This trip to Paris has been wonderful. I feel my relationship changing with the city I once longed to visit as a teenager. Everything I once saw with a sense of star-stuck wonderment I now experience as if I am greeted by an old friend. That is not to say that everything always goes off without a hitch but just that I feel much more comfortable in the City of Lights than I ever thought possible.
Jennifer and I arrived in Paris Saturday afternoon and spent the day shopping and eating more delicious food than I care to recount here (do to the massively high caloric quantity) and talking with old friends (new on my part). While wandering we found outselves in front of the Opera where there were about two hundred people singing Christmas carols in the snow. It was a truely beautiful movie-like scene. We had a little incident with where we were going to sleep that night due to our original sleeping assignments being dashed on account of the snow blocking all trains coming into the city. So, once again Anna Marie saved the day! We spent the night hanging out and talking with Anna Marie and Regan (just back from Africa) before they went clubbing and we went to bed.
Sunday we woke up to a blizzard. Jennifer and I went to the Louvre and marveled at...everything. I don't care who you are or how many times you've been to the Louvre you can't help but be impressed. If I lived in Paris I would spend at least one day every two weeks at a museum. I get a calming peaceful sensation whenever I am at the museum. There are so many stories and vibrant lives protrayed in the paintings and sculptures that it just never gets old to me. Its not just the story in the paintings but also the lives of the painters who created the work that makes it so interesting. If you know a little about the artist you can then seen bits and pieces of their life coming through in their paintings.
After the Louvre I went to mass and listened to Anna Marie sing in the choir. What a fabulous experience. Going to mass in such an ancient church in amazing in itself but to have that accompanied with angelic acapella music was an experience I'll never forget. Also, I really liked the priest and the way he presented the Homily. Once mass had ended Anna Marie and I took a bus back to her place and met up with Regan, ate some pizza and waited for the others to arrive.
Anna Marie and Regan threw Jennifer and I a very adorable birthday soiree which even included a handmade chocolate cake with chocolate ganache icing. Legit! It was a fabulous evening of a mixture of languages. We had party guests who spoke Korean and French, Englihs, Polish and French, Spanish and English, English and a little Swahili, and English and French. Suprisingly, there were no communication problems and everyone had a fabulous time. This was one of those days when I can't believe my life is so blessed with fantastic people and opportunities.
Monday we woke up to another blizzard. It stopped by the afternoon though so we just bopped around Ille St. Louis for a bit and ate some crepes in an adorable little restaurant. Regan and I took a break in a neighborhood bar while Anna Marie went to an appointment and after that we bought some hair dye. All terribly exciting. We went back to the apartment, ate some soup and had a hair dying party. I am the new proud owner of a fabulous purple chunk of hair.
Tuesday we had lunch with all of Jennifer's fantastic "euros" (the europeans who studied at Eastern last summer) at a fondue restaurant in the Latin quater. The food was delicous but that might be because I love cheese and bread. After luch Jennifer and I rushed to the Port Milliot to catch the bus to the airport for our flight to Scotland. The bust trip should only take about an hour and it turned into a two hour ordeal due to traffic and heavy fog. We finally checked out bags and thought we were good to go. We raced through security and through customs (recieved our exit stamps) and then entered a room full of people...waiting. So, we sat for a while, ate the sandwiches we'd brought then were all told that we had to leave the holding cell we were occupying. As we were all fileing out we were stoped by custom officers who crossed out the recently added stamp in our passports. We were then told that we had to wait for another two hours before our plane would leave. What did Jennifer and I decided was the best option to kill the time? Buy duty-free alcohol, of course! Turns out its not duty-free if you're not leaving the European Union. Did we let this ruin our party? Hell no. Another great ting about French airports is that they sell personal bottles of wine for the same price at Coke. Needless to say, we chose the Cab-Sav over the Coke and started our flight delay on a great note. It seemed like in no time we were being told to queue up to board the plane and getting another identical stamp in the good 'ol passport . We arrived in Scotland just in time to catch the last train into Glasgow from the airport for the night. Craig and Arran picked us up and drove us to their friend Piia's apartment where we get to stay for the next 9 days.
Today we shopped for boots, ate delicious pizza, and drank a ton of free peppermint hot cocoa (something I've dearly missed in France)! A great first day in Scotland! Tomorrow is the be 2.4. I'll update with a ravishing account of how the festivities play out.
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