Farewell to Paris and most of all France

I am officially done with all of my obligations for Northwestern, hence I can enjoy these next few days in Paris to do some of the things that I never got around doing. For one sleeping into 1 PM, I haven’t done in a week…check that. Need to get rid of the excess wine I brought home from the vineyard, but I am sure it won’t go to waste. Looking back at the semester, I guess the only regret that I have had was that I didn’t meet enough French people. I guess it’s hard when you have a program of just American students with a few token French. Oh well I am leaving with friends that I can take back with me to Northwestern and I now have a few families I can stay with in France covering all corners of the country. I have lived it up here basically feeling like I have been on vacation for 4 months. I did have to work, but nothing in comparison to the hell I went through last year in terms of Northwestern science. I am taking a break from it this year and exploring other options. Regardless, my stay in France has opened me up to different ways of life and thinking. The things that I have learned from being here in France is really hard to put in words for a conclusion because I have written 30+ blog posts since being here, which probably equals out to maybe 100+ pages. I know that when I get back to the States I will be different, no matter how much I have tried to stay the same. The culture, language, and people will stay with me for a long time and I guess I will always have a soft spot for France. I hope to return and see cities such as Bordeaux as well as more castles and chateaus in the Loire, but that is for another time. Also someday coming back to Paris with a significant other would put me a great advantage, knowing where to go and what to do…

The biggest thing that I have learned since being here is that no matter how much I try to be European because of my identity crisis, I am American and will always be. The best thing that I can do here is take away aspects of the culture and thought and apply them to my life. I always associated myself to Illinois or Connecticut and never really to the US. When I flew across the Atlantic and stayed on a different continent for a third of 2007, I realized that no matter what city or state you are from in the US, there is an American culture and identity that is borderless across the 50 states. Even the near communist students in my NU program ended loving the US that much more by the end of our time in France. It’s not that France or any of these other countries are terrible countries, its just we all live a pretty comfortable and isolated life in North America. It is important to travel and experience the world, so that you can have your eyes opened like mine were. And now that I have done so much, I have realized that there are so many more beautiful places in the world that I can visit and there is such little time. I guess now I need to work on getting a job and making money so that I can do all that….

It’s sad but finally true; I am leaving on Saturday for the opposite end of Europe to the vacation town of Varna, Bulgaria where I will spend Christmas with my friend Ivy from Northwestern. Don’t worry blog doesn’t stop here because I will still be in Europe until January 4th! I am sure I will have plenty of things to talk about Central and Eastern Europe... Now I just have to find something to do with myself for the next few days before then.

Unexpected weekend in Belgium

So I am writing on the Thalys high speed train going back to Paris from a very quick but eventful two days in Belgium. Yes, it was my third time in the small country and some people would ask why go again? But my answer to them is whenever you visit another country no matter if you have been there before you will always learn something. So the story of how I got here starts last weekend in the south of France when I got an email from my dad and a family friend of ours who has a company office and plant in Belgium. He invited me down from Paris to spend the weekend with some Belgian and American hospitality. I turned in my paper Thursday and had my French final so I was ready for a relaxing weekend. I booked a ticket that got me into Brussels into the afternoon where I was met by a taxi who took me to the Biznis Hotel. Now the north of Belgium excluding Brussels speaks Flemish (Dutch) and the south (Wallonia) speaks French. Brussels is an international city that speaks both, but once we got outside, it was mostly Dutch which for me was hard but French still worked. I talked to the taxi driver about what it was like to live in Belgium. I told him that if you read the papers, it seems that the Belgian government doesn’t get along and there are talks of separation of the country. Like I said before that’s all Europe needs is another very small country. I mean Belgium is about 250km from the north end to the south. He said that among the people there are not any conflicts and that it was just the politicians who couldn’t get along. He further confirmed something though that the Flemish north is more heavily industrial and pays for the Wallonian south. His perception of the relationship is that while he worked and busted his ass per say, the southern “poorer” people sit around and do nothing. Although that might be true, one has to take into consideration that the south of Belgium was known for its mining and after that was wiped out, most of the investment and industry went into the north. I don’t know how much of it has to do with mentality or socioeconomic reasons.
Nevertheless it was interesting, and my last question was if he liked the European Union. Now of course he said yes, Belgium, being one of the original 6 members, benefits greatly from an united Europe.

