SHOVE IT UP YOUR NOSE!

Today we got up and left Tours (HURRAY! We didn't really like it there..) and got on the road back to Paris. Mom has finally gotten the hang of driving in France, as she now doesn't care if she cuts people off, gets in the way, or basically does whatever she wants. This is how all French drivers drive, so it takes some getting used to. But today, as we were leaving Tours, we realized our turn was on the left and we were on the right side of the road. So we had to make our way across 2 lanes of traffic rather quickly. Fortunately, Mom just went for it and responded to the honks with "EHH we're tourists, leave us alone!!" It was AWESOME. I died laughing naturally...There were also some cuss words strewn in there that I will spare you for the sake of the children. However, we were discussing how we could avoid using cuss words in our email/blog updates, and I told her about how at camp we have a song that goes "Brown squirrel, brown squirrel, shake your bushy tail. Take a peanut in your hands and SHOVE IT UP YOUR NOSE!!" So I told her that some of the counselors at camp would avoid cussing in front of the campers by saying "OH SHOVE IT UP YOUR NOSE!!" So that was the phrase of the day today, and it was HILARious...

Also on the road today we saw SNOW PLOWS. Now if you read my previous post from when we were in Paris last week and my comments on how they don't plow or shovel, this will make more sense. But we saw like 3 or 4 snow plows today plowing the other side of the highway! We both saw them at the same time and were like, "Oh my gosh..PLOWS!!" It was incredible.

So now it's time for some gratitude. The closer we got to Paris today, the more snow we saw. Apparently, the snow up here, and the rest of Northern Europe, as been creating a bit of mayhem for travelers the past couple days. However, we are determined to keep a positive attitude and know that we will have safe and harmonious travels today and tomorrow! So as we got closer to Paris and saw more snow, we started saying out loud that everything was going to work out and that we would be provided with everything we needed. Our plan was to go to our hotel first, check in and drop off our bags, then go fill up the gas tank and take the car back to the rental car place. Now parking in Paris is...interesting. Spots are non-existent and most people just make up their own spot by parking on the sidewalk or just double parking and wreaking havoc. So if necessary, we were prepared to do this just to unload, check in real fast, and then be on our way. So we made our way through the traffic, found our hotel, and there was a parking spot RIGHT IN FRONT of the hotel!! It was PERFECT!! We were super grateful!! So God in action #1. Now to #2. Find a gas station. If you haven't figured out, there is zero extra space in the city, therefore we thought we would have to go out of the city to find a gas station. So we looked on the GPS and there happened to be one less than a Kilometer away! We made it over there, filled up and payed without a hitch! Gratitude moment #2. Then we had to get back to the rental car place, which is in a much more populated part of the city, about 10 minutes from where we were. Also, since there's no space, the rental car office is in a different location than the cars. Now, the GPS knew where the office was, but didn't direct us to the parking garage where the cars were stored, which is where we needed to go. But once we made it to the office, we were able to find the garage without a hitch and returned the car no sweat. Gratitude moment #3. At this point, we were planning to take the metro back to our hotel, and I had been looking ahead of time to find where the closest stops were to where we were, and where out hotel was. But the station we were going to was a big station with lots of different lines all crossing each other, which can be pretty confusing. But in the snowy slush, we made it to the metro and found the right line with ease. We made it back to our hotel without a problem and were dancing in the elevator because we were SO HAPPY about how it all worked out!! It really couldn't have been any more perfect and we are SO GRATEFUL!! What could have been a pretty stressful situation turned out to be such a smooth transition. HURRAY!! So now we are knowing that everything tomorrow with our flight will just be a continuation of the smoothness that we have experienced today! DONE. :)

I also wanted to comment on the car that we rented this past week. It was a Peugeot something-er-other, some kind of station wagon type with a hatch back. Basically it was the smallest thing we could get that had an automatic transmission, and for France it was still a good size car. We definitely wouldn't have wanted anything bigger. But as for this car's transmission, technically mom didn't have to manually shift, but boy oh boy you could feel the car shifting. It was just like mom was actually shifting, the same lull for the clutch and the jolt into the next gear. So when we would be speeding up to merge on the highway, it took WAY longer than a US automatic car because you had to wait for the car to awkwardly shift. Anyway, we started calling it by name saying "C'MON BESSIE!! YOU CAN DO IT!! GO! GO!" Oh man, it was so funny. So the car was officially dubbed "Bessie". We loved that car, but mom was ecstatic to give it back today because that meant no more driving in France! Well, I think she was more grateful to not be driving in Paris more than just France in general.

So anyway, we're off to the airport tomorrow to head back to the States! It's been a fantastic 2 weeks and we have had a blast, but we are definitely ready to be home. But everything will work out tomorrow with the weather and the plane! Keep a good thought for us! :)

Bubbles, or no bubbles?

Bonsoir mes amis!

Well, today was our last day in Paris!! *tear* But mom and I are super pumped about getting out into the countryside tomorrow! I can't WAIT to see Mont-Saint-Michel and castles in the Loire valley!!! YAY!!

