It was checkout day for many of my friends which was really sad and depressing to watch Laine and Magda clean and pack up their lives. While they did that I stole Laine's computer for a couple of hours in order to organize everything for my parents and to a certain extent myself. I had a HUGE bag packed that I was taking to give to my parents so that when I met them Tuesday I would only have one large bag to take on the train and metros of Paris. (that bag is now dubbed The Beast for good reason).
I took the 3pm train with Tytti, Anniina, Oliver and Corey to Paris.
From the train we grabbed some Quick which is the French version of Mcdonalds. Then grabbed the metro to our hostel. Hostel Oops!. which is the first designer hostel in Paris, we ended up arriving WAY before everyone else so we decided to drop off our stuff and go ice skating at Hotel De Ville (which means city hall in French).
The roof was sparkling like the Eiffel Tower !
After skating for about an hour and a half we walked over to Notre Dame to see it at night
Just a couple of French tree huggers
After Notre Dame we called our friends since they had just arrived in Paris. They decided to drop their stuff off and eat near the hostel. Since we were so close to Saint Michel we chose to eat there then head back
We ended up going to a Gyro place on one of the main corners. We all got gyros with tzatziki sauce and ate in the back of the restaurant. When we were almost done eating all the sudden Corey gasps and makes a horrible spasm. I look to my right and see on the wall this cute little mouse crawling around the photos on the wall and behind the wall hangings.
To be honest the restaurants have their doors open all night to welcome/entice people to come in. They're in super old buildings that will most likely have mice in them. It's just not something you want to see while eating.
We then headed back to the hostel and on the way Corey wanted to get something from the local store so I went with him while the others went in to hang out with everyone who had arrived. (Basically 20-25 people from Ango stayed in Oops that night) On our way the store we saw this gem of a restaurant :
We're just wondering if they are speedy as a rabbit or sells rabbit pizza speedy
After hanging out at the hostel for a while we headed to Oberkampf in Paris to a bar that one of the French kids from our school was at. So we grabbed the metro over and on it was this nice accordian playing man in a Redskins jacket.
So we had a party on the metro
*insert bar here*
We had a raging good time and it was a proper send off for Laine, Justin, Dan and Jessica. I got home at about 4am and got up at about 4:45 in order to be at CDG by 7 am. (yes I got 45 mins of sleep that night)
One of the worst things about having an american credit card is that we don't have the chip thing in order to buy things from the automatic machines, and I didn't have 9 euros in coin so I had to illegally get to CDG because the windows weren't open for me to buy a ticket either. So I bought a ticket for the local metro in central Paris and then grabbed the RER train to CDG and when I got to CDG I threw my 20 kilo bag over a 6 foot high metro fence and then hopped over it myself. I literally don't know how I got that bag over. My dad can attest to what a feat that was.
From the airport I bought all of us tickets back to Paris (the windows were open then) and I took them to their hotel and promptly passed out on their hotel bed for an hour. I then checked in with my friends and figured out a plan for the day. I set up my parents with maps, metro tickets, how to buy more metro tickets, etc.
Then I took Matt (for those of you who don't know is my brother) to go meet my friends down on the Champs Elysees to go to the Christmas market and see a bit of Paris.
We met Oliver, Anna, Anniina, Magda and Corey outside the disney store and walked to the market.
See proof he his in Paris!
mmmmm Tartiflette
souble mmmmmm pan full of meat and onions
Cute cow from the "real" nativity scene
everything was covered in chocolate!
Cute sibling photo thanks to Magda
After the Christmas market and the Arc (and a quick stop at McDonalds so everyone could eat except Matt and myself) Corey really wanted to go see Saint Chapelle which is in the palace of justice near Notre Dame.
In order to see the church we had to go through metal detector where Corey got in trouble for having a cork screw in his backpack that he had to go check at the desk.
The church was really impressive because it was all stained glass
unfortunately the most impressive part was under renovation/maintenance so it was all behind scaffolding
But I took a photo of the display photo
the floor was really neat
Holy Crap mom! Matt's in a church! I have proof!
Matt wanted this photo
My new eurotrash haircut
After the church we went and did a touch of shopping where I bought some prints of Paris for my mom for Christmas. Then I took Matt back to the parental unit and said my goodbyes for the next couple of days
Then I was off to Saint Michel for dinner with Team Finland (sans Tytti) Magda and Corey
1st course Moules in white wine sauce
main course boeuf bourguignon
Corey Face!
She was the healthy one and got fruit
We got chocolate crepes
After dinner we RAN to Gare St Lazare to get our train back to Rouen. Unfortunately when we got back we had forgotten that the buses were on strike that day and there was a HUGE line for the taxis. so we went and got something to drink and some snacks for the taxi line.
When we got back we all decided to hang out and have a going away party for Magda who was leaving the next afternoon.
Somehow Anniina got Amine's cowboy hat and wore it all night
Francesco also dressed up in a costume
Finland!
The Girls (Tytti was with her family)
My besties
Everyone decided to dress up
I decided that it was a good idea to go for a walk so we did!
Corey was cold so he wrapped his scarf around his head like a turban
Corey FACE
Rouen
Corey and Me
Me and Magda!
Corey tackled Anna who was tackled by Anniina then Magda then Adrian
I love these people!
We drew messages in the snow on the cars for people
After the walk we Magda and I hijacked Adrian's tricycle and the no smoking sign we found on the floor and rode around the hallway
I'm sorry officer I didn't meant to speed
my room, photo thanks to Magda
That was pretty much the end of the night, next entry farewell breakfast and lunch The Big Clock (Le Gros Horloge)
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