Now back to the trip, I finally got to my destination, which was a nice business hotel. Judging that I do look 20+ years old, the people at the reception desk were still surprised to see a kid. There was initial confusion because my family friend had made the reservations under his company name and all of the information was different. Took a good 15 minutes to clear up before I got my room on the first floor. After walking in I liked it already because it was big! You can normally tell from how big the stairwell is, how big you room is going to be. If you can barely fit while going up, you are in for a small surprise. The room ended up being too high tech for me, when you walk in, you have to put your keycard in a little slot next to the door, turning on the power in the room. Now as good as it sounds for energy conservation, it’s definitely a hazard, because of having almost walked out without it a few times. Anyway I called my friend’s assistant, who ended up picking me up and bringing me to the office that was only 5 minutes down the road. It consisted of a brand new office (10 yrs old) with a manufacturing plant in the back being in charge of operations and sales in Europe and Africa. Now of course I was a little timid going into this whole thing because for the entirety of the trip I was treated like a guest: a young businessman instead of a college student. I was introduced to everyone being the friend of the American boss, which immediately would squelch their looks of what is he doing here? I also made a habit to prove myself with each person I met either talking about Flemish castles and art or what I have learned from being in Europe for four months. After waiting for a bit in the conference room, I was met by my friend and 4 other Americans from Naperville/Downers Grove who were from the company headquarters in the good ole Grove. Only did I later find out that they were somewhat of a board of directors for the company. I asked a lot of questions that I was genuinely interested in knowing the answers too like: do you export to Eastern Europe with all of the structural fund aid from the EU, what countries in Africa, do you take part in the Iraqi reconstruction, and so on. Had to show them quickly that they were not babysitting me for two days. After a few exchanges of conversation, my nervousness subsided and I was shown the manufacturing plant by my friend who along the way caught us up with what was going on with the families.

We all went back to the hotel and got some good, and let me emphasize good Belgian beer before going to the Amadeus restaurant in Ghent for ribs. Beer 4 €, Ribs 15 €, Good company that is twice your age, but treats you the same: Priceless. Now I have been to Ghent before 5 years ago with John Nihoul from Kent. That was during the summer and better weather months. Now it was just rainy and gray, but still better than Brussels might I add. I don’t know how many have read my post on my last trip to Belgium, this one was certainly better for Ghent is a university town that has many nice pubs, restaurants, shops, and cathedrals. That night while making the rounds of bars and pubs, to show me the hotspots of Ghent of course, nothing more…we ended up at this famous beer hall that had a trademark of selling this beer that came in this huge glass a yard long. Now having a few beverages before this task made me think long and hard about the journey that I was about to embark on. I took the quest egged on by the others, reminded me of a frat party, and was told to give up my shoe in insurance for the glass. After I had started drinking, I suddenly thought oh shit what happens when you have to go the bathroom and only have one shoe. Immediately, I was offered everyone else’s shoe at the table, but it was hard to find one that fit because of being size 12. Well you know what they say about big feet….its hard to find shoes! I finished the big bong of beer and reobtained my shoes. I don’t know if I just made up a new word, reobtain, but it works for me although Word spits it back.

We left the fine establishment and went back to the hotel even though it was only midnight. I definitely needed sleep and knew that I was probably not going to make breakfast the next day. I handled the whole thing fairly well and got up in the morning to go with the guys back to Ghent, where we visited some of the cathedrals, which are most of the pictures from the trip because rain and electronics sadly don’t mix. We also hit up a mustard store and then some fine Belgian chocolates. What was surprising to me was that when we went to this famous mustard store, it had been the same one that I bought mustard 5 years ago. I couldn’t buy anything now because it would be another month before I come back to the land of over-consumption and wide open spaces. No seriously I have said it before, I miss the US. We finished up getting the presents for the wives, which thankfully I don’t have to deal with for another decade at most. But it’s good to learn some of things beforehand in an effort to block out some of those small fights. We went back to the hotel in order to get ready and some rest for the Christmas party in a Belgian castle with most all of the European employees of the company. Before retiring to my chambers, I ran across the highway to the gas station for some chocolate milk, Pringles, and water. Chocolate milk has been the only milk I have drank since being here in Europe except for the ice cream, and even then chocolate milk doesn’t exist in France only in Belgian processed bottles. On the way up to the room, I was given a blazer that was two sizes bigger than me, but did the job. I wore my usual attire of black pants, belt, and nice shirt to go along with my brown walking shoes. As usual I did not bring black dress shoes and was not totally matching. But that’s ok because there were people at the party who were 10x more underdressed. Instead of a tie, I just unbuttoned my shirt and curled the hair. Be that false as it may, people I mean women still looked even with Italians in the room.

