Paris, Meet Cassie, and AU REVOIR from ME

Yes, y'all, I'm finally home; but first, a little recap of my last week in Paris.

Cassie made it to Paris safe and sound! I was a little late picking her up from the airport because I saw COLDPLAY in concert the night before and then went to the Joyce (surprise!) I woke up a little late, but I made it, and I cried when I saw her because I missed all my friends so much. After rushing Cassie to the apartment, luggage and all, I went to school to take my French final, and I think I FAILED. I hope not, but I don't think it went very well. :(

Her luggage sticker got stuck to my booty! It's magnetic, what can I say?

Even so, it meant I was FINISHED!! Cassie and I celebrated with a nice bottle of Bordeaux and some Champagne.

We basically farted around all afternoon and then it was time: Cassie NEEDED to be introduced to the most important man in my life-- The James Joyce Pub. We got a little dolled up...

And of course, I wanted her to meet my wonderful bartenders, Stephen, Will, Ernest, and Kevin. That night she was lucky enough to get to meet Will and Stephen. Lemme tell ya, she LOVES the irishmen, AND SO DO I!

We had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! 

We met a British man and he bought ALL of our drinks ALL night. He was hilarious, and his thousand euro tab was more ridiculous than he was! Yikes!

During that night, I was sitting at the bar with Cassie, taking an Irish car bomb, and a HOT irish guy yells at me from across the bar, "Still doing the same thing after 3 months, I see!" I'm thinking to myself, "Who the hell is this cat? But he OBVIOUSLY must know me. HOW?"

I walk over and ask him how he knows me. Turns out, 3 months previously, he and some of his Irish friends were going backpacking through Europe and we hung out in the James Joyce and he remembered me! How sweet? haha

Anyway, Cassie and I slept in after out IMMENSE night of partying on day one. Will joined us for lunch at Chez Clement, where we had an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS MEAL. A meal that put us right to sleep.

After our LONG naps, we went out on the town with Will and Stephen.

Shortly after our Metro ride, the night QUICKLY got interesting. We went to Corcoran's, another Irish pub with a few locations in Paris.. Cassie and I drank Jameson and diet coke ALL NIGHT..Things got crazy. We went to a cafe for an "early" breakfast, and when we got up to leave, Stephen spit on my face, so I slapped across the face, then decided that wasn't enough for me, so I punched him. I didn't remember, but Cassie and Will reminded me that I actually punched him quite a few times before he ran away like a drunk little squirrel. NO IDEA.

The next day Cassie and I went sight seeing. We did the Tuileries Garden, the Eiffel Tower, and the Christmas Market at Trocadero. It was ALL BEAUTIFUL!

St. Michel Fountain first stop

Then we played in the Tuileries Garden...

And now the Eiffel Tower!!

It started to rain, so we put our scarves on our heads, just like some hood rats...

After we were done with our sightseeing day,  we went to the pub to finish planning the rest of our days in Paris, and also we went to see Stephen's busted lip, which was PRICELESS! (Note to EVERYONE, don't spit on me.) After, we went home and I cooked a shrimp and corn bisque for Will and Cassie for dinner, and then I went to a party and got to see my friend RAPHAEL that just graduated from the Nicholls MBA program! I wish I would have gotten to see all my French friends from Nicholls, but we were all super busy :(

The next morning, Cassie, Will and I went to another Corcoran's for Irish Breakfast, which was quite delicious..

I think we tried for Sacre Couer, but got frustrated with the rain and the metro and what not, so we went home and went to the pub instead...

It ended up being a QUIET night at the pub, but not for us. We managed to do Michael Jackson dances and make TOTAL fools of ourselves. But it was fun.

The next morning we went for a little breakfast...

with our favorite Irishman, Will...

And then onto our long list of things to do, including the Louvre, Arc de Triumph, Sacre Couer, and some souvenir shopping...

Monday night we did dinner at Bofinger's, a really nice restaurant in Bastille. SUPER NICE. We got all fancy, had wine and dessert and all... I must say, we were looking FINE!

A little creme brûlée with my flame? Don't mind if I do!

Tuesday was a sad day.. We finished up souvenir shopping and packed up, then went to the pub for the last time. We also saw Stephen and Ernest for the last time because they were flying back to Ireland the next day. It was so sad. I cried. 

We had to wake up super early to bring Cassie to the airport (like 5am early)... It was sad to see her go, but exciting to know I would soon see her at home..

After getting home from the airport, I slept until 3 pm, then went to the pub to hang out with Will until he closed it for good for the holidays...

