living in Paris! Around dusk, we met up with my travel buddies from Venice and their BC guides at the Tour Eiffel. It took us so long to wait, scale the thing, descend and wait for someone at the bottom of the Tour, we saw 3 light shows that run on the hour. We may have been a little hungry and cranky by the 10 o'clock show, but we were still enamored with the glittering lights each time. Dinner-- something chickeny. something delicious. The woman on the way out said to the one boy with us, "Qu'est que tu as fait d'avoir 7 filles pour 1 garcon? Quelle bon chance!" which roughly translates to, what did you do to have seven girls for one boy, what good luck! Good luck indeed, haha.

The next day Christine and I proceeded to wander around Montmarc, munching on crepes while visiting Sacre Couer and the Moulin Rouge, and took in a foggy view of all of Paris. Oh yes, and shopping. Woops! Did I leave that out?? I like to think of clothes as the most useful and economic souvenirs (which is the french word for memories. and yes, everytime I wear them I will remember Paris!). Too soon, much too soon, it was time to leave. But oh lala, Paris- je t'aime, et je retournera bientot!