The party was a beautiful old castle that was more like a mansion/chateau than a medieval castle. There was an upstairs where all the guests were greeted and then the floor underneath was the dance floor and dinner hall. This is the one large event every year that includes everyone from the Belgian office, UK, Italian, German, and the rest of the European employees. After standing around drinking my orange juice with some of the guys that I had met the day before, I was introduced to many other Belgians who were working for the company. When it was time to sit down, they called us by tables and I was put at the head table with all of the other executives and their spouses. Before the dinner started they introduced all of the important people who stood up and took a bow. I wasn’t expecting getting called up as well at the end. I felt a little bad that I was getting this kind of treatment, but of course I liked it. We ended up taking a 5 hour meal with 4 courses and dessert. There was a wine and beer for every course, but I only took a glass. I was sitting with the original 5 that I spent the last day with along with 2 other Americans and this Dutch businessman and his wife. I had some very interesting conversations at the table not only with the men, but their wives. The Dutch businessman was very interesting because not only was he in charge of bringing in more sales for France but also he was an antique guns collector who branched out and engineered a lab that works on metals and fibers for bullet proof vests and armor for ships, planes, helicopters, and vehicles. Talk about a hell of a guy. He also told me that it was currently weird that the French, British, and especially the American militaries were increasing their orders to about 140,000 vests a year, let alone everything else. After the meal was over with, they had a dessert buffet that was complimented with dancing right after to kind of even it out. Our bus left at 1:20 with all of the executives leaving everyone else to go crazy as the guys told me. Well this is getting too long, so I would just like to conclude with me saying good bye to everyone after the party that I had met because of their early flights in the morning, but that I might be seeing them soon. By the way, the time it took me to go from Brussels to Paris is the amount of time it took to write this blog…

Quick Update on My Life

Sooo my facebook status says that I am currently down a Italian mineshaft. That is true in the figurative and not literal sense. I have a 15-20 page economics paper due tomorrow which on top of that I have study for a French Final. The Italian part comes into play by my Economics of the EU professor being Italian and who actually ran for Prime Minister sometime in his distant past. But yeah taking a procastination I mean concentration break that I need to take after each section because these types of papers are not as flowing as history papers. History papers you just line up all of the major events and tell how they are connected. Anyway today we had a final class in this decision-making course where our final presentaiton was being a part of a large committee council meeting where we act as different countries trying to pass through a piece of transport policy. I know it sounds really fun doesn't it, but for some reason at the end there was this foul stank. I guess we got into it a little more than we thought.

With a final exam and paper tomorrow, that leaves only two more classes next week one of which is an exam as well. Will have to study a lot for the on next tuesday because of it basically covering all EU policy. But I there is sufficient time considering that will be the only thing I do in the next few days along with a trip to Brussels to see a family friend/NU alum and have him show me his company. More on that all later with hopefully more pictures of Belgium because we will do some sightseeing and apparently a Christmas party in a castle. Toujour (always) spoiled. I will have a few days after I am done with classes next tuesday to savor my last few moments of Paris. I feel like I will hit up all of my favorite bars and do some last minute shopping/sightseeing. I can't believe this has gone by so quickly, in a week from Saturday I will be in Eastern Europe on the shores of the Black Sea in one of the newest countries of the EU, Bulgaria.

Un beau week-end

So according to the Manassero family a good weekend is one where you have good food, travels and sex. It’s too bad I had only the former two this weekend. They were joking obviously because in the south, just like in the US, they are more conservative and religious. Or that’s just what I tell myself. I am currently on the train coming back to Paris from Aix-en-Provence, which I don’t know why I didn’t stay down south: its warmer, better wine, and talk about being spoiled. Anyway I arrived in Aix-En-Provence at night this last Thursday having just barely made the TGV train by 3 minutes. Damn metro stopped about 4 times as I was making my way to Gare de Lyon, which knowing me, I go down to the wire with everything, almost made those few minutes a hell of a difference. I was picked up at the station by Dr. Daniel, Mara, Nicolas, and Frederic. The last time I saw Frederic he was 7/8 and the time before that about 3 or 4, so yeah it made me feel old to see him grown up. About the whole down to the wire thing again, my battery is dying, I guess I will finish this when I get back to my apartment tonight…if I make it back quickly meaning the metro is still open when I get into Paris. My train gets in at 12:15 and it closes depending on the stop somewhere between 12 and 1. Story of my life….

