Parc Floral de Paris

One major item from the bucket list was checked off today with some great friends!

ME

Me, Jaimie, Amanda, Ally

Ally

Best Friends <3

Jaimie Lee

It was a bit claustrophobic in there...

Delicious treats to celebrate wonderful weather and a perfect day in Paris!

Beaucoup des Fêtes!

Let's take a moment to recap all the major parties that occurred this week...

First was last Friday night, in which my new American friend Shannon and her French boyfriend Pierre had a party to celebrate their signing of a civil union agreement in France.  I met Shannon while working for Bob's Juice Bar.  She had recently moved to Paris to finally be with her boyfriend, who she had dated 2 years long distance (New York to Paris).  She is such a sweet girl and I'm so happy to have another friend here in the city, even if I do only have a couple months left (so sad)! 

Shannon!

Pierre and Shannon, the happy couple dancing the night away!

The second party occurred the following Saturday, which happened to by Nico's 40th birthday party!  Val and Nico had shipped the kids to Grandma's house for the weekend so they could do all the party prep for that night.  Saturday I helped Val prepare some food, then I had to sneak away to Amanda's house for a few hours to prepare my birthday present for Nico.  I remember him telling me many months ago that, besides hamburgers, the one thing he misses most from the US is a homemade cherry pie, so a homemade cherry pie is what he got!  Now, they weren't McCormack cherries, but at least it was a McCormack pie, so it sufficed!  He was very shocked/excited and asked me to guard the pie in my room that night so no one at the party would eat it.  Needless to say, once he did cut into it, it only took him 3 sittings to finish it off!  So back to Saturday, I returned home to help with the final party prep and errands, only to find a completely different apartment.  They completely cleared the play room of all toys and the living room of all furniture.  They had a custom cut carpet laid down in one room with twinkling lights and surround sound to make a tres chic dance floor!  This proved to me that these people are professional party throwers!  They went all out with the decor, food, events, and gifts, it was unbelievable!  Amanda came as my date to the party, where we ate delish food, extravagant cake, and of course expensive wine and champagne.  We observed all the party-goers dance their hearts out (especially Val, damn she can move)!  We were there to witness the big gift reveal--a massive wine refrigerator!  And then when the time came for us to hit the sac, we laid in bed for hours, wide awake at the sound and vibrations from the music below, because those old people sure know how to party...until 3am...(early even, by their standards)! 

Unfortunately this is the only picture I captured that night, but this just shows you how incredible the party was if the giant tub was turned into a cooler!

The third party of the week was on Thursday night, when Ally and I attended a concert of the band BRAIDS, here in Paris.  Long story short, the boyfriend of the previous au pair of the family who Ally works for is in the band.  They are currently on tour all through Europe, and his girlfriend informed Ally's host family that he would be in Paris this night and invited them to come.  They in turn invited Ally and I to join them in the festivities!  We were given "VIP access" which we assumed was backstage passes, so we got dressed up and made our way there, only to find out that it was a fairly small gathering, and by VIP they merely meant free entrance, but hey, you take what you can get!  We found Marie and Sam, Ally's host fam, and Marie's brother who also tagged along, we grabbed some beers, made small talk (in French...eeek), and watched as the show began.  I was blown away.  It is completely not my type of music (electro-pop), but they were really quite good, and the lead singing had a beautiful voice!  We all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit, and decided to hang around for the last 2 bands as well.  Eventually the conversation switched to English, which I was obviously more comfortable with, and it gave me the opportunity to get to know Marie and Sam a bit better, and vice versa.  They are one of the families who I will be working for when I spend the month of August in Corsica this summer with Ally, so it was great to talk and relate to them in a non-work setting before the real fun begins in Corsica!!  They told me the most important French phrase I need to know while in Corsica: "Qu'est-ce que vous voulez a boire?", aka "what would you like to drink?"....I like the sounds of this already!!  After the show, Sam hopped in the van with the band to direct them back to his house, where they would be taking over Ally's room for the night.  Therefore, Ally and I hopped in a cab back to my house where she was staying for the night.  Side note, for those who don't know, Jaimie is now staying with me again for a couple weeks (woo hoo!!), but this also meant that it was now going to be me, Ally, and Jaimie sharing my bed for the night.  It was great fun staying up, talking, and laughing, but when it came to sleeping, well, who am I kidding, that clearly did NOT happen, as I was falling off the bed all night.  Oh well, another fabulous memory for the 3 of us :)

Braids!

Amazing vocals, I'm jealous...

