Re-entry

Tuesday morning (June 4th) I woke up at six, showered, and made sure I had all my bags together. Jim graciously agreed to drag himself out of bed at seven to help me get to the airport, for which I am eternally grateful, as I would never had made it on my own. Plus, paying for my train ticket to the airport and Jim’s train ticket there and back, at 24€, was still cheaper than paying for a cab. It turned out to be a good decision, financially at least, because my bags were so overweight that I had to pay an arm and a leg to check them (it was because of all my vacuum-packed clothes). But I eventually got that worked out and made it through security with no problem, although the guy letting people into the boarding area hassled me about the size of my carry-on , and the guy at the security check was flirting with me, which always baffles me and makes me shut down, so I was pretty flustered when I got through. Also they went through both my carry-on and my backpack. My Epi-pens, jars of spices and massive frying pan mixed in with clothes and makeup probably looked pretty menacing on the x-ray screen. The thing is, with my carry-ons, it’s usually almost all last-minute stuff that I almost forgot and then just squeezed in somewhere.

Wistful to be leaving Paris.


Thinking about when I can come back


Bye Jimmy :-(


My 10:25 flight to Dublin had apparently been changed to 10:40 sometime between when my Dad made the reservations and when I got to the airport, and then all the screens said it was on-time but at 10:50 it still hadn’t boarded. We finally took off around 11:15. I still had a pretty long layover in Dublin so I wasn’t really worried, but I should have been, as I hadn’t taken into account the fact that in Dublin I would have to in fact exit the terminal, go through passport control, get a new boarding pass, go through security again (with my bags opened up again), and go through US Customs and Border Protection before actually boarding my flight.

I did do all that, and ended up cutting it pretty close. The craziest thing in this whole day, though, was what happened in the Customs and Border Protection line.

I don’t know if anyone who reads this blog watches American Idol. I would like to pretend that I myself do not. However, I cannot tell a lie - I got hooked on it. I had a few favorite contestants, my two top picks being Carly Smithson and David Cook. David Cook ended up winning. Carly Smithson ended up being in the Customs and Border Protection line at Dublin airport.

I noticed her husband first - he’s pretty hard to miss. They featured him a few times on the show, and his whole face is covered in very distinct tribal tattoos. Carly has a lot of tattoos, too, and I always thought both of their tattoos were very cool, so the first thing I recognized was the tattooed face of Carly Smithson’s husband. First I thought, “Wow, that guy has a lot of tattoos on his face.” Then, “He looks like Carly Smithson’s husband.” Then, “Who’s that pretty woman next to him?” Then, “Carly Smithson is from Ireland, and I’m in Ireland.” Then, “Oh my God that’s Carly Smithson.”

I have met several famous people in my lifetime. Some I knew I was going to meet - Art Garfunkel, Davey Jones, Sam Waterston. Some, I didn’t know I was going to meet - James Taylor, Amanda Palmer, John Malkovitch (okay, okay, I didn’t really meet him, he just stared me down in a piercing parlor in Harvard Square). And most of that second list, I didn’t really get the impact of it at the time. I was seven when I met James Taylor, and I didn’t know who he was. Amanda Palmer went to LHS. and that’s where I met her, with Sam Kafrissen trying to set us up. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. This was super different. Carly Smithson may not be as famous as those people, and none of you may care who she is, but I admit that I watched American Idol every week up until about a month and a half ago. I loved her voice and her personality and he whole story. Seeing her there, it was the first time I had seen and recognized a famous person, and in such a banal setting, it seemed so unreal. So I was completely starstruck, probably for the first time in my life.