So today, (thanks to Jen, and initially Lizzy) we went to Sacre Coeur, which is a church for those who don't know. We were both a little tired and sore from all our walking yesterday, so we were psyched to find out that there were these little tram things called "funiculars" that took us up this massive hill to the church. Praise the lord because that was a HUGE hill with a million stairs that we weren't exactly pumped about walking up.

So we got up there and this church is brilliantly white. It's SO PRETTY! So the outside was just really cool, and then there were these mosaics inside that were awesome! They were golden and huge and covered most of the altar area. So those were pretty sweet. Then after we went through Sacre Coeur, I spotted this other cute little church that I wanted to go into, which was BEAUTIFUL. It was kinda small and sort of off the beaten path, so there were very few people in there, which made it almost completely silent. Actually the loudest noise was my camera! I wish it had a silencer!! But the stained glass windows inside were really pretty and it was cool to see a more personable church, if that makes sense. Meaning I found it was easier to picture people actually come here for church on a Sunday, rather than the huge, ornate cathedrals like Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. So that was fun. :)

Then we just started walking around and we found this little courtyard area where all these artists were selling their work, and we ended up coming back after lunch and buying a painting! It's pretty small so we can put it in our suitcase, but both mom and I really love it. It's just a cityscape of Paris, but it's all in blue and then Sacre Coeur is up on a hill in white. It's pretty, I'll have to take a picture of it or something when we get home.

So anyway, after that we hopped over to the Arc de Triomphe again so I could get some more pictures of it in the daylight, which was fun. Then we came back to the apartment early so we could start packing up!! Crazy that it's already time to leave, but at the same time I feel like our first trip to the Louvre was FOREVER ago!! But I'm ready for something new and I'm getting a little tired of all the people here!! There's SO MANY!

Funny story du jour:
Actually there will be two. Both are pretty short, one from today and one from yesterday, both during mealtimes. Apparently this is the time when most of our hilarities happen...

So yesterday, we were sitting at lunch across from Saint Chapelle, and our waiter (who probably had the best english of all our waiters) was taking our order and after wards he asked what we wanted to drink and I said water. So he asked me something that I totally didn't understand, it wasn't in french but I just didn't catch it at all. So I stare blankly at him, and then he says "bubbles or no bubbles?" But in his little french accent it sounded EXACTLY the same as that fish in Finding Nemo who was obsessed with the bubbles!!! IT WAS HILARIOUS!! I started cracking up to myself after I told him No bubbles. It was awesome.

In case you need to jog your memory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ART2V2ICxZI&feature=related

The next story was tonight at dinner, we went back to the place with awesome chocolate mousse (which is still fantastic the third time around, don't you worry) and we had a waiter who spoke hardly any english. He was very sweet though and was very nice to us even though we had a hard time ordering, and then we got the wrong thing. But it was fine and we muscled through our lamb sausage...that's right. Lamb sausage. (Blog post on french food to come later. Moral of the story: I've been unimpressed.) ANYway, we finished our fantastic chocolate mousse and we were trying to get his attention to get our bill, and I look over at him and he has TOTALLY zoned out looking at a chair nearby. But his face was PRICELESS. He had a totally dazed look in his eye, but his mouth had sort of made this dumb expression. Like his bottom lip was caught right under his top teeth, not making it pouch out or anything, but his lip was just kind of stuck there. Anyway, I don't know if you can picture it or not, but it was HILARIOUS!! I started cracking up and mom had to try and get his attention on her own because I was a goner. Thankfully, he had no idea I was laughing hysterically at him when he came over with our check, but holy crow it was awesome.

Last night in Paris!! I have no idea what kind of internet access I will have in Mont-Saint-Michel and then Tours, but I will try and get another update in as soon as I can!! Au Revoir! Thanks for reading these everyone!

Un Tour de Versailles

I actually slept through the night last night! HUZZAH!! First time that's happened since we arrived! The jet lag and time difference haven't had much of an effect on me (minus the day we got here) except for sleeping business. It's been kind of weird, but hopefully I'm adjusted now.

So today we journeyed to Versailles! It was cloudy, yet again, so the pictures weren't quite as pretty. If you're not taking pictures of a subject against the sky, then cloudy is actually better for colors, but when you're looking up at a building, the gray background isn't very attractive. Oh well.

So Versailles was HUGE!!! Holy crow, I had no idea it was that big! I can't even come close to imagining living there. You could live there your whole lie and never see the whole thing! Good gravy....But the rooms were really cool, especially the Hall of Mirrors! Gorgeous!! So we did the audio tour through there and it was great, and then we headed back home. Apparently, taking the stairs to the first level of the Eiffel Tower yesterday made our legs pretty tired and sore so we didn't last long walking around today.

So since nothing especially hilarious happened today, I will now go into a topic that totally befuddles me about Paris and Parisians.... Snow.