I was Al's date for the night :)

The fourth party this week was Friday night, where we packed up a mega picnic and headed to Pont des Arts on the River Seine to celebrate Amanda's birthday!  We had a major spread of food, including wine, champagne, and homemade champagne cupcakes, made by moi!  The vibe on this bridge is awesome, as it is just a foot bridge, so many Parisians take to picnicing here during the warmer months.  Unfortunately on this night, alcohol was prohibited for some reason, so after we ate, we move down to the quai of the river to relax and drink our wine.  It was a wonderful night with wonderful friends.  Unfortunately it ended when a stupid Frenchman proved just how stupid Frenchman are by purposely questioning and interrogating me about who was at fault for 9/11.  I'm not sure if he was genuinely interested in my opinion, or just genuinely interested in pissing me off and arguing his point, but it put us all in a sour mood, so we let him know that he ruined our night before heading home early.  Needless to say, we had a good time, and Amanda had an even better time, and that's all that matters!

Pont des Arts from a distance

Quite the happening spot...

So much foooooood!

J et moi!

Sunset on the Seine

Another lovelock location in Paris!

The Birthday Girl!!

Beautiful candid of Amanda and Ellie

The fifth and final party this week (I know, I'm a baller!) was just last night, when for the first time in about a month, Jaimie and Ally and I were all in the same city, at the same time, with zero visitors, and a mutual night off work.  This is the biggest cause for celebration thus far, so we took full advantage by having a date night!  We went down to the Opera area and ate a delicious Italian dinner on the terrace.  We then popped into Starbucks for some coffee and a treat before heading to the movie theater to see Water for Elephants.  We have all three recently read this book and were ECSTATIC to hear they were making a movie about it.  The movie was excellent and they were able to incorporate quite a bit of the book into the movie, so I was very impressed.  I definitely recommend both the book and the movie to any of you reading this!!

Best Friends <3

So, that's it for my busy, but amazing week!  This Friday I am off to the Netherlands for the weekend with Jaimie.  We will be visiting Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, Utrecht, and Amsterdam before coming home Monday afternoon!!  The following weekend, Amanda and I head out on Thursday morning to spend a wonderful 4 nights in Porto, Portugal!  We plan on seeing the sights, lounging on the beach, and drinking as much Port wine as we can get our hands on.  Exciting trips to come, and even better blog posts!!  :)

Mon Week-end au Château d’Andé

Chateau: noun 
1. (in France) a castle or fortress.

2. a stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle.

Yes, people, that is correct.  I visited my first French castle this weekend.  In fact, not only did I visit it, I slept in it!  Turns out, my friends have even more to offer than the obvious fun, support, and companionship, they have rich host families with big castles too!  This weekend, my friend Amanda and I were invited to come along to her host family's castle in the little village of Andé in Normandy.  It was a quick trip, just 1 night, but it was just what I needed to get out of Paris, get a breathe of fresh air, a tan, and a once in a lifetime experience (well, maybe twice, they invited me back)!  This family used to live full time in this chateau for the last 10 years, but just a couple years ago, they decided to move into the Paris city center.  They kept the chateau for the weekends and summer, and bought an additional 5 story townhouse in the swanky 17th arrondissement.  If that doesn't spell L-O-A-D-E-D, I don't know what does.  So, Saturday afternoon, Amanda and I, her 8 year old au pair child and her friend, and her host parents all hopped into the family's slick BMW for a quick hour long drive Northeast to Normandy.  As we drove through the small town, the family stopped to talk to everyone, passing familiar faces at each turn.  I was taking in the scenery, admiring the beautiful River Seine we had just crossed, again, and taking in all the quaint houses around us that truly resembled a small French village to me.  I expected them to live in a slightly larger house, but in no way did I expect what was coming.  We turn onto a tree-lined dirt path headed directly towards a grandiose, mesmerizing palace.  "Here we are!" they say, as I jump to catch the drool sliding down my chin.  You cannot be serious.  This "house" is big enough to sleep 10 different families, and they use it as just a simple weekend escape for their family of 5.  It was at this point that I realized something: I want to be rich.  If for no other reason than to simply own a castle.  I mean, this place doesn't even have an address, all letters are addressed to "Château d’Andé", how cool is that?!  After receiving the grand tour of the main house (3 stories, 9 bedrooms), the guest house (3 stories, 3 bedrooms), the garage with underground massive wine cellar, the caretakers house (which still houses their full-time staff--a maid and a grounds keeper), and of course the grounds (football field-sized front lawn, tennis court, 2 soccer fields, indoor pool, multiple playgrounds, and forest for miles) I was at a loss for words.  The host mom gave us the option of staying in a bedroom in the main house and sharing all our meals with them, or having the guesthouse completely to ourselves and essentially being free all weekend...naturally we chose the guest house.  Our own kitchen, living room, bedrooms, bathrooms, it was great.  The only problem was that the guest house isn't used very often, so there were a few spiders, a few extremely large spiders, just a minor setback.  As soon as we arrived Saturday, we settled in and made ourselves a delicious dinner--grilled chicken with lemon and a delicious caprese salad.  After dinner, we took the 2 little girls into town, because we happened to be there during la Fête de la Ville and there was a Tahitian-themed party going on.  Now I kinda laughed at the thought of the French having a Tahitian theme, but I was shocked at the lengths they went to to make it authentic!  There was a huge BBQ going on and a stage with authentic Tahitian hula dancers and live music!  Quite impressive for a tiny French village...  After a quick bumper car ride, we walked back to the house to prepare for the firework show, which happened to be directly in front of the house, so we had the best views in town!  It was pretty amazing, standing outside it felt like the fireworks were falling on us!

