On se calme, hein!

One of the most spontaneous days in my life is the story I am about to tell you. Last week my friend Sam came to see me in Amiens. As we spent the night talking over wine, baguettes, cheese & pate in my little 9 meter room, we discussed her upcoming trip to Italy & of course her Arrival in Paris. As soon as she told me that there was a Monet Exhibition, it was settled that we were going to meet in Paris and fulfill our little art fascination for a day. 


Once she had run off to Italy, I ran off with my friends. Casually I dropped in that I was planning on going to Paris on Sunday just to see the Exhibition and come back. Well, one thing led to another and my friends said lets go to Disney and spend the weekend in Paris! That sounded amazing, because I have never been to any Disney park! Well, days progressed & we started to think; "Disneyland on a Saturday, doesn't seem like such a great idea anymore!" Eventually we thought; "What the hell, we should still go to Paris to have a change of scenery." 


This adventure started by meeting everybody at the Gare du Nord [Trainstation] at 10:15 a.m. There are five of us on a train to Paris with not one plan in mind! We arrive in Paris around 12:20 p.m. and walk out of the Gare du Nord and sit at the little café there and we each have an espresso and we are ready to hit the cobbled stones of Paris and conquer it! After sipping on our espresso we were whizzing away in the métro line 8 towards Balard to stop at "Grand Boulevards" we found a hotel I had looked up the night before. We arrived and asked if they had a room for 5 people. Was doubting they would have a room that 5 people could sleep in, I mean this is Paris, everything is Tiny! Well, to my amazing surprise, there was a room for 5 people and pretty cheap too! As soon as I go up the tiny elevator with E, we walk into our room which is pretty decent for the price. We see 4 beds smooshed together and a bed on its own. I open the windows and we have a mini balcony, we are at the top, and you can tell you are in Paris! As soon as the others arrive up to the room, time to claim beds!


As we step out of our hôtel with our bags slightly lighter we run off to find a great place for lunch! We found a brasserie on Rue Montmartre that had a menú fixe! As we each devoured our meats and chickens we ordered a wonderful chocolate mousse. With renewed energy time to hit the shops! Yes, we walked around plenty of stores all afternoon. The boys and I were tired so we found a café and told the girls to meet us there when they were done. Two glasses of wine later, we are leaving the brasserie and off to the hôtel to rest up a bit before going out to eat in Montmartre. 


Lets just say that that night is some-what blurry, but I do remember the food being delicious. You gotta love Boeuf Bourguignon. Next stop, Latin Quarter! We found a piano bar and we were singing and having a great time! As we are trying to catch the last metro home, we arrive and there are so many people... we did cut-sies! Very immature but hey, this is real world we don't play by playground rules here! As the guard finally lets us get on the platform A & I are skipping on the platform to go to the end before we are stopped by the "big bad Guard" yelling at us "On se calme, hein!!" Dude, we are skipping!!! We aren't running with scissors! As soon as the métro arrives and we are safely in... well lets just say the "big bad guard" got what he deserved! 




Next day, we woke up pretty late! We all got ready and tidied up the room, we left the hôtel around noon. We found a little café where we bought some juice, coffee, & breakfast. Here is where we started to split up. A, had to go to a friends house because of a birthday party. E & Y wanted to go back home because they had "homework", I didn't want to go back quite yet. So, H & I decided to go to the Eiffel Tower because I had never been to the top of it. 


Off we go frolicking about Paris like little children ready for some adventure. With H, already having more than enough coffee we were practically sprinting to the Eiffel Tower and almost got run over by a few cars on the way. Once we wait in line for about 30 minutes, we are in an elevator that is going up and up! We are barely on the first floor and the city looks beautiful. Up & up & up we go! As soon as we reach the top it is breathtaking, windy, amazing, astonishing, and pretty much every adjective I can use to describe the feeling of having Paris at my fingertips! Of course, the first thing H says to me once we arrive to the top is "Did you know that when its windy like this the top of the Eiffel Tower sways about one meter." I'm not scared of heights, I'm scared of faulty mechanics! 


As we start to go down, there is a room in the Eiffel Tower that says how far away are some of the worlds capitals... well, I am 9,224 km from home! That's far! But I couldn't be happier in my life! As we reach the second floor we decide to have lunch there, why not! We are in France!!! It was fantastic eating while you see Paris laid out before you! First glass of wine of the day, Chablis, s'il vous plait! 


As soon as we run down the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, I'm feeling the wind making my hair go mad, calming my heat from the Paris sun, feel my heart beat, and feeling the muscles in my legs flex with each step I take towards reaching solid floor! As soon as we hit bottom, we are on our way to Champs Elysées! But first, café break. [second glass of wine] We are strolling down Champs Elysées, I feel like I'm floating my insides are warm and bubbly and there is excitement running through my veins.  H wanted to go to the movies to see Wall Street 2 but the times never worked out, so off we go across the street to see if they have it. Well, this movie theater has a huge commotion! We ask the guard what is going on and he says; "Justin Timberlake is going to be here at 7p.m." We realize the red carpet is laid out for his arrival to his movie premier! We have an hour to kill before Justin arrives so next café [third glass of wine] and back we go at 7p.m. 


YES, I got to see Justin Timberlake in Paris on the Champs Elysées!!! 


He was a foot away from my face, I asked him to sign my arm but he said; "I don't think it's a good idea to do that" but whatever! Still pretty cool that we got to see him! 


Back to the Gare du Nord to purchase our train tickets. We had almost two hours to kill. So we go out and walk around, we find someone selling roasted corn with salt. We buy two and find a bench and sit under the crazy lights, watching the buses, cars, bikes, people zip past us and we are completely calm just talking. Next stop, café [fourth & fifth glass of wine] as we start to head back to the Gare du Nord we are slightly lost and end up not making the train that we couldn't find! We have an hour to kill before the last train to Amiens leaves. We walk out of the train station and sit at the first café where we had coffee that afternoon. [Sixth glass of wine] I'm feeling warm and bubbly and starting to feel my legs being sore from scampering around Paris all day! 

Ta det på sparket!!!!

[Winging it] 

naoma*

Sam, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I hope you are feeling better! ;)