For any of you that care, I actually made my train, so I now I won’t have to walk all the way back to my apartment. So I will recommence with Thursday night, which they picked me up and after showing them pictures from what has happened to me in the last 4-5 years, we went to sleep. I know didn’t take very long…actually they were overwhelmed with the number of photo albums. I went to sleep thinking to myself, damn who knew I would be here in Nans-Les-Pins with this family a third time in my life after visiting it in 5th grade. I guess some people get lucky. I woke late, which they allowed me to do every morning, to some coffee and brioche. Amazing and was exactly what I wanted before we embarked on our six hour hike along the coast of the Mediterranean through what are known as the Massif de Calanques. I would say that hike with Fred, Nicolas, and Daniel was exactly what I needed for not only was it beautiful weather, I got to see a Mirage 2000, we actually did some freestyle climbing (no ropes), and I was able to keep up to the point where I wasn’t really tired after. I felt it the next day but I guess all of that walking from the strike actually paid off. Look above for some pics. That night we had a traditional French dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I think they decided to go there after I dropped a hint that I loved Chinese food. I forgot to mention that moment I got to their house they gave me a Guinness and pretty much an abundance of alcohol the whole trip.

I slept in again the following day and actually did not get out of the house until 1 or 2. They wanted to take me to a new chain restaurant called Flunch that is pretty much like an American buffet restaurant without the buffet. You have to pay for your meat or pizza or whatever and then the sides are free. Although I don’t know if I translated the instructions badly because I was the only one to have more than 2 plates and to go up for seconds. We dropped Fred off at a birthday party that actually had mini motor bikes and atv…not too bad for that age. Upon driving around some more, we ended up at a vineyard called Château La Grande Bauquière. It’s like I died and had gone to heaven. Well the only thing that was dead were all the grape plants because it is winter, but I was still given a tour by the régisseur of how the wine is made. I got to see all of the modern machinery they use now to compress the grapes and to allow them to ferment after they have been purified. Also I found out some things like that each year the wine is different (obviously) but never thought of it; the wine gets its tastes naturally like strawberry or banana which the guy didn’t give any other explanation; and if you want to buy a chateau like that with about 80+ hectares of land its 10 million Euros. We ended up tasting the white and rose of 2007, while the red was from 2004. To get the new year’s wine, he went to this big kegerator to put it in college terms and then just twisted a spout and out came this delicious wine that I have to say was some of the best I have had. And I am not even a fan of white wine. My French family ended up buying a case of each of the three because they ended up loving it as well. I left the vineyard with the régisseur’s card because he said it’s hard to sell in the US and if I wanted to or knew anyone I should call him. After leaving with a car filled with alcohol, we returned back to the country house in order to get dinner ready which lasted the rest of the night. We ended up having lots of wine, foe gras, pizza, and chestnuts roasted on a open fire…No joke…I ended up teaching Fred some Chess and watching the Simpsons in French. I couldn’t believe that it was a whole family affair.

I went to sleep after staying up going through jokes on the internet about Belgians, French, Canadians, and women. The latter was the funniest for me but I certainly cannot repeat anything that I read…it’s too hard to translate. Woke up late for three times in a row, which was fine because we still made it to St. Tropez in time. Again beautiful weather and we ended up walking around the harbor that I certainly visited many years ago. I was able to take so many nice pictures of the water and all of the yachts. The best name was “Don’t Touch Me.” We continued to drive on after staring at all the Porsches and Maseratis. On the way back to Nans, we stopped to visit a relative at a hospital where I was able to take tons of sunset pictures. I actually forgot the camera after climbing three flights of stairs and seeing this view outside the window. Had to run back to the car and get it before the sun went down because it was too hard to resist. Was even better 10 minutes before I took the picture above.