Sunday morning we slept in a bit, then decided to take a little stroll into town.  We came back and made lunch--grilled shrimp, homemade gluten-free pasta salad, and more caprese salad, yummm!  After our delicious lunch, we headed straight to the pool, which I was SO looking forward to.  The pool is completely enclosed so they can use it at anytime of year.  Definitely different than I'm used to, being in an indoor pool, but that appears to be all that exists in France!  We swam for a bit before retreating to the lawn chairs outside.  The weather was warm, not hot, and it was overcast, but as soon as we laid down, the sun came out and warmed us right up!  We laid there for a couple hours with our sunglasses, books, and a bowl of strawberries, and it was absolutely perfect.  My only goal for the weekend had now been accomplished.  We decided to shower and freshen up, as we were due to head back to the city around 5pm.  While we waited for the family, we sat on the steps of the house enjoying our lovely homemade iced coffees, and finally at 6pm, we were on our way.  There was a bit of traffic getting into Paris, so we didn't arrive until about 8pm, so Amanda and I decided we would cook some of our leftover Tilapia for dinner.  It was such a wonderful, relaxing weekend, I felt completely refreshed and rejuvenated for the next week to begin!

A postcard of the "Castle of Andé", built in the 17th century!!

Picture taken from the back of the house, on the bank of the River Seine

Front of the house, with garage/wine cellar in background

The guesthouse, our humble abode.

View from the back of the house, looking out towards the river

Soccer field in backyard

Front yard--sprawling lawn and a well!

POOOOOOOL :)

Monster spider.  Right over the stove!

Me and Amanda :)

Actual Tahitian dancers, way to go Andé!

Monday we decided to continue the fun by taking our leftover food to the Jardins des Tuileries for an afternoon picnic.  We enjoyed a nice little stroll there, where we laid out our blanket, set up our food, and soaked up the sun and the beautiful surroundings.  For those of you who don't know, the Jardins des Tuileries is in the center of the Louvre Museum, in sight of the Eiffel Tower...absolutely beautiful!  Tomorrow we plan to picnic again, but this time with more friends, and under the Eiffel Tower!  Gotta take full advantage of the wonderful weather before it gets too hot and unbearable here!

Jardins des Tuileries, surrounded by the Louvre!

Amanda exhibiting our delicious spread of food!

Sunbathing!

Merci Beaucoup!

I have been receiving a lot of feedback recently from both family and friends about how much they enjoy reading my blog, so I wanted to take the time to just say THANK YOU!  Thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, and listening to me babble on about my experiences in this wonderful city/country/continent.  It has truly been an amazing year so far and I am excited for the next/last few months of my adventure.  In the meantime, here is a little update on my life recently...

First up, Gretchen and Devyn Cotter's visit in mid-April.  While they were only here for a couple short days, we made the most of it by essentially spending every waking moment together.  These 2 women are the closest thing to family that has visited me yet, besides of course my parents and brother.  For those of you who don't know, Tim and Gretchen moved in down the street from my family when I was just a year old, and their son David was just a few months younger than I.  Devyn is the same age as my brother, and their little Scotty (9 y.o.) is my future husband ;) I have essentially known them my whole life and therefore consider them family, along with the rest of my Rockledge neighbors (miss you all)!!  Anyways, having them in Paris was a treat and it was so fun being able to show them around my new city.  I took them on a walking tour of my favorite areas in the Marais, we ate falafels, Dev and I shopped till we dropped, we went on (my first ever) Seine River boat cruise at dusk (a MUST for anyone visiting Paris), ate at my favorite neighborhood bistro, Les Deux Singes, where we befriended the manager and got free shots, and last but not least, we spent quality time with quality friends.  They left me after just 2 short days to continue on with their trip to Nimes and Nice, but I know they enjoyed their time in Paris the most...right?!  Unfortunately, I let Gretchen take all the pictures during their trip so I have none to show of us together, but here are a few I captured during our walk and river cruise...I lovely reminder of just how beautiful this place is, in case you forgot!

