Extra! Extra! Floods, Nutella and Escaped Baboons
Monday, January 22nd (evening) - Saturday, January 28th, 2018
Paris, France & Minneapolis, MN
I am writing now, not from our little room in Hotel Claude Bernard, nor from Nuage Cafe (where I spent a fortune and a half), but from back home in Minnesota. *dramatic sigh* I forgot how cold it was here. But I'll say this, I also forgot how friendly everyone is, and that's been a pleasant surprise. So now I'm looking back on my last few days, and here's what we did, the good and the less good.
The Less Good:
1. The Mean Maid. There's the super nice maid, and then there's our mean maid. The super nice maid would always give us fresh towels and would stack our shoes for us. The mean maid would pull our covers up and do nothing more. But it was worse when she worked breakfast. She scolded us for not clearing our own dishes and made us carry them into the kitchen. (I wouldn't have a problem with that, except only she made us do that, not any of the other staff, and she only made our group clear our own dishes.) One time when I cleared my own dishes, I went back into the kitchen and she was there Facetiming her boyfriend. Also, she'd take like, 20 min to refill the croissants when they ran out. On the bright side, she was often a bonding topic amongst our group as we hung out.
2. The floods. You've all probably seen news of the Seine flooding. It wasn't much of a problem - it's not like we were going swimming or anything - except that some metro lines run under the river, and were closed. So we had to take the bus. (SO HARD right?!)
Closed RER
The Seine flooded near the Eiffel Tower
3. The time it took to put together our final projects. Over the course of, well, our course, we had to work on a final presentation to give to the class. The only qualifications were that they had to pertain to French culture, have to have a connection to the past and present, you had to do a visit somewhere as research, conduct an interview, and then talk about it for 30 min. It was kind of vague, which was nice and not nice. The project itself wasn't so bad, but they were due on Wednesday and Thursday, so we spent a lot of time those last few days working on them. If you're curious, mine was on photography, and I visited the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), which I would recommend if you're in Paris.
5. Ummmmm my budget............ ;)
6. Packing was SO HARD. Emotionally and physically. Please enjoy these snaps of me struggling.
Struggling preserved on camera courtesy of Alanna
7. There are some things we ran out of time to do. Guess I'll need to come back! I'd like to tour the Opéra Garnier, go see a movie at a Cinéma, go to the Vampire Museum, and go to the Musée des Art Forain (a carnival museum, that only lets you in with reservations... But you can ride some of the rides!!!)
8. Also, it takes Alanna SO LONG to get out of the door! (Just kidding. It doesn't actually take her that long. I take the same amount of time so... She just asked if it would make the blog, so I figured, since she asked, it should make the blog. There you go, Alanna. You made it!)
The Good:
1. All the hotel staff besides Mean Maid. The people that worked at our hotel were very kind and helpful.
2. Montmartre at night. Bjorn, Alanna, Jenna, Maisy and I all metro-ed up to Montmartre, where we ran into Laura, and we all sat up there under Sacre Coeur and ate Petit Écoliers and watched the city down below. It was peaceful and beautiful. Until we got catcalled walking down the stairs, but you know, you win some, you lose some.
Montmartre at night
3. Petit Écoliers. (Go buy some at your nearest supermarket and eat them. Thank me later. And ya, you can get them in the US too.)
Eating Petit Écoliers at Montmartre
4. The Paris Mosque. Bjorn, Alanna and I went to visit. Their gardens and courtyard were beautiful, although there wasn't a whole lot to actually do. It was still fun to see though.
Paris Mosque Courtyard
Strolling through the garden
5. The BHV (again). Alanna, Drew, Bjorn and I went back in because Bjorn wanted to do a little shopping. Plus, Drew and I bought blood oranges from a little market on the street and had a lot of trouble peeling and eating them. As a result, our hands were covered in sticky juice and we needed to wash our hands in the BHV bathroom. And of course, we also stopped by the toy aisle. And no, Bjorn and Drew did not have a lightsaber battle because that would have been completely inappropriate.
Drew Across the BHV
6. The Barber of Seville. Drew, Bjorn, Maisy and I all went to see the Barbier of Seville on Wednesday night, at the Opéra Bastille. It was a modern rendition, with a very clever spinning set. (I LOVE a spinning set.) Plus, like, Barber of Seville. You can't really go wrong.
"You guys look like you're on a double date" - Alanna
7. THE CATACOMBS! I've wanted to go in the Catacombs for a really long time. Drew, Bjorn, Alanna and I climbed down into the bowels of the earth together to see these old bones. There were also signs telling you not to steal bones... Which tbh wouldn't have even crossed my mind, until I read the sign. We were not responsible for any stolen bones. They even checked bags on the way out! They weren't quite as spooky as I was hoping... Still creepy though, and definitely worth it. Added bonus, there wasn't even a line! (And the lines had been pretty bad!)
Inside the Catacombs
8. Our last walk through Luxembourg Gardens. We got Starbucks drinks and crêpes for breakfast, the sun decided to shine for a hot second, and we strolled around the gardens, and relaxed in those green chairs (you know the ones I'm talking about).
Cristiana, Jenna, Maisy, Abby and Alanna in Luxembourg Gardens
(Please just ignore my face)
9. The Eiffel Tower. We could leave without saying goodbye! We'll miss you, Tour Eiffel! (Except Drew. Drew won't miss you at all. He thinks you're overrated.)
Maisy, Elissa, Alanna, me, Jenna, and Abby at the Great Wall of China ;)
10. Our last supper at Delmas. All us kids went back to our fav restaurant and ordered Saint Germain Spritzes on happy hour and frankly, feasted. Laura joined us for gelato afterward. It was perfect.
Jenna, Abby, Alanna, Elissa, Bjorn, Drew, me and Maisy
11. And of course, the people. I was so lucky to be with such a fun group of kids. Can't wait for our reunion party back at school. (We're all going to get together to watch the Pink Panther).
Our whole group, left to right, back to front, Angela, Gervonne, Laura, Jenna, Abby, Elissa, (next row) Cristiana, Maisy, Katy, Bjorn, Drew, Nick, (next row) Mme. Cisar, Kaitlin, and Alanna
And if you missed the vlogs this time around, this might peak your interest. Here's a short video, one/two seconds of footage a day, recapping my month in France.
On a last note, no, I was not part of any Nutella riots (but only because I didn't know about the sale, otherwise I totally would've been!) and ya, the baboons escaped their enclosure in the Paris zoo and I'm glad to say I was nowhere near that either.
Time to get some sleep!!! #jetlag
- Cristiana