I think I took it easy after that, I was pretty down. 

My last night in Paris was one of the worst.  Unwanted guests in your apartment are exactly that, UNWANTED. I could elaborate on this story, but for my sake and the sake of the people involved in that entire situation, I will leave it alone. That is all.

Woke up super early for my flight home, had a crazy time at the airport, but FINALLY made it on the plane after a few hours and $120 of overweight bag charges.

My empty closet :(

I don't know how I managed to pack it all...

AU REVOIR PARIS!

Excited to be coming HOME!

Well, I pretty much slept through the 11 hour flight. They woke me up to eat, and then I was back asleep, haha. I had a 8 hour layover in Miami, which I must say, was quite fun.

And those would be the EVERGLADES

Put on the BRAKES, because "I'm in MIAMI, B**CH!"

Dolla, Dolla bills y'all! I love having DOLLARS!

This thing was MASSIVE!

Me and my shrimp cocktail and my BULLDOG margarita

YUM!

Miami Beach :)

I managed to make it back to the airport with enough time for a nap too! Then off to NEW ORLEANS! There was a plane that landed the same time we did, we we had to wait a while to get off the plane because there was only one ground crew. 

And I FINALLY SAW MY PARENTS! I saw my dad's big head first, and then my mom saw me, and she STARTED TO CRY IMMEDIATELY, as did I. It was the best feeling in the world to be HOME.

We all made it back to the house safely, and I got to sleep in my own bed.. the perfecting ending to SEVERAL LONG HOURS of traveling.

I know, I've been home for a few days now, but it's ALOT to write all in one blog, so I will catch everyone  up on my homecoming in the next post..

LATER GATORS!

Kris

Short and Sweet

Monday started off terribly.
Late for class; thank goodness it wasn't a very important class.
But, for some reason, Monday morning class stressed me out of my mind. Especially with a final later on that day at 2. Not to mention I left my wallet at the apartment, along with my student ID, so I was screwed for lunch.

By the time 11:30 a.m. rolled around, I was already ready for a drink. Luckily, Nathally was in the same predicament, except she had a little bit more helpful knowledge: the cafeteria sells wine for lunch!
So Nathally loaned me 5 euro and we had a nice little lunch with wine! I think it was exactly what we both needed..
Thank you, France.

My final in French civ was a breeze! So I went home and napped. It was perfect.


Tuesday was French. We had a nice little review for our final... We will see how that goes.

Wednesday was the last day of my International Business class, which I every much enjoyed. I got all dressed up expecting to have a presentation to present, and I didn't have to present!! So I laid back and relaxed.

Wednesday was also the day that Ale's mom, Mrs. Graciela, got here. I have to say, she's one of the kindest, nicest people I have ever met. She's a wonderful mother, and I'm glad to have her here visiting.

Jos' friends also came over...3 of them. Which, was for the most part, unexpected. So needless to say, we had A FULL HOUSE.

Thursday was the last day of my marketing class, and I FOR SURE knew I was going to present. Our teachers gave us very constructive criticism, which the explained was mostly for our use in our future careers, and not for our grade. SURE! I LOVE CONSTRUCTIVE NON-GRADED CRITICISM.

I cooked Gumbo for Ms. Grace, but unfortunately I burned the rice :(  It was my first time burning rice. I was so disappointed in myself. But the gumbo was good, otherwise.

Thursday, I also put the beef to marinate for Friday night's dinner. Boeuf Bourguignon!

Friday afternoon, the international office threw a farewell for the Erasmus students at ESCE. It was lovely. The international office has been SUCH A BIG HELP to me this semester. I definitely COULD NOT have done it without them. A BIG THANK YOU TO Karine Gautier, Farah Hefied, Marie Lamy, and Elodie Dugauthier. You ladies are AWESOME!

The bourguignon came out AMAZING, like the first one. But because we had so many people, there wasn't enough for everyone to have as much as they would have liked.

After dinner, we went to a show at THE MOULIN ROUGE. I was so excited, but when I got there, it got even worse. I could hardly contain myself. It was the most impressive show I have ever been to in my life.
In between the dancing, there were AWESOME bits of random entertainment:
A girl dance swimming in the water with a Boa Python, a ventriloquist, etc...
I could go on and on and on into details, but it was such a great, jam-packed show, I don't know if I can thoroughly recall it all. And plus, if I tell you exactly what happened, you wouldn't go and see it for yourself. So now EVERYONE MUST VISIT PARIS TO SEE THE MOULIN ROUGE! haha

I have a few pictures outside of the theatre, but Ale has them and I didn't get them from her yet. And of course we couldn't take pictures inside: it's a burlesque show!