It was hard saying goodbye to Mara and Fred not knowing the next time I will see them. Although I told them that they should make it out to Chicago in 2008 and that we as in my family would come and travel with them to Corsica in 2009, just in time for my graduation. Perfect present idea….Apparently Fred cried when I left which to me was touching because I never had a little a brother no matter how much I tried to mold my sister into a boy. Daniel and Nicolas took me to an American restaurant, Buffalo Grill before going to the train station. Talk about your typical Chilis or TGIF Fridays, but this is France and they served Canadian Bison and Alaskan salmon. That’s better than a lot of restaurants in Naperville. It was so nice to have a big old sandwich with fries and BBQ sauce so that I could feel my arteries hardening and my death clock setting itself a few seconds earlier. But hey it was an experience, the menus, waiters, and whole décor of the restaurant was American. Had I known any better with the amount of flare and cowboys and Indians, I would have said we were in Texas. What was the most humorous to me was watching Daniel cut his burger with a knife and fork and then eat it the little sliver he cut off. When I started to laugh, he picked his sandwich back up and ate it like a true American. The two things that killed the ambience of the restaurant was when I ordered my meal in English which was written on the menu and the server didn’t understand me and 2 when I got up out of my chair and had to get past Nicolas to go to the bathroom, I realized they didn’t make the restaurant big enough for Americans. No matter how homesick I am, I am still in Europe…..

Mary Part II

I left the moment I was done with the last blog post to spend the day in the north of Paris. Our first stop after picking Jonas and eating Lebanese food was a large open flea market. Now this flea market resembled the markets I had experienced in Istanbul, but here there were quite a few African art stores that Mary actually bought some presents from. The Turks I could spot because of their selling tactics and cheesy lines that were said with the same diction as in Turkey. Most of the products there at the market were very over priced and it was worth it to look for deals. When I was waiting for Mary to buy her boots, I got a call from Begum, a friend from Northwestern. She was in for the Thanksgiving weekend and I ended up meeting her to catch up after we were done up north. Before that and after the flea market, we moved on to Montmartre for Mary to experience one of the nicest and most cliché parts of Paris. There were not as many painters because of the cold, but there was a singer and hot wine/chocolate. Mary was content. After walking around Montmartre and taking a few pictures, we stopped into the Sacre Coeur to not only visit the basilica, but also make an appearance at mass which started at 6pm.

We stayed until the end of the mass, which was actually beautiful with the singing and the organ. Having to meet Begum, we hurried to the other side of Paris to the Eiffel Tower. Of course it was night by now, so it was all lit up and ripe for photos. We couldn’t stay long at the restaurant with Begum because we had dinner plans chez Charlotte. We ended the night with a brilliant movie, Delta Farce, which gave me a few laughs. It was nice just to see a good ole American redneck movie where Larry the Cable Guy leads his friends in an accidental invasion of Mexico. Mary woke up early the next day in order to make Swedish pancakes for everyone in my host family with maple syrup, something I haven’t eaten in months. We moved on to my French class, where Mary almost fell asleep in, but she woke up when we met one of her friends from Culver for lunch. We moved on from there in a hurry because it was her last day to the Champs Elysees. There at the Laduree we had macaroons and coffee, which the air of the restaurant seemed that of the 1800s given the interior design. One thing I didn’t plan for that day was finding out that I had a two page paper due at 7pm. So I left Mary on the Champs with my friend Jonas while I went back to do this short paper.

She came back by dinner time, which was amazing because it was a dish that basically allows you to cook potato skins for yourself. Charlotte put a small grill in the middle of the table and we put cheese in little cartons in the sides along with meat on top of the grill. She then gave us potatoes and onions to eat with our meat and fried cheese. It was definitely a healthful meal, perfect for Mary especially since she wanted to dance last night. After dinner I tried to get some rest before we went out on her last night, but couldn’t because Federico and Jonas who Mary spent the last few days with, wanted to come over again to hang out. Even though they both deny it, it was funny to see them take turns in hitting on her throughout her stay. We didn’t get out until midnight due to bad planning and our infatuation with the Office. Our first stop of the night was the Queen because apparently it is one of the best clubs in Paris and it was disco night. Mary didn’t bring her ID because the only one she brought on the trip was her passport. This presented a problem when she tried to get in the club. She actually would have been let through had the bouncer believed that Federico was 20. He is actually 20 so it was an embarrassing night for the both of them. That doesn’t mean it ended or that we didn’t have fun. We tried looking around for other clubs including Duplex and Etoile, but they were closed. Then again it was a Monday night so I don’t think we should have expected much. We were about to go home after making a brief stop at the George V café for a drink until I told Mary to call the same friend that we had lunch with earlier in the day. She did and we ended up meeting him and other of Mary’s culver friends at a bar that we stayed at until the wee hours of the morning. I did it for her even though I had class today because it was her last night in Paris and she was going back to the trenches at school. This morning she got up and packed while I slept until I threw on some clothes and walked her to the bus. It was a hell of a week and I feel like I better rest up and do some work before I go off to the south of France on Thursday night.