So I walked over to them. Because I am a creep. I literally was just like, “Excuse me, are you Carly Smithson?” half-expecting her to say, “No, but I get that a lot.” I was actually pretty surprised when she said yes, and then I didn’t know what to do. I was really at a loss for words. I felt ridiculous. It’s just so hard to explain how weird it was. You see someone on TV. You see them every week. You know a lot about them. Their face is very familiar to you. But it’s all static, it’s all one-way. They are on a screen. It’s a barrier. Even with live TV, it’s fixed in place, because nothing in my life would ever impact anything in her life, even though she’s impacted the lives of millions of people. So when that barrier is taken away, and I am standing next to her in the Dublin airport, and the things that she says are a direct result of the things that I say to her, it becomes very very weird, and even a little sad. She seemed a little wary, but her husband told me they were going home to the US and asked me where I was headed and was flattered and amused when I told them I liked their tattoos. I think they were pretty amused at my tongue-tiedness. Finally I told them to have a good flight and kind of ran away, embarrassed. I wish I’d said something witty or intelligent, or told her how talented I think she is (or asked her for David Cook’s phone number). I also wished I’d had an accessible camera, or asked for her autograph or something, just something that a normal fan would do, instead of standing there spluttering about tattoos. But I was just completely taken by surprise by her being there.



So yeah, I felt kind of idiotic afterwards, but it was still really freaking cool. I eventually got on my plane to Boston from Dublin with no difficulty, and that’s where I am writing this post from. I should be in Boston in a couple of hours. Home sweet home! But I miss Paris already. I have a feeling there will be posts in the future about re-adjusting to life stateside, but I’m not sure how long the Paris blog should continue now that I am no longer in Paris.

And here it is, AT LONG LAST, photos (finally) courtesy of Jimmy - My Last Days in Paris!

Au revoir, Paris.

Monday (June 3rd) was my last full day in Paris. Sunday night I went back to my favorite little Chinese restaurant, Nénuphar on Avenue de Choisy. I highly recommend it. The food is amazing, the prices are moderate, the service is great, and the best thing is that nobody knows about it, so it’s never crowded. It’s usually nearly empty. If you’re in Paris, you should definitely go, because with that kind of business who knows how long before they have to close down.

Monday morning I was pretty sad, and in a funk from events of the night before, and not sure of what I wanted to do. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to do something I’d never done, or go do something again that I loved. I decided on sleeping in. Oops.

Anyway, in the afternoon I did eventually decide to go visit Shakespeare & Co., because it is kind of a Mecca for English speakers in Paris and I had never been. So I went there and perused the used books on the shelves outside, sitting down to read some of The Turn of the Screw and re-read the first story from In the Land of Dreamy Dreams.





Finally I went inside and looked through their new stock. I thought about buying a book about Paris, for when I miss it, but nothing struck my fancy. Jim showed me the second floor, too, with the reference books that you can’t buy, and the little carrel where people have left hundreds of notes, both scrawled on scraps of paper and typed on the tiny typewriter.

Afterwards Jim remembered that at one point I had said that I wanted to go see the Pont Mirabeau, because of the famous poem:

Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Et nos amours
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne
La joie venait toujours après la peine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Les mains dans les mains restons face à face
Tandis que sous
Le pont de nos bras passe
Des éternels regards l'onde si lasse

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

L'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante
L'amour s'en va
Comme la vie est lente
Et comme l'Espérance est violente

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Passent les jours et passent les semaines
Ni temps passé
Ni les amours reviennent
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

I’m so glad he remembered: I would never have thought of it. We took the 10 straight from Saint-Michel and went over to the bridge. It was nothing much to speak of, but it had a pretty nice view of the smaller French Statue of Liberty with the Eiffel Tower looming in the background.









Of course, now, writing this, I am sad that I didn't go back to the Lapin Agile a fourth time (one of the guys there sings that poem set to music). I know I will go back one day but I am sure the same people won't be there, and it was the people and the fact that they recognized Erin and me that I loved so much.

Earlier in the day I had said that I was interested in trying to cook something that I had never cooked before for my last night. Jim wanted to send me off in style, and he suggested we make a French dinner since I refused to have any sort of actual party. So we went on Allrecipes.com and searched through their recipes for French cuisine. Soupe à l’oignon was pretty much a given - we just had to pick a recipe. For the main dish we decided to make pork chops stuffed with bleu cheese, chives and bacon. It looked amazing. So I had written down the grocery list and after I had had my fill of the Pont Mirabeau I took my last trip to the mall in the Village d’Asie (Chinatown) which is where I like to do some of my grocery shopping because they have a massive supermarket.

Waiting for the tram for my last trip to Géant


We got all the ingredients, including gorgonzola as our bleu cheese, which was a nice touch because I have been trying to find gorgonzola in France without much success for most of the year. If I’d known I could have gotten it at Géant, I would have done so a long time ago.

