Taking the road less traveled: Last night in Paris!

....which means I move into my house TOMORROWWWW! I can't believe it's already happening. I'm getting very excited to see it, but I'm definitely employing reserved optimism. I just don't want to get ahead of myself. Everything has gone so unbelievably smoothly so far -- my academie seems to be very helpful and good at disseminating information on time, or even early, my contacts at the school are really great, I had tons of options for housing that were all reasonable and pretty welcoming, etc. -- and I just really really really hope that that trend continues!! I feel unbelievably lucky that I get to be doing this, and I will do my best to keep that in mind - above everything else.

We have had SUCH a time in Paris, which only adds to that feeling of being lucky. Thursday, after we got settled, we actually persevered through the jet lag, and stayed up until about 10:30. We then slept for about 13.5 hours, which was much needed but waking up at 11 was painful on our first day in the city. We then experienced the now (or should be) infamous shower story. Hannah and I had taken showers the night before, and then I switched the shower head back to faucet. Then, Peter gets in and tries to shower and between the three of us (three bi-lingual, college grads, employed 20-somethings) could not figure out how to get the shower back on to save our lives. So this morning, we went down to the front desk to ask for help. They, logically, assumed that it was broken so they sent up the repair guy. When he gets in the shower, he starts to check it out, and then quickly turns around, with a 'vous etes completement stupiiiiiiiiiiid, et americains" look on his face. He points to the knob and says, 'you pull it.' We had done everything but 'pulling it.' And it was unbelievably embarrassing.

After this ordeal, we (cough, hannah, cough) then took our precious time getting ready, and then we finally took off. Hannah and I went shopping, and I finally purchased a pair of the very French sneakers that I've loved for a long time.

I got the grey ones. We decided to go get lunch, and found a gorgeous spot under the Tour Eiffel. We stopped for cafe nearby, and paid 5 Euro for a cup (about $7...and you thought Starbucks was bad...). We made ourselves some dinner, which was delicious (salad with corn, avocado, chicken, peppers, tomatoes; baguette; boursin - the fig/walnut kind SO GOOD - et du vin! It was delish, and very rewarding.

Tourist picsssss

Our view from our lunch spot

Dinner on our balcon

Saturday was Versailles day! Peter and I had gone to the chateau de Versailles at some point during our time in Nantes, therefore we decided not to deal with the huge, huge crowds to go inside the castle - though we did find a back-door entrance to les jardins, so we got to go in to the outer half of the gardens and explore a little bit. It was a spectacular day (i got a little bit sunburned!) and we had a great time. I also had fallen in love with the town when I was there before, so went to explore that for a while. It's still great. I love it. I would totally live there. We had a very (verrrrryyyyyy) extended lunch, which we enjoyed according to French custom...with lots of food and drink and caffeine.

Les Jardins de Versailles

Lunch!

Then we ventured around the wonderful marche, we followed Peter on his quest for ethernet cable, which proved to be completely futile, I bought a phone (so I have a French number! If you would like it, just ask!) and we met Jocelyn, the adorable French man who had worked at "Chez Mickeyyyy" (disney world).

Then we ventured back and prepared for our adventures out to Montmartre. We met Peter's friend who is in grad school here, and went to find the fondue restaurant recommended by the always helpful Julie Sink. Best eating experience of my life. It was so much fun. The seating consists of two wall-length benches that go the whole length of the one room, two big tables on either side, and benches along the aisle. To get to the wall seats, the waiter literally lifted us up over the tables so we actually had to step over it. We were sitting between a group of American girls studying abroad there and a very boisterous Italian family that we became quite close with. Then they just started bringing us food - we didn't have to order or anything. I guess there weren't any options. There was cheese and oil fondue, with bread, steak, veggies and lots of sauces. Oh man it was good.

Then we climbed to the top of the hill to see Sacre Coeur, and the nighttime skyline of the City of Lights!

Today we took it pretty easy, trying just to soak in the last little bit of Paris that we could. Seeing as France pretty much shuts down on Sundays, it was pretty easy to do. We got some groceries at the marche this morning and took a picinic lunch to the Jardins du Luxembourg. Then we found an antique market and I almost died from the lack of space/money that prevented me from buying absolutely everything. It was spectacular.