So unfortunately, this blog won't have any pictures, I didn't get out much with final presentations this week.

I slept in Saturday because we went to the 11 pm show and didn't make it home until 2.

I was a couch potato all day. I probably slept over ten hours. I love my sleep here. I think I'm saving up enough sleep so that when I get home, I can just party and party and party harder with all of my friends that I miss so dearly.

So after a 5 hour nap on Saturday afternoon, I decided it was going to be a James Joyce kinda night. And I figured, I always meet interesting people here, so I don't mind going by myself.
The Madrid Barcelona game was on, and it was packed...until the game was over.
Then it quieted down. Until I met these two French guys. The conversation began normally, they asked me where I was from, of course I replied, "Louisiana." The first thing the both of them ask me after my reply, was, "Oh, do you know Thibodaux??" My jaw dropped, and I'm pretty sure a really high-pitched shriek came out of my mouth along with, "Are you KIDDING??? THAT'S WHERE I'M FROM! THAT'S WHERE I GO TO SCHOOL!" So they say, "Yeah we have a friend coming home next week who studied at Nicholls this year." ....doesn't this conversation keep getting better? YES...
I'm shouting and clapping, and looking like an idiot because someone in Paris, France has just asked me about Nicholls in Thibodaux Louisiana.  One of the guys says, "Yeah, my girlfriend Sophie will be studying in the MBA program there starting in January."
I'm thinking to myself, really?? C'mon. So I explain to him that she will be studying with me, because I leave in two weeks to go back to Thibodaux and finish my MBA.
So, anyway. They are throwing their friend, um Olivier I think, a party celebrating his return from Nicholls this week. Some of the students who are going to Nicholls in January will also be there. AND ON TOP OF THAT, Cassie Clement will be here, so I GET TO BRING HER! It will be a pretty awesome way to spend my last Saturday in Paris. I am very excited!

Yesterday I slept in all day too, as well as today!! I have been being SUCH A BUM now that school is over, but it feels SO NICE not to have ANYWHERE that I have to be. Like school or WORK.

But now, the laziness must come to an end, and I must study for a French exam for Thursday.

With a little less than 2 weeks to go, I kinda quit the countdown. Surprisingly, it became morose, and I realized in fact, I would miss this city. So for now, I won't think about it. I will focus on Cassie's arrival and my French exam, and then OUR MASSIVE CELEBRATION.

So for now, that is all.

I apologize it was such an uneventful week. Again, blame school.

Later gators ;)

À plus tard!

Kristen

P.S. If pictures pop up from some of these events, I will be sure to post them on the next blog!

18 more days...

Yes, I made it ALL MYSELF! It was DELICIOUS, I must say.

And this was my homemade cranberry sauce. It was as good as it looks!!

After our AMAZING Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, I took it pretty easy Friday. I slept in and took it easy because SATURDAY WAS EURODISNEY!!
I was like a little kid all over again. I was so excited to be at the Disney parks, because I have never really gotten a chance to experience them to the fullest in the US.  My last trip to Disney World in Orlando was back in 2000; my competitive dance team had been invited to perform. We were on a strict itinerary, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked..Anyway, here are the pictures from our little trip to EuroDisney:

One of the biggest Christmas trees I've ever seen!

Jack's Beanstalk

Skull Rock- Pirates of the Caribbean

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum? Yeah, I think the pirate life's for me!

Mickey and Minnie earmuffs and GOOFY!!

Le Caroussel

Mad Hatter's Teacups

I barely meet the height requirements for Space Mountain :( I'm a shorty!

Reppin my ULTRA TINY ESCE tee..

We caught the PARADE!

And MINNIE!!!

There are more pictures, check the Facebook.

Saturday night we got home late, and I was pooped from all the Disney fun. Plus, the weather was so cold that I got sick. So I stayed in Sunday. Laura came over and we watched movies..or at least parts of them, haha.
Mondays are so hard for me. I don't know why it's SO DIFFICULT for me to make it to school for 8, but it is. I almost never make it. Mostly because my alarm clock is not at all effective. Anyway, when I did get to class, I was a little cheered up by my professor. Not because of anything she said or did, but because of how she smelled. She made her way around the classroom, talking to each group, and when she reached ours, her perfume found its way to my nose almost immediately. I knew what it was the second she sat down. She was wearing aromatics. It reminded me of so many wonderful things. Firstly, my mother and my grandmother. When I started working for Clinique they started to wear it. Secondly, it reminded me of Ms. Bev. She ALWAYS wears aromatics, whether she's working at the counter or not. And it also reminded me of ALL my Clinique ladies. So thank you, professor, for making me smile without even knowing why :)

The rest of the day was pretty boring. One last lecture before our French civ final.  After class, I chilled with a good friend, and we actually went to find outfits for the ESCE gala on Wednesday. For once, I had no luck. strange...

