PARIS: "We are going to TAKE you!!!!!"

Hola.  Forgive my extended absence from the blog, but after the entry that I spent an hour writing got deleted for no apparent reason, I had to cool off for a while.  On a much more exciting note, I just found 50 euro ($65) on the sidewalk!!!!!!  Now I'm at a cafe on the same block as my apartment, it's Friday and sunny, only thing getting me down are the five midterm exams I have next week.

 (Dinner's on me!!!!!!)

Finally, two weeks after the fact, we can talk about Paris.  Veronica, Anna, Carly, Sarah, Zoe (who's studying in Copenhagen), Jackie, Jackie's bf and his two friends, and I went to the city of love for a romantic Valentine's weekend getaway.  After a four hour bus ride Thursday evening to Barcelona, we hit the town with some fellow UVA study abroad-ers.  A few drinks (and a pair of stolen pants...don't ask) later, we cabbed it to the airport, made our way through security, took off, and finally landed in Paris.  Actually, thanks to RyanAir's shittiness, we landed an hour and a half - and fifteen euro - shuttle ride outside of the city.  But thanks to this extra little opportunity to recover from the previous night's shenanigans (and that late night tuna melt... again, don't ask), we arrived in Paris city limits before 2 pm. 

After dropping our bags at our lovely hotel (hostel? not sure), we began our Parisian adventure at a nice little cafe for lunch (side note:  the "first is the worst, second is the best" childhood saying has become our motto for finding eateries in Europe - we just can't seem to get it right the first time and have to awkwardly leave and cause a scene, consoling ourselves with the fact that we'll never see these people - and harsh glares - again).  [BTW, We LOOOOOOOOVED the food in Paris.]  The semi-English speaking waiter graciously pointed us in the direction of Notre Dame, cautioning us to add an hour to any walking trip because of inevitable shop stops.  After blowing this off and reassuring him that we're in Paris to see the sights and take in the city's rich history and culture, we arrive at Notre Dame two hours later.  In the famous words of Lao Tzu, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

(Don't mind if I do)

The day was unseasonably warm and we couldn't help but snap several hundred repetitive pics along the Seine River and in front of the Cathedral itself.  Then, with the setting sun, we made our way to the Louvre to take advantage of the Friday night 6-9 pm free entrance.  Personal favorites were Napoleon's Apartments and leaving (sins - I just can't do more than 2 hours at a museum, but I'm optimistic that this limitation and my getting older and wiser will have a positive correlation).  

 (Probably could have made the cut on the UVA website's "This Week in Photos" had the nice Asian lady done a better centering job.)

We hopped onto the metro (our second home in Paris) and made it back to Oberkampf and our hotel to shower before dinner.  Despite the city's enormity and abundance of restaurants, our laziness and impatience compelled us to settle with a restaurant on our street.  j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j-JACKPOT!!!!  Food was amazing; soup, spaghetti, the BREAD - just great.  By the end of the meal, we were so content and tired that we decided to call it a night (I know, I know, FRIDAY NIGHT in Paris!!!!  Have no fear - we made up for it on Sat).  

 (Save room for dessert!)

Thanks to a long and much needed night of rest, we awoke fully charged and ready for the (overcast and rainy) day.  Instead of metro-ing, we opted to walk to all of our destinations to get a better feel for the city.  After the crucial coffee and fresh pastry, we set our destination to the Musée d'Orsay, and headed through the Luxembourg Gardens, a strange zoo, a few stores (turned down my favorite leather jacket of all time, but 380 euro just wasn't in the budget I mapped out for the weekend), past the Pantheon, and finally (three hours later....) arrived at the museum.  Another free entrance thanks to student visas and we were in.  Unlike the previous night's fill of classical art, I really enjoyed the works of Van Gogh, Monet, and the likes.  Also spotted the painting in front of which Blair Waldorf met her hunky French chauffeur in Gossip Girl's season opener last fall.

 (Posing with the Pantheon. ~*alliteration*~)

Another delicious meal at a very chic cafe under our belt (quite literally), we headed to the Arc de Triomphe and enjoyed the stroll down the bustling Champs-Elysées with the setting sun behind us.  Snapped a few more hundy pics, hopped on the metro, picked up some wine from our favorite French vendor, showered, and got ready for the night ahead.

(The little blurs on top are people!)

(Feel like you're there? Two guys dancing on the street blared this - not sure if they understand the lyrics to Lil' Wayne's "[I Wish I could F***] Every Girl [in the World]....)

Thanks to Zoe's extraordinary networking skills and an exchange of names, numbers, Facebooks, Twitter accounts, emails, social security numbers, etc. with two French guys she met in Copenhagen a few weeks earlier, the seven of us had a dinner party date at "MEMS" with six Parisian guys - luckily, all fluent in English (wouldn't have gotten very far with our "bonjour," "merci," and "thumbs up" communicative extent).  The term "the wine was flowing" exemplifies this four plus hour dinner (13 people, 30+ bottles of wine - no joke).  The guys were all really funny, Rudy fell in love with Veronica and asked his "honey" if they could be exclusive.  After some great memories were made - and more exchanges of names and pins made - we decided to move the party to a (20 - or was it 30? - euro cover) club.  

  (The group at dinner.  Invited all of them out to dinner with my dad and grandma when I meet them in Paris for Spring Break in April.  Things are moving fast.)

Anna, Sarah, Carly, and I got into a car with Mike (the night's DD) and Harold.  Have you seen the movie Taken?  If not, watch it and then continue reading.  About five minutes into the drive, we realized this scene was eerily similar to one in the movie (where the cool partying hot Parisian guy invites the American girl to a club and then sells her into the black market sex trade).  The guys caught on and started joking with lines like "We are going to TAAAAAAAKE you!!!!!!" etc. etc.  Sounds sketchy but it was really hilarious.  After the fun-filled ride full of Cher's "Believe" French techno rap remix and Ke$ha's ("Ke-dollar sign-ha" - shout out Glee) "We R Who We R," we made our way down the disco's red carpet.  Naturally, we all lost each other within five minutes of entering.  Danced with a few guys, ordered a drink, found out the price (17 euro - is this real life?), and decided to call it a night.  Was fortunate enough to find Sarah and our buddy Harold, waited 45+ minutes to get a cab (can't hail in Paris?), and finally curled up into bed just shy of 5 am.  What a night!

(from Le Cab's website)

We indulged a little "sleep in" on Sunday morning and finally rolled out of bed around noon.  Cloudy and cold again.  Packed up our bags, left them in the lobby, and headed out for our last touristy stops - Eiffel Tower and escargot tasting (eeek!!).    

 (All six of us at the Eiffel Tower)

OH, can't forgot to mention the best sandwich shop of our lives - Cafe Jean!!!!!  Anna, Sarah, and I may or may not have had two each.  You decide.

 (Insert cliché.  Something along the lines of "this sandwich was calling my name" ... "this sandwich was made for me" ...etc.)

So, I hope I've done this Paris entry justice, because it was an unforgettable weekend.  I'm really thankful to be able to travel with great friends to some great places.  Forgive the corniness.