On the way back with the goods


We headed home and chilled out for a bit before starting dinner. We were both pretty tired. We decided that Jim would make the soup and I would make the pork chops, mostly because I was pretty excited about learning how to make stuffed anything. Never done that before. I did have to have Jim butterfly the pork chops though, as I am not even handy enough with a knife to slice a bagel.

Taking over the kitchen!


Jim enjoying dinner


Delicious stuffed pork chops!


And next to it, Jim's French Onion Soup, which he was worried about but I thought was delicious


To make a long story short, the meal was delicious. If anyone wants the recipe for the chops, drop me an e-mail. As we were finishing up, Amy showed up with perfect timing. She couldn’t bear for me to leave without seeing me one more time (who could, really?) so she cut short a night out and brought her date over for pancakes and s’mores. We didn’t actually end up making the s’mores, but Amy did make pancakes even though Audrey had to leave before they were ready. So Amy and Jim and I had pancakes and Amy and I said our tearful goodbyes.

Amy


I have been known to sneak up very quietly
\

Jim, and Amy's date, who Amy and I left alone together for a bit because we're kind of mean


I got to say goodbye to Mike...


...and Tim


Attempting to make pancakes from crepe mix


A little spaced out?


Pancrepecakes!


Bye Amy :-(


All in all, it was a good last day.

Just something to amuse

I still don't have those pictures from my last days in Paris, but just to keep you busy I managed to dig up this photo of my trip to the Guinness storehouse in Dublin. To recap, I met Rita, a flight attendant, in the line at the storehouse, and we did our self-guided tour together. When we got to the bar up top we met Rob (Canadian) and Mikael (Swede). Then we all accidentally (in all seriousness) stole our pint glasses. And drank from them out on the street in front of the factory. You can read the whole story here.



Maybe I will have more of these later. I am still waiting on all the ones from Rita, the flight attendant, although Rob the Canadian took a bunch, too, and this one is his so maybe I'll get more from him.

Still alive...

So I just thought I would let everyone know that I am still alive, and home. I have not updated about the end of my time in Paris for two reasons:

1. I cannot get onto my computer right now as the keyboard doesn't work. I have ordered a keyboard which should arrive today or tomorrow, and I already have a new mouse. I will use them with my laptop during the summer and hopefully buy a new MacBook at the end of the summer! If I can get a job...

2. I am waiting for my friend to upload all the pictures from my last days in Paris.

Soon!

Cannes: The aftermath!

These are some things I have done since Cannes:

1. Marijka visited Paris.



2. Had a picnic in the park.



Ducks ate our cheese.



3. Went to a carnival.



There was Italian ice at the carnival.



4. Sarah and Carolyn came to visit.

We got fallafel.





5. Went to a Polish restaurant in the crypt of a Catholic church.

Cannes (cont'd)

So somehow we made it to Saturday morning. James and I made our way to Gare de Lyon (neither of us had ever been there before) and found our train. We hadn't managed to get seats near each other on our first train (the four hour train) so we went our separate ways, although we did end up in the cars next to each other and the seat next to me was empty after a couple hours so James came and chilled with me for a bit. When we got to Toulon, we had a half hour before our next train, we were hungry, and we wanted to actually be able to say we'd been to Toulon, so we left the train station to find food. We found a little grocery store and got snacks and took some pictures of Toulon. Then we got on our next train, with seats next to each, and ate our snacks and talked loudly like the Americans we are for an hour until we got to Cannes.

Toulon


We wandered around the train station looking for Stephanie and Emily until eventually they found us. They had spent some time looking around Cannes while they waited for us, and they herded us off in the direction that they figured was where our condo was. We had the address, and on the way we met a guy who just told us exactly where it was. Convenient. It was a bit of a hike, with our bags and all, but we made it safe and sound. We thought we weren't going to be able to check in until five, but in fact our rooms were ready. We had reserved two rooms, each with its own toilet, shower, kitchen and balcony. When we got up there, however, we realized that one room had two twin beds and one room had a futon. Emily and Stephanie graciously took the futon so that Jim and I could have the twin beds.