Now, my impression is that Paris gets snow a lot during the winter. Now maybe that isn't accurate, but it's freezing here so it makes sense in my head. So it snowed fairly heavily on Wednesday, probably around 2-3 inches. So that's a fair amount of snow right? So it would be logical to get out the snow shovel or pull out the snow plow and get at it..Well apparently not. There wasn't a single plow or shovel to be seen. Street vendors and shop owners were out with brooms and squeegees trying to get 3 inches of snow cleared from the front of their store. Hmm...good luck with that. And the streets were a total slush mess, SO GLAD we didn't rent a car and try to get our way through THAT nightmare...geez. Even when some of it melted and then froze again on the sidewalk, creating an uneven ice rink that was just a lawsuit waiting to happen, they still did nothing! At one point, I was trying to cross over a huge watery slush puddle between the curb and the ground level and I slipped and almost did the full splits. Fortunately, I saved myself, or that would have been painful and not nearly as hilarious after wards. I felt so bad for the little old ladies and men trying to hobble around, but there were too many of them to try and help them ALL cross the street...

So yesterday when we were at the Eiffel Tower, I DID see one, single, lone snow shovel. But how was it being used? The guy had turned it over, so that the scoop was now perpendicular to the ground, and he was pushing it around like a broom, or hitting the ground with it to break the ice!!! But was he clearing the broken ice/slush he had just created?? HO HO NO! He just wanted to break it up and leave it there, I guess so we poor pedestrians could have some semblance of traction. Ridiculous.

Someone needs to come help these poor people...

Paris, Je t'aime!

Je suis en Paris!!! *nose up* unh hohn hohn!! (that was a sort of nasaly scoff in case that didn't come across)

Wow. It's uber surreal to be here. I mean we went to the Louvre today, the freaking LOUVRE!!! I SAW IT with my own eyes!!! It was so cool...Although SO FRUSTRATING to try and navigate!! Holy crow, I mean it was amazing to see all the of the famous artwork like the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo, but I will have no problem never going there again. SO MANY PEOPLE who either go about 1 mile an hour in front of you for no reason, or just stop and you have to get around them or they're constantly pushing you.. BAHH it drove me insane. And the map system is totally wacked out. It was bonkers. Totally awesome in theory and once we found the pieces we were looking for, but totally bonkers...

Anyway, we arrived yesterday morning in a fit of exhaustion, jet lag, and anxiety. Ok, well I think the anxiety was really only on my end, my mom seemed to be doing just fine. See, whenever I go to a new place that's a lot different than what I'm used to, I kind of get super stressed and on edge until I get my bearings. Fortunately, I know this is how I am so I can sort of mentally prepare for it. Unfortunately, knowing that it will eventually get better doesn't really help me at the time...bummer.

So we get to the apartment we're staying in and crash for a few hours before heading out for food. I'm still pretty tired and pretty stressed/nervous about what to expect in the surrounding area. I've heard all types of stories about the french and how they are rude/selfish/will laugh in your face/etc. So the fact that my french is tres sub-par and my mom knows zero has me on a bit on edge you might say. But man was I wrong!! Everyone we came in contact with was so nice!! I was shocked! People were smiling, wanting to please, and those who didn't speak very good english were almost apologetic about it! I was so amazed. So that issue was totally squelched in my book. Stress gone. Katie=happy camper.

Now for a hilarious story from traveling yesterday, the humor may or may not translate so just bear with me: So we were advised to take the metro from the airport to the apartment for financial reasons, as taxis are super expensive. So we get on the train and it gets pretty crowded. It was about 7am and the morning rush was in full effect. Now my mom and I tried to pack light, but it's freezing here so we have a ton of warm clothes. We have two huge suitcases and one other small roller bag (briefcase size). So we make it through the metro and we got off and are going through the turnstiles to get out of the station. Now, my experience with subways/metros is limited to the Washington DC metro system from our 8th grade field trip, so A. that was quite some time ago and B. That was only one city's version of a subway system. Therefore, it didn't even occur to me that I would need to insert my ticket in the machine to get through the turnstile on the way out. I don't recall this being the way it went in DC anyway... So here I am, still paranoid about being seen for what I truly am: an American tourist who speaks hardly any french and is terrified of making a fool of herself in front of a seemingly surly nation of people.

See if you can picture this situation. So I have this huge bag, right? And a backpack. I am now trying to force my way through an unmoving turnstile with all this stuff. Greatest fear: achieved. There were two guys waiting on the other side just watching me, CLEARLY trying to suppress their laughter. Awesome. So I make it through a locked turnstile which probably makes me a fugitive or something. BUT it turns out it's a good thing I didn't use my ticket to go through because then it's my mom's turn. She also has a humongous bag plus her little roller bag plus herself. So her advantage: she knows she needs her ticket to get through. Her disadvantage: she ends up needing both her and my ticket because of all her crap. That's right. One ticket for her bags, and one ticket for herself. Even better. It was hilarious about 5 minutes after we were out of the metro station.

So I think that story was a lot funnier if you could have seen it happening, but hopefully you can visualize it enough to see the hilarity of it all. Needless to say I was mortified for about 10 seconds and then I was just like, well screw it. Who cares...

So that's all for now! Oh, ps after dinner tonight I had Mousse Chocolat (chocolate mousse for those who can't put two and two together) and it was seriously the most amazing thing I've ever eaten. UGGGHH SO GOOD!! And the bread's not too shabby here either if I do say so myself.. :) Au Revoir!!