Paris: City of Lights

So I STILL haven't figured out how to load pictures in a faster manner than just one slow jpeg at a time... but I promise that will be my homework for the weekend!

Last weekend I took a little 'voyage' to Paris. I left on Thursday afternoon, giving myself plenty of time to get on the metro, make all my connections, and wait in the long security lines. I left my apartment with 2h45m before my flight was set to depart. I had a feeling I was leaving too early, and I was right. Less than an hour and a half after setting foot outside my building, I was sitting in the terminal, waiting. This included an extremely slow meander through the airport after running into some fellow IES students who were headed out to Lisbon for the weekend. Security, compared to the ridiculousness that generally ensues at Newark Liberty, was practically non-existent. (Bonuses: of spending WAYYY too much time in the terminal: a. I bought chips in a vending machine and someone had left a packet of Oreos just sitting there. Two for one! and b. I figured out the Easy Jet boarding system [read: chaos] before I actually had to line up myself.)

Easy Jet, as it happened, was "easy" enough for me, but I can easily (sorry, that's definitely a pun. I hate puns..) see how it would be awful. I ended up getting to the terminal before the 5p Lisbon flight had even begun boarding. I have no idea how they get two flights, 1 hour apart, out of the same terminal with any efficiency, but it happened. Basically they have you just line up and you're on a first-come first-serve basis, with those in the front of the line choosing their seats first. They also didn't announce the line, people just sort of all noticed a line forming at the same time, and stood to join. Highly efficient. However, the flight itself was efficient and landed just when it was supposed to.

It was SO strange to see the lights of the Eiffel Tower only an hour and a half after boarding the flight, as opposed to after a grueling, uncomfortable red-eye. Now for the navigating to begin. I had with me the address of the apartment that I was staying (Kristen's), the train I needed to take, and the metro stop I needed to connect with. But when I followed the train station signs (for 15 minutes), I had no idea where to actually buy my tickets. Oh no! The horror of actually conversing with a real, live human! Luckily, my French kicked in easily and it was very simple to converse with the information agent and figure out where the tickets were sold. (Although I had a strong inclination to thank him with "gracias" and ended up going "gra...merci". Maybe he didn't notice. The woman at the ticket booth also spoke with me easily, and even though I had started the conversation in English, I switched to French at one point and she followed suit. I wasn't expecting this; most of my exchanges with the French previously resulted in them switching to English with any hint of a non-native accent. There's definitely a pervasive sense of English in Paris that isn't found in Madrid. Nevertheless, most of the time I was frustrated by the switch to English any time a shop keeper heard Kristen and I conversing in English. Most frustrating was the ticket agent at the airport on my trip home, who spoke to me in rudimentary English the minute she saw my American passport and acting like it was I who was the idiot. I wanted to quip at her that I understood French perfectly well, but it didn't really seem like that would make her any less rude.

Anyway, I navigated the French metro system and found my way to the stop closest to Kristen. (Using the metro in Paris really made me appreciated Madrid! The French metro is extremely smelly and the metro maps/connections are so unclear compared to Madrid. I just blindly followed Kristen's directions since the metro map I had been given was painfully unclear.) We walked around her arrondisement (neighborhood) and ended up heading back to her place to make a delicious pasta. I was SO excited to cook, since I'm not allowed to in my homestay.

Friday we wandered around allllll day, saw Notre Dame and the Centre Pompidous, and went to get what is supposedly the best ice cream in the world. It was pretty good, even if the servings were the opposite of generous. That night I met up with Anna, also visiting a friend in Paris, and a combined group of us all went out to a delicious dinner. It was kind of expensive, but well worth it for the amazing food. I also, out of character, was the only person to order a dessert: peche melba, a ice cream, peach sections, raspberry sauce, whipped cream conconction with toasted almonds and deliciousness. That night we went out to a French club called L'Arc.

Saturday we went to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and did more walking, and went to Montmartre to see the chapel Sacre Coeur and eat delicious crepes (jambon et fromage) and french fries and café au lait. (It was a scrumptious combination, if you were wondering).
....And then we went out for Sushi for dinner.

The Colgate french study group in Dijon was in Paris for the weekend, so we got to see Jane!!! That night we went out to a bar near Kristen's apartment with Jane and lots of other people from their program. Sunday morning we forced ourselves out of bed at a reasonable hour to go to a local open-air market. Everything there was SO SO fresh - meats, vegetables, breads, fruits, cheeses, fish! Kristen did some of her regular grocery shopping and we also got lots of delicious veggies and bread and cheese for a late lunch before I had to leave. I also found a wallet! (Which I'd been looking for ever since I arrived in Europe!)

Definitely a very exciting weekend... I hope the rest can compare!!

[Food I'm craving: scrambled eggs]