As soon as we put our stuff away we headed down to the beach (on La Croisette). It was really not that far from our condo. We laid out in the sun and went swimming in the Mediterranean! It was wonderful. We even got burgers and fries and ate them on the beach. Mmmm, vacation.

Walking to the beach


Thumbs up!


Stephanie is really excited to be in Cannes


Emily is confused


We're really white.


Captain Bobbie Sparrow


Captain Jim Sparrow


On our way back we stopped at a little grocery store and got some things to eat for dinner, as well as beer and wine. We sat out on our balcony and ate and drank and were merry. I had brought my iPod speakers, so they got quite a bit of use as well. After dinner there was a little bumpy air with me getting upset over something trivial, but eventually we moved past it and went for a walk.

Dinner: Stephanie is thirsty


Emily and Jim


The view from our balcony




We walked down to the beach in the dark. We laid out on a wooden platform in front of a tent that was being set up for the film festival until someone made us leave, and then we went over to the beach. Emily drunkenly befriended many many French people, and Stephanie and Jim and I all ran into the Mediterranean in the middle of the night in various stages of undress. This seems to be becoming a regular thing for me. In which sea shall I take a nocturnal dip next?

After that we were wet and cold and ready for showers and bed, so we made the trek back up to our condo and showered and shook the sand out of our hair and collapsed.

Sunday morning was beautiful and warm and sunny. We kind of lazed around for a lot of the morning. When we finally did get up, we went to try and find a bathing suit for Stephanie and then what did we do? We went to the beach! My bathing suit wasn't really fitting me very well but I didn't feel like buying a new one so I went in shorts and a tank top. Bad idea. There's a reason we have special clothes for swimming. By the end of the afternoon I was extremely sandy and uncomfortable and unhappy, but I did get some sun and Emily and Jim did build a sandcastle and then donate it to a small French child. Stephanie had to leave to find an internet café to do some sort of job interview over the phone, so Jim and Emily and I headed back to the condo without her. We decided it might be nice to go out to dinner just one night, and Emily wanted to see some celebrities, so we all showered and decided to head down into town. I'm not sure what we expected Stephanie to do, but I had her phone number. Luckily we ran into her on the way down. We went to the beach where Emily thought the celebrities would be, but we didn't see any. We did find some cool handprint things though.



Excited to be in Cannes


Peace.


What?


Sharon Stone


Michael Douglas


Tim Robbins


Vanessa Redgrave




Eventually we set out to find a not-too-expensive restaurant. Of course, every restaurant in Cannes is expensive, but when in doubt, do Italian. Pizza is always relatively affordable.

So we settled into a nice Italian restaurant. Jim and I both got pizzas, Emily got some seafood thing, and Stephanie (who had already eaten) got a banana split! Mmm. We also got two carafes of wine. Gotta love France. I'm going to miss the wine.

Banana split!


I'm a little hazy on the post-supper details. I think that was the night that we tried to find the little grocery store again and couldn't, and Jim and I separated from Emily and Stephanie and laid on the grass in some square and then went to Haagen-Dazs. I also think that was the night that we all had to rub burn cream on Emily's sunburned butt while we played a French card game called Jungle Speed... but I may be wrong. The days were all sunny and wonderful and the nights were all full of wine, so they kind of blur into each other. All I know is that eventually we went to bed.

Monday seemed like a good day NOT to go to the beach, since Emily and I were both pretty burnt. I don't remember which happened first but at one point Steph and Jim went grocery shopping, and at another point Jim and I went for a walk. It was really nice. We found a pirate themed candy store called Les Bonbons du Pirate, which was pretty awesome. We got some candy and brought it home.

Out for a walk








This man walks funny.




This man was bursting out of a building.






Back at the condo Emily and I were starting to pack up our stuff because we had to be on our sleeper train at 8:30 pm. We ate one last dinner in Cannes, with some wine, rubbed some more burn cream on Emily's back, and eventually headed out for the train station. Emily and I caught our train with no problem. I didn't sleep much at all, but Emily did and we got to Gare d'Austerlitz at 7:20 AM. Getting back from Austerlitz to the Cité U was surprisingly easy, and I had time to shower and relax before class.

All in all, I'm glad I went. It was extremely stressful to plan and I am poor now, but it was totally worth it. It was pretty much the best decision I've made all year. Or at least a close second.