She has Tired me Out and its now only been 4 days

Mary is HERE!!!!!! She got in four days ago and she too is falling under the lull of French life with the strike. I could not take the RER to pick her up from the airport and when I tried to take a bus it never came. By the time I was able to find a mode of transportation, she was already on a bus headed my way. Took her 2 hours but finally she made it and I hurriedly took her to the apartment so that I could make it to my last class. I already told my French teacher for the first that I wasn’t going to make it and considering my grade in the class he didn’t care. I felt bad walking into my class an hour and a half late, but I actually only missed things that didn’t matter and was there for the 30 minutes that explained what involved me in the next two weeks. Great luck considering we stopped for coffee and lunch on the way there and with the strike it took about 30 minutes to walk. During class I saw Mary dosing off which is hard for me to blame her because I was almost as well but I needed to listen for details on upcoming assignments. After class I had her meet some of my friends and like many days after class we went to my favorite establishment, O’Neil’s. There the 5 of us all had their amber, while we all just hung out and talked. Mary seemed to fit in with the rest of my friends even though she is a good 3-4 years younger.

Considering we had a whole day ahead, we decided to go into Notre Dame and see the rest of the St. Michel area. Mary was awed by the cathedral and it was great for me a second time especially after just seeing the Hagia Sophia a few weeks ago. Hagia Sophia has some more amazing architecture, but Notre Dame clearly wins with its stained glass and good upkeep. As I have said before the Hagia Sophia is in great need of repair, granted it has hundreds of years on the Notre Dame. When I took Mary to Notre Dame, I told her to look out for gypsies. I didn’t see any actually and was sad because I wanted to point her out some. So yeah it’s been 4 days and Mary has not been stolen away into thievery by the gypsies. Mom and Dad can rest easily. After walking around a little bit more we went back for dinner with Charlotte. Mary was amazed by her cooking (vegetable lasagna) and then she was amazed by the French soccer team at the local bar. Although, due to time mix-ups on my end, we only made it to watch the second half. She went to bed the earliest that night being sick and all, for what would be a tiring week ahead.

Thursday was Thanksgiving Day in America, but not in France. There were never pilgrims or Indians here, although Canada has a thanksgiving I think as well. I had to plan out the meal and who is was coming. I invited three of my friends: two guys and one girl who ate the meal along with Charlotte and her two daughters. She was in charge of the turkey, so it was up for Mary and me to make the rest of the dinner. She brought with her: dumplings, wild rice, and stuffing mix. When we went shopping we decided to also make sautéed spinach and fried zucchini. We bought some onions and French mushrooms to make the wild rice dish that I felt was very North American for these Frenchies. We cooked the rice with the turkey in the morning and then did the rest of the food a few hours before the meal started. The fried zucchini took the longest but the food preparations took relatively a short time with 5 people working in the kitchen. My friends brought over more food in that they were in charge of dessert, drinks, and some random stuff like corn which was a most for an American dinner. We had the food ready by 7:30 but with the strike the daughters didn’t make it on time so we had to eat the food cold. That was fine, we went to the nearby store bought some champagne and Cassis de Dijon for aperitifs before the meal. The meal went fairly well especially with Mary making gravy that first looked like pudding but then when the grease from the turkey was added, looked more like New England Clam Chowder. But hey we didn’t have a lot to work with and it still turned out great. No kitchen mishaps and the only negative thing was that the food was a little cold. That is what the microwave is for…A great American dinner in style. We decided to follow up the meal with a trip to Mary’s first club, The Mix. It was free because I love my deals and took her on a night where it’s free for students. She was able to experience Paris night life with all of the other international students who are studying here. Let’s just say she tore up the place because as she walked in she told me that very few people could dance. That ended up being the case because she was on the podiums and in the middle of circles awing everyone. I of course always stayed near by for her to tap out whenever things got a little hairy. Jonas to say the least was impressed by her dancing. She will have a good time in college…