Tuesday I had a French exam. Turns out I didn't do so well on the previous one. I actually failed it. By half a point. Woops. This one went much better, and the rest of my grades in the class are great, so no worries.

Wednesday class was boring, but thank goodness we didn't have a presentation. Then Wednesday night was the GALA! And the beginning to a pretty mediocre birthday celebration... We were lookin so fly!

This was right after I fell flat on my face. She was trying to make me feel better, lol.

Thursday, also boring. Besides the fact that it was my birthday.. Woohoo, another year older. Right? Lol. Anyway, my rommates skipped class, but I went; I didn't have anything better to do.
Thursday night I went out with my friend Marisol, pictured above, to try to redo my birthday celebration. Again, it was a fail. Too bad. There's always next year, right?

We took the night bus home, and as usual, I fell asleep. I missed my stop, so I just ended up staying at Marisol's place. She had 8 am class Friday, and on my way home I was CRAVING a bagel breakfast sandwich from McDonald's. But guess what?? France doesn't have a breakfast menu!! What the hell?!?! You all know I don't like to accept "no" as an answer, so I figured I would find the ingredients to make my own damn breakfast bagel.
The corner store in my neighborhood was open, so I popped in. Luckily they had bagels! BUT, I needed ham too. So in French, I ordered ham. The guy behind the counter, WHO WAS A HOTTIE, asked me where I was from in English after I spoke only two words in French: jambon, and cinq. Is my French really THAT BAD?!?! lol. I replied that I was from Louisiana, and he followed with a warm "Welcome, welcome." After he finished slicing my "ham", he says, "OK. This isn't pork. This is veal ham." So I'm thinking to myself, VEAL HAM??? OK, sure, he's not, why not? I was really hungry too. So he gave me a cute little "Aurevoir" and flashed his pearly whites as I basically melted walking out of the door.
By the way, the VEAL HAM tasted like regular freakin ham. And my bagel was awesome. After I cooked it, I went back to bed and slept until 3 pm. It was wonderful.

Friday was a completely lazy day. The roommies and I stayed in our PJs all day long. Jos surprised us with Christmas lights for the apartment, so we hung them in the window, and they are so beautiful!

Now it really feels like Christmas!

Saturday, the roomies and I went to Place de Vosges, Le Marais, and Notre Dame. The art galleries and dress shops in Place de Vosges were amazing.

HOW BEAUTIFUL?!?!

I will order one if I ever get married.. TO A RICH MAN!

Next we went to Notre Dame. It was more beautiful than I expected. I got my grandmother's gift blessed, and also picked up something for my mom and my other grandmother.. A productive trip, I'd say.

Once again, only a few pictures. Check Facebook for the rest!

After Notre Dame we made our way to Place Monge, for our FAVORITE CREPES!

Jos and his cousin, Mike. Mike was visiting for the weekend. He's an Erasmus student in Munich.

After our bellies were stuffed with crepes, we went to the Pantheon and Sarbonnes for a good view.

We were pooped after a LONG DAY.

Sunday we started at the Petit Palais; there was a UNICEF exhibition featuring designer dolls. It was "interesting", but I forgot my camera at home :(

After Petit Palais, I headed home because I wasn't feeling so hot. I came home and took a nice long nap and then started studying for the French Civ exam I had today.

ONCE AGAIN, I overslept, and made it to class at 9 instead of 8. But the class is 3 hours long, so I managed to get MOST OF IT. I also managed to forget my wallet and student ID as I was running out of my apartment. Luckily, Nathally was nice enough to treat me to lunch, and THANK GOD the cafeteria sells wine. So we had a nice little lunch and then I took my exam, came home, and took a nap. I don't know why, but I've been LOVING my sleep lately. I guess it's the weather.

In exactly ten days, Cassie Clement is coming to visit me, and I couldn't be more excited. Well, except that in 18 days I get to see all of my wonderful family and friends!!! Counting down, YES, you better believe it! I think Paris has had enough of me.. but I still have some damage to do.. I guess I'll wait for Cassie for that.

Much to do in the next ten days. Again, sorry for the delay. Blame school.

Later gators!

À plus tard!

Kristen