Bonne Soir!!

Sono andata a Parigi lo scorso weekend. Paris- I wasn't sure what to expect on a lot of levels. Parigi.. you hear about it a lot, you hear that the French are snooty, that the food is good, and that it's gorgeous. Stereotypes are true, but in a good way for Paris. It's kind of weird- I've spent the last few weekends in countries whose languages are totally foreign to my ukie-italiano-english speaking self. Now normal people would book a train ticket, read up on the foreign city in question, learn a few key phrases, learn about local customs......... nope. Team 123 Medaglie d'Oro picks up, grabs cameras and passports and..... goes. E basta. Ecco i nostri viaggi..

PARIS: Caroline and I got on our 15-hour overnight train (don't worry, abbiamo prenotato le cuchette-hooray for beds) and woke up to rolling French countryside complete with sheep dotting the green grass, misty morning dew, cozy-looking chalets, and gorgeous scenery speeding past our window. The train ended up being not one, but 2.5 hours LATE getting to Paris-Bercy, so technically we are eligible for refunds.. but wait, it didn't drop us off at Bercy. We were dropped off at GARE DE LYON, which is the main train station in Paris. Usually not a problem, but the two of us (blonde...non-French-speaking... lost) had specific directions from Bercy, not Lyon, to our respective places to stay for the weekend. Ummm ok.. haha, so Caroline gets on the Paris metro to go to her hotel on the north end of Paris and I get on the metro in the Porte d'Orleans direcion so I could go find my friend Kolya's apartment on the south side of Paris. Ummmm ok, so at this point I'm alone on the Paris metro with a skype convo printout at my aid. Haha. Happy ending, though- I made it! Funny twist- Caroline's UK cell didn't work in France? And as I later found out, she couldn't call Kolya's? Oh, so another long story made short- didn't meet up with my ND friends that weekend because we played Life Before Cell Phones.. in Paris. But so anyway.. all day Friday Kolya and I hung out, walking around the city and going to Notre Dame, some Jardins, and Musee d'Orsay. There was an AWESOME exhibit in d'Orsay- Picasso copied this one painting by Manet like 50 times, but each time it looked completely different. Really trippy but really cool. Then that night we went out to a club for an Erasmus night and I met a bunch of his American friends studying in Paris. So fun!! Haha aand I practiced my italiano on some guys who were having none of it. LAME. All in all- awesome. On Friday I ended up finding Team ND's hotel, so we hung out for part of Friday until I went shopping with Kolya (aka I played stylist). Then we went to this ridic Halloween party that ended up being pretty short-lived but fun all the same. Saturday was San Chappelle/Jardins/walking around/rando churches/French Pantheon day. San Chappelle was stunning- walls of stained glass windows that were just too gorgeous to believe!! That was another thing I loved about Francia. They have stained glass! There is NONE in Roma. The weather all weekend was pretty chilly and gray, but France has autumn! The leaves were changing! Sweaters and jackets didn't just take up space! The city was remarkably beautiful, too. So clean and quaint- kind of like out of a movie, just better because it was REAL. Ok, so Saturday night. Kolya and I went out to dinner in the Latin quarter of Paris. We (ok, I lied. He. Because I am devoid of French speaking/reading skills) found a really pretty little bistro (a reaaaaaaaal french bistrooooo-so excited) and were there for a few hours.. I had an incredible cheese-walnut-greens salat for the entreé [appetizer in French] with really great cheese, veal with mushroom-cream sauce and pommes frites, and a "mandatory" creme bruleé. O, the French know their food. It was so memorable. And so, so good. Oh yea, and the bistro was called Le Tango du Chat :) Afterwards we went to the Eiffel Tower because I still hadn't seen it, and when we got out of the metro, I saw it! For the first time- and it was SPARKLING. This year the tower is lit up blue at night, and for the last ten minutes of every hour at night it SPARKLES. So pretty!!!!!!!! So then we just hung out for the rest of the night and eventually went to bed and daylight savings happened and I had to go to Lyon to catch the train back to Roma bright and early. Actually it wasn't even bright yet. Just early. All in all, era un weekend fantastico. It was really nice to visit a friend and just hang out and see the city as a sort-of not tourist. Oh yea, and eat croissants, eclairs, crepes, and all other French goodness that no one in the world has successfully imitated and/or perfected. Also- I am in LOVE with the way the French say bonne soir. So cheery and HAPPY- bonne SOIR!!!! Our version is the ever-sexy buona sera, which, when said correctly is definitely sexy. It was nice to hear the happy version after getting so used to the sultry version, haha.