Friday marked the day that we got up late and decided to go to the Jardin de Luxembourg. Obviously it’s changed since I last have been there (now its winter), but we got some great pictures. We walked around some more and actually hit up a few shops, typical thing to do the day after Thanksgiving. Actually found a few things that were really cheap due to their quality, but were very Euro looking. We walked across Paris as the night began to settle in and she was able to see most of the historic buildings on the way to Angelina’s. We of course picked up a friend at the Louvre who we just happened to run into (happens a lot) and took her with us to the hot chocolate café to meet the others. Mary met all of the girls from Istanbul in one night. The hot chocolate was so rich I felt like they took bricks of choc and melted down and served it hot. It was expensive but worth it and we actually brought some of it home for the parents. Our next stop was the Louvre, which was again free but amazing nonetheless because the pyramid was lit up at night and we were able to see the usual famous pieces in a short time. We decided to stay out for dinner and we ended up going to this place off the Champs Elyeses that had great soup and sandwiches. We ended the night by walking around the Pantheon area and hitting up a few local institutions.

Saturday we had to wake up early, so at noon we did and got ready for a day at Versailles. We went to the local bakery so Mary could have her French delights and then made it off to the train station. By this point, the transport strike has now finished and its funny because it is not really in the press and nobody is talking about it. I guess King Sarko won this round, but there are still more battles to be fought. We were able to buy train and admission tickets at the train station that saved us hours of waiting time to get into the palace. It ended up being a beautiful day and unlike the last time I went there, everyone was actually working. Our admission got us into most of the rooms and the gardens which was enough to see because the experience is very tiring. Now the palace as I have heard is owned by an American corporation, hence you have to pay for each of the rooms. Our pass covered most of the palace so we were able to not only see the Hall of Mirrors. The whole place was very intricately designed and well maintained. It was so large that we probably only saw a fraction of the rooms. I could get used to living there although they would have to make the furniture bigger. The beds alone could only fit my legs. The gardens went on for acres and football fields. One hell of a view to wake up in the morning to. More great pictures even though it was quite cold. We ended up staying in the town of Versailles after the chateau to walk around the town. We ended up a café to eat some crepes and drink a hot beverage, hot wine same like I did in the Pyrenees. Before we got back on the train, we went to a cheese house and bought a few slices so that Mary could try some cheeses. Took the RER back and met a SMU friend at a Canadian restaurant just to get that Anglo Saxon experience. I enjoyed the barmaids and almost left my number after a few too many smiles. We hurried back for dinner where she made a garbage tart as she calls it, but it wasn’t smelly or horrid tasting even with the goat cheese. I wanted to sleep after dinner because my sister has been driving me very hard ever since she got here but I was awaken from my 5 minute nap by a call from guys who wanted to come over. It’s weird that since my sister has been here, my friends have wanted to do a lot with us. Even the lazy ones. We hung out and then went to an English pub that changes into a dance club at night. It wasn’t as good as the other nights, but Mary was able to dance with my SMU friend who could at least try and keep up with her. Now its Sunday morning and I am still really tired from these last few days, but I have to run because Mary is off to the races again..

2 Weeks and counting...

This picture is the front-page of http://www.bbc.com/. It says that President Sarkozy is being defiant and that he is going through with his overdue reforms that are meant to help the nation not cripple it like the strikes. Apparently it is costing France hundreds of millions of Euros a day…That’s in Euros not Dollars, multiply that number by like 10000 and you get dollars. If that were the case I would already be home haha, Paris is expensive enough. Too bad I didn’t put all of my life savings into gold and Euros before I came. I would be rolling into mad Benjamins when I got back. Anyway there is no end in sight for the strike and today hundreds of thousands of civil servants, teachers, utility workers, and even hospital staff workers have joined the strike. I was walking home and on the way I saw another CGT (communists to me) rallying in the street protesting and setting off flares…But then again you would too if you were going to lose your job for the betterment of the economy. That’s what is going to happen with Sarko’s needed reforms for government jobs will be cut especially in the education sector. I mean the fact that is winter and terrible weather outside adds to the dismal atmosphere with the strike, but I have gotten use to the walk. It takes almost the same amount time taking the metro with transferring and waiting for slow trains.

I feel sorry for my sister who is coming tomorrow, she will have an amazing time but the weather hasn’t been great the last few days and I feel like we are going to have do Paris by foot. I mean its fun to explore and see the city without riding the dirty, ugly metro. But there are certainly places that are worse off like Bangladesh that just had that huge cyclone, so I won’t naturally complain about this social disaster. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a great time with their families.