One Night In Paris

Two blogs in one day...can you believe it?? 

Translation: I have a TON of other things to be doing, and these are the times when I am feeling the most creative and inspired to write!  I did, however, run along the Seine today, and it was the first really good run that I've had in Paris so far.  Maybe there is hope for me yet with this whole ten mile race thing...doubtful.  It's in t-minus 6 days, and aside from running today, the most exercise I have had recently is picking up an eclair (or croissant, or baguette, or rose) and putting it in my mouth. 

I can say with confidence that I have learned some very important things since I have been over here.  Most have them have pertained to adjusting to living the urban life and exploring a completely new city, language, and culture . 

The most crucial thing that I have learned, thus far:

Be sure to arrive at the metro at least 30 minutes before it closes...especially if you are hanging around on the complete OPPOSITE side of the city from the arrondissement in which you reside. 

How did I learn this very tough lesson, you ask?  Well, sit back, and I'll paint you a little picture of how it all went down.

If you recall, Saturday started out with my 08:30 cuisine practical, the last one --- yeahh!!!!  We made roasted chicken with au jus and garden vegetables. Easy, right?  As always, WRONG!  I am just going to start assuming every practical is really, really difficult, and then maybe it will be a cinch!  Wishful thinking.  Anyway, it wasn't as if the dish was all that complicated, it was just a complete mess for everyone in the kitchen.  It started off with people grabbing saucepans that had been hangin' out in a 200 degrees Celsius oven, subsequently burning the living daylights out of their hands.  I have been lucky, thus far, (PLEASE KNOCK ON WOOD!) that all ten fingers are fully in tact, and the only minor burn I have is from the baby bottle fondue place that Nicole and I visited on Saturday night (more to come on that later!).  We also had to turn two artichokes in practical, and they let us know that we will definitely have to do that (x2) on the exam.  All I am going to say about that is that I will be purchasing a LOT of artichokes between now and November.  Anyway, 3.5 hours later -- practicals are only supposed to last 2.5 -- I was brain dead and headed home to enjoy the weekend.

Two chicken breasts with au jus, with garden vegetables that took approx 29384 years to cut into uniform rectangles, sitting on top of a cooked artichoke - Voila!

Nicole and I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon shopping and walking around the city, and then we decided to head up to Montmartre to take her to the infamous baby bottle fondue restaurant!  It was completely packed when we arrived, so we waited around for a while and eventually got a table in the teeny, tiny restaurant.  We had a great time, and I fell in love with that place all over again...now that I had been there twice and was a regular!!  We enjoyed baby bottles of wine, steak fondue, and the company of a French couple next to us who gave us some good places to visit in France and a potentially free pass to Euro Disney.  The girl worked at Pirates of the Caribbean, so Nicole and I fully intend to take her up on her offer of getting us in -- free of charge.  Also, Pascal (so French, right?!) told us that the baby bottle restaurant is so old that his mom used to frequent it on the regular...and he was no spring chicken!  Nuts, huh??

My finger was a casualty of the fondue!  I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to grab a plate that had been resting up against the vat of hot oil...

After dinner, we weren't ready to head back home yet, so we decided to sit on the steps of Sacre Coeur and chat while overlooking the night sky and the incredible view of the city.

Now the fun really begins (insert somber violin music here).  We had a great time sitting on the steps and enjoying the evening,  but we eventually realized it was probably time to head back to the Metro.  After getting our tickets, we sat in the station and patiently awaited the next train to take us home.  It wasn't until that a group of girls across the track yelled over and kindly let us know that they had made a few announcements that the line we were waiting for was finished running for the night (I'm pretty sure they were actually laughing at us, but I'm not positive).  I would assume it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 01:30 at this point, but it hadn't even occurred to us that we needed to get back in order to catch the train...ugh, sometimes I curse growing up in suburbia!  If I lived in a city with a thriving subway system, then maybe this stuff would come naturally. In our defense, however, the stupid RATP website says that the trains run until 02:20 on Saturday nights...

Anyway, let me remind y'all that we were up in Montmartre, and for those of you who are not familiar with Parisian geography...MONTMARTRE IS REALLY FAR AWAY FROM EVERYTHING!!!!  So, we had a few choice words for the RATP and started the long journey home...8.1 km later, we were at my building.  All I can say is that it was a really, really long and COLD walk.  On the bright side, however, I did get to see some of Paris at night, which I haven't really done because I am usually bundled up in my apartment by nightfall.  Here is the best part...we were constantly scouring the skyline for the Tower (as in Eiffel,  we feel it is appropriate to be on a first name basis now that we have been in Paris for a month) to act as our North Star and give us the motivation to keep on going, and it wasn't until we were crossing the Seine that we noticed the night sky was unusually dark.  All we could see were 3 tiny red lights at the top, and a very faint outline of our beloved extinguished beacon of light.  In case you were ever laying in bed at night wondering what happens after the last light show of the evening, I am here to let you know that they shut the Tower off somewhere between 01:00 and 04:00 AM.  Also, I do want to say for the concerned folks out there, Nicole and I were together the entire time and walked on VERY well-lit streets.  At no point in the 9903488945 mile walk home did I ever feel like we were in a compromising situation...and actually, there were a lot more people out and about at that hour than I would have imagined.  Maybe they missed their trains too?

So, that is the end of my sob story about Saturday night and learning the hard way that even though the Metro SAYS it runs until the wee hours of Sunday morning, it doesn't because the French just really don't like to work that hard.  Speaking of which, there is a metro strike on Thursday (shocker)...the second since I have been here.  The first was pretty anticlimatic.  I was really hoping to cross a picket line or something (or hell, even picket with them!  I'm always down for supporting the cause --- I think it's retirement age or something), but there was none of that...only less trains and more people.  AND they announce them days in advance!  What is the fun in that??  I thought rebelling against Big Brother was supposed to be a little bit more exciting and spontaneous.  Maybe that's just in my fantasy land.  Anyway, I may go in search of the picketlines on Thursday and try to find at least one protester...what is a strike without some action?!  That is...if I can find time between my 12+ hours of class.  I'll report back and let y'all know how it goes.

And just for fun!  These pictures were taken in the exact same spot on Friday afternoon (the Tower is directly in front of me in the top picture).  Parisian weather is very sporadic.

- à tout à l’heure!