Random passageway that I happened upon one day.  Amanda and I sat in those very seats the other day to enjoy I wonderful mid-walk glass of white wine :)

Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris.

Tour Eiffel in all it's glory.

Earlier this month, Jaimie, Ally, and I attended our first real concert in Paris.  I suppose it was more of a show, as it was just a man and his instruments, but it was great nonetheless.  The musician was Alexi Murdoch, whom Ally is a big fan of and henceforth I am as well.  His specialty is acoustic guitar, but he also whipped out an electric guitar, as well as a violin, sans bow.  He was truly amazing, and if you'd like a sample of his music, listen here.  The opening act for Alexi was a French cellist who was...a bit odd.  Let's just say he molested his cello more than he actually played it, plucking random chords and stroking the back of it to see what different noises he could get out of it.  The audience was not too pleased, as they turned into a bunch of 5th graders talking and laughing quite loud.  I'm not sure who I was more blown away by: the audience and their behavior or the "musician" "playing" "music", if that's what you want to call it.  Needless to say, all was redeemed when Alexi stepped on stage, and he proceeded to blow our minds for the next hour and a half with his oh-so-soothing voice. 

Not sure if you can tell here, but this is the cellist, using his bow, playing on the backside of the cello.  freeeeak.

The picture is horrible, but this is Mr. Dreamy himself, Alexi Murdoch.

Now that springtime in Paris has arrived in full force, we have taken ourselves to the streets, daily.  This includes new walking adventures to areas we've never been, picnics and drinks along the Canal St. Martin, walks along the River Seine, and drinks at outdoor cafes throughout the city.  The weather has been amazing (70+F, 20+C), which puts everyone in a better mood.  The only downside is that it means tourist season has begun, and there is no end in sight.  Paris is a completely different city in the spring/summer, and as much as I want to experience all it has to offer, I find myself getting very annoyed, very quickly, with all the crowds everywhere.  However, with Ally's boyfriend here, we have taken advantage of being tourists ourselves.  Yesterday, Ally, Jonny, Jaimie, and I embarked on a journey to discover Les Égouts Paris, better known as the Paris Sewers.  Yes, you read correctly, the 4 of us willingly descended into the infamous Paris undergrounds to catch a glimpse of one of the most remarkable sewer systems in the world.  Leave it to us to wait for the warm weather to come, so the wonderful stench waiting for us below can have time to boil and really get itself going.  Yes, the smell was quite bad, and it some areas almost unbearable (to the point where, if I really thought about it, I could have easily puked), but we remained focused, camera in hand, and continued on to see all there was to see.  This particular section of the sewers was made into a museum essentially, that tells the history of the sewers and water systems in the city, the relation to Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, and the changes it has experienced throughout the year.  So because of this, it was quite clean in most areas and there was nowhere to come in contact with raw sewage, unless you really tried.  There were a few areas where we walked alongside rushing rivers of poopoo, over grates covering the rushing rivers of poopoo, and under pipes containing rushing rivers of poopoo.  It was in these moments that I thought to myself, death would be a more appealing option than falling into these rushing rivers of poopoo.  Literally, it was quite foul, but also very interesting, and something not many people would add to their list of things to see in Paris.  However, the sewer has played such an integral role in the development of the city, that I encourage people to make this out of the ordinary pit stop just to experience such a thriving "pipeline" of the city. 

Is that excitement or trepidation on Jaimie's face?

Now I know why I see so many workers in all blue roaming the streets!

I will spare you all the truly graphic pictures...

Last but not least, I too watched the Royal Wedding last week, and it was wonderful!  I originally was indifferent to it, but I realized that this quite a big deal in the scheme of things because so many people say the Monarchy system won't survive another potential 30 years to witness the nuptials of the next successor to the throne.  Luckily, the host mom of my friend Amanda was throwing a big tea party at her house to watch the wedding, so Amanda invited me to come along.  Nothing like watching the biggest wedding to take place all year, surrounded by about 20 women (and 4 men, randomly), while eating tea sandwiches, shortbread, and pims.  Definitely a memorable experience (not memorable: the measly kiss(es) they gave to appease the audience and the lack of smiling throughout the entire ceremony...c'mon Kate, you just snagged the most eligible bachelor in the world, show the rest of us that you're at least somewhat happy/proud of that)!  I must now also take a moment to express my condolences to my cousin Kelly, who has been waiting over 10 years for her chance to woo Prince William and steal him as her own...Kelly, this is just a minor bump in the road, keep trying!

Blowing kisses to Prince William in front of Amanda's outrageously decorated house.