Vive la France!

6/24/13-6/27/13

I woke up Monday pretty tired as my plane from Dublin came in later than expected and I ended up not getting back to my apartment until 11:30. Work was still the same, boring but at least I could hang out with Claudia. We decided that Tuesday night we were going to meet up after work (she wasn’t going to Work on Tuesday because she had a school thing) and go to a bar called Wonderlust. She didn’t know much about it but we were going to find out!

The next day, I didn’t have to start work until 2:30 because Claudia wasn’t there and my bosses didn’t know when they would arrive in the morning. I was excited not only to sleep in, but I finally had time to go on a run. There is a well-known wooded area close to where I live called the Bois de Boulounge and I decided to go on a quick 3 mile run. Unfortunately my quick 3 mile run turned into a long 6 mile run. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the woods and while I thought I knew where I was, I soon realized that I was completely and utterly lost. Rather than staying calm like a rational person, I, of course started panicking and looked like a crazy person running the streets of Paris trying to figure out where to go. I asked several people, and while they were kind and tried to help, they knew nothing. I eventually saw a taxi and asked if he knew where my street was. He told me I was pretty far and graciously drove me to a nearby metro stop that was close to my apartment. This was extremely nice of the taxi driver considering I had no money. After finally making it home and getting ready for work I headed over to the office to begin my work day. Since Claudia wasn’t there, I actually did something! While I was much more productive with my time, I was also lonelier and the office seemed much quieter. After finishing work I went to meet my French tutor (provided by my program) and discussed my upcoming assignments. I then went to meet Claudia to go to Wonderlust. The area was quite modern, and was very beautiful as it was right along the Seine. There was a wide range of people, but everyone seemed to be having a drink and having a good time. Claudia and I did the same! We had a French version of beer and Pizza, danced, and listened to some fun music! We even met quite a lot of people! I even met one person from Edina, small world!! All in all it was very fun, and I can’t wait to go back!!!

On Wednesday, I again did nothing at work but after I went to a Miss Paris Pageant with Claudia and her sister. Claudia has a twin sister, and talks about her quite often so it was nice to finally meet her. The pageant was a little difficult to understand, and was quite different than a typical US pageant. We ended up leaving early because it was getting late and to be honest it was a little boring. I then went and ate dinner with my host mom and went to bed.

Work on Thursday was slower than normal. For a while it was just us two and Claudia gave me a lot of ideas of things to do in Paris. I also gave her a little gift of American candy, American vodka (the mini version of a few kinds), and an etched beer mug. She was extremely thankful for the gift and really appreciated it! After work, Claudia and I went out to celebrate our last day working together! This was her last week interning there, so we decided to go to a little bar on the seine and get some drinks. It was very pretty because it was along the seine but it was also very hip and modern. It was quite expensive though, (15 euro for a mojito) and we soon realized we were a little out of place. Not only were we the youngest, but also probably the poorest and cheapest! We still made a great night out of it, drinking our 6 euro beer (the cheapest drink on the menu), eating our 5 euro Panini’s and having great conversation, which was the only free thing of the night!!