Friday night, one of my friends had a small get together before we heading out to a party organized by our school at a club. We got into the club around 1:00 and ended up not leaving the area until the metro, which closes at 2:00, started running again at 5:30 am. Failing to catch a cab at 4:30am and proceeding to sit in a warm crepe place until transportation home is feasible may not be the ideal way to spend time, but I'm glad I got my first ridiculous night out experience haha. The next day, we got up around 1 pm--I had stayed the night at a friend's were our visitor was also staying mainly to avoid taking the metro home alone at 6 am, but also so that Mohit could make me French toast as promised.
We proceeded to go to the grocery store for the supplies, found some awesome cinnamon bread, and made a super delicious breakfast. I didn't get home until 4pm, even though it felt like noon. After a few hours at home, I met Mohit and some others at a bar for the Manchester United game and a beer before heading off to dinner in Montmarte--which has to be one of my favorite areas of Paris. It's in the hills of northern Paris, has an amazing view from Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (Catholic Church, and amazing food! It is the same neighborhood where I went to fondue with girlfriends for Valentines Day.
Side note about the fondue place, Refuge des fondues--it is super famous for its tourist appeal. Crazy tiny place where they packed our group of seven into one back table. They start you off with sweet wine, followed by appetizers (sausage, olives, pickles, cheese), and then you choose either cheese or meat and potatoes fondue. Since there were so many of us, we got both and shared. The most famous, and fun part, is that you are also given a baby bottle with either white or red wine for your drink. The meal is followed by a dessert of canned fruit, which sounds lame, but after fondue it is pretty much the perfect thing. The food wasn't AMAZING, but it was good and plenty, and I definitely would pay the 18euros for the experience again. The walls are covered with money from all over the world as well as writing. I found a few "go Bears" and, my personal favorite, Cal>UCLA>USC.
Anywho, not sure what the restaurant we ended up in with Mohit on Saturday night was called, but it was definitely delicious! For 15euro, I got a salad appetizer, beef bourguignon, and super delicious pistachio and coffee ice cream for dessert.
I did take pictures of the rest of the food, but with a friend's camera--I'm going to attempt to remember to add it later haha. We then went up to the church to see the view and headed home.
Mind you, I just got over a cold towards the end of last week, so this weekend's craziness probably wasn't the best idea. I definitely felt my body yelling at me Sunday when I embarked on another long day. After working for a few hours in the morning, Mohit and I met at the Louvre. I am embarrassed to say that I had, as of Sunday, not made it inside yet. Definitely one of the attractions you take for granted since you can tell yourself you are in Paris for a semester, I can go next week sort of thing :) I found the Louvre just as massive and beautiful as I had been told to expect. Saw the Mona Lisa, which I actually thought was impressive in person even though I had been told I would be disappointed haha. Admission for European students is free, so my new plan is to try and go in for at least an hour a week so I might see a good majority of the place before I leave.
After the Louvre, we met up with other friends for the "buddy walk" organized by my school every week, which is basically just a tour of one of the 20 Paris neighborhoods. However, this week was the Champs-Élysées. While the area is gorgeous, my exhausted self wasn't really interested in listening to the history of fashion designers whose stores take up the majority of the streets.
Luckily, Mohit wasn't down either haha. We came back to my place where I proceeded to take an hour nap while he started to plan out the rest of his trip here. I then ate a hurried dinner and left for a concert with my "buddy" Hannah at the Champs-Élysées Theatre. Originally my plan was to go straight from the buddy walk to the theatre, since they are in the same area, but I was thankful to get the quick nap and home cooked meal which coming home in between enabled.
The concert was so lovely! It was a Swedish symphony highlighted by a world-famous cellist and pianist.
What I found probably most entertaining, was how many times the two world renowned musicians came on and off the stage after each piece for applause--definitely upwards of 8 times. I definitely couldn't help laughing to myself a little. The girls I was with joined me in my amusement. Both are from Germany, but have spent time in the states and knew that, while normal in Europe, it definitely appears excessive to an outsider.
Mohit left on Monday night, but we made time to grab some pastries during the day--he couldn't leave without having a proper pasty.
I spent most the rest of Monday, and now am spending my Tuesday, meeting with partners for projects and trying to get work done before I take off to Spain on Saturday! I am so excited for the trip. Our basic itinerary is as follows: Fly out Saturday around 7 am to Barcelona. Take an overnight train Monday night to Grenada. After two days there, a fairly quick train to Madrid where we will stay until we fly out Sunday March 6. So excited for the tapas and sangria that awaits me!
On another digression, and boring one which I am only documenting for myself so please ignore if you'd like haha, is the slight drama I am having with courses here. One of my classes, which I was actually looking most forward to with the professor from Columbia, was canceled due to an unexpected illness of an immediate family member. The Sciences Po administration hasn't handled the situation...at all. It is now over a week since we were contacted by the professor about the termination, and we have learned nothing more than "we will be getting back to you soon." So I shall wait, but not without anxiety. It is one of the courses I was hoping to get credit for towards my major back home. I still have two other lectures (which should combine to count for one class at Cal--the credit system here is different and requires really crazy conversions), but if one of those lectures is rejected by my major, I may be in for a much more hectic senior year than I was anticipating. However, for now I wait and can at least enjoy a much more free Friday. Instead of class straight from 10-7, this termination has given me a welcomed two hour break. I would, of course, rather suffer through a few long Fridays than to be screwed with course requirements back home, but there is always a bright side to these things!
Hey! The apartment we are renting when we go to Paris is in Montmarte! Heard it's a little funky but a must-see neighborhood of Paris. You MUST visit us when we're there in April!
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