French feet
10 p.m. on Sunday
LOVING this!
"F" the unreliable Paris wifi
Since late last week, there hasn’t been any connection at the wifi park by my place, and it’s really pissing me off. We were supposed to have our internet sorted out yesterday, but the guy who was helping Gui couldn’t hook it up because he said our phone line didn’t exist, which is a bag of horse poop because Gui called me twice on the line to test it. Still, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the park that advertises free internet access isn’t actually providing their claimed service to the public. And that pisses me off even more. Don’t get my hopes all high, get me skipping my way to the park, only to slam a “Problem loading page” in my face. Get your shiz fixed!
UPDATE: TWO SECONDS after I finished typing this, and 5 minutes before my low battery balloon popped up, I got a connection. Freakin' jerks.
Homelessness
So, here I am, back in Paris with a pocket full of useless change (that I'll probably forget to bring back with me when I visit next), when who should I cross on the train to Paris at my first stop? Yep, a peddler - a violinist, actually, and get this, his SON (or some adorable little kid pretending to be his son) walks through the train, begs everyone for some coins, and what can I give him when he puts that paper cup in my face? Nada. Rien. Niente. I guess I could have opened up my pocket, pulled out a fist-full of pounds and pence and filled his cup with coins he's probably never seen before, but how rude would that be? I mean, I'd totally be pissed if I went to buy some groceries, paid with a $20 bill and was given change back in Euros. What in the hell am I supposed to do with that? So, I guess what this boils down to is if, upon leaving England, I have extra change to give away, I should convert it from Pounds to Euros before leaving the UK because, let's be honest, all the poor people live in Paris. That sucks.
Lucky Streak
We stayed the first night with Gui's sister, but only for the night (we arrived around 11pm, so it was barely even a night). On Saturday, we headed out to west London where we had booked a hotel for the night. The hotel itself seemed a bit dated, but it was decent. Except, that when we arrived, we were given a room with 2 twin beds instead of one double bed. It wouldn't have been a big deal to put the beds together, but Gui just called down to see if we could possibly change rooms. They agreed without hesitation and we somehow ended up in the hotel suite at the top floor with a double bed AND a twin bed, a sitting area, closet and even a bidet in the bathroom! It wasn't the fanciest of places, but we still felt pretty lucky to have scored the unsolicited upgrade!
Today, we met up for brunch with an old friend of mine that I know from Texas, Rob. The restaurant we brunched at was really great, and only 2 tube stops away from our hotel! It was really great catching up with Rob, reminiscing about old times, and talking about future plans for each other's visits to Paris and London. I can't believe how long it's been (nearly 8 years) since we've known each other, and although we've both changed quite a bit, we still have so much to chat about. Rob showed us around his 'hood and took us in for a coffee at his flat, which was really adorable! The sun came out just in time for us to have a cup on the balcony and continue our catching up. Hopefully, he'll come visit when we have our place in Paris all sorted out.
Before we had brunch, Gui and I had to purchase another tube ticket for the day. For some reason, we decided to get into 2 different lines and purchase them separately. Well, after Gui got his ticket and while he was waiting for me, a very sweet Danish (I think) man offered his travelcard to him because he wasn't going to need it any longer!! Luckily, I hadn't bought my ticket yet! What's so perfect about the ticket (besides it saving us £10.70) is that it's good until the 22nd, which is when I leave! It really couldn't have been more perfect.
Guillaume left today and I'm going to be in London for a couple more nights, so I'm just hoping this lucky streak continues. I told Guillaume that I really hope we're not having all this good luck because something awful is ahead...but I know that's just my ugly, pessimistic side trying to convince me of my inability to attract goodness. I guess I should know by now that I really am a lucky person - I have the friends, family and fiance to prove that!
UPS is ruining my life
It's already a little sad that, besides my mom, my family won't be able to attend the ceremony on such short notice. Now that we've mistakenly relied on UPS to actually do their job by delivering extremely vital documents to a person (not a patio), my mom may not be able to attend either. Not to mention, because of the nature of the documents (not just my mom's, but mine as well), we may run into issues of fraud and identity theft in the future that, with my luck, will be seriously detrimental to my or my mom's life or well-being.
What sort of company allows a delivery driver to provide this information about delivering goods: "left at patio, signed by Sarah?" Does this make any sense to anyone else living a slightly educated life? Didn't think so. Je tu déteste, UPS.
Blogglessness
But, Gui and I have still been enjoying our time in Paris. The great news is that Gui signed a contract for a job, and he's very happy that it's in a position and company he likes and, thankfully, it's based in Paris. He was lucky enough to be given the option to start the job on the 11th, so he'll be able to join in on all of the fun while our friends are visiting. The cool thing for me about him finding a job is that we got to go shopping for him - for nice clothes. Not that I don't appreciate and love his regular mode of fashion, but it's nice to see him all dressed up for a change, too. And, it was fun shopping for things we don't usually look for - like ties and jackets.
We've been visiting with friends, too. I got to meet some friends that Gui knows from his young, engineering-school days, and it was fun listening to them talk about their old professors and the times they spent "studying" together. Boys will be boys. We also enjoyed a nice French dinner at a really great restaurant (suggested by Gui's aunt) called Memere Paulette. It was really wonderful, but the unusually gargantuan portions were way too much. The chef came out and suggested a wine for our meal, too, which was pretty cool. The experience was definitely a treat and we'll be recommending it to everyone. The menu is a book about 15 pages thick, with a freshly printed menu every single day, and an enormous wine list. As the chef's a sommelier, he has his accreditations printed in the menu along with an index of various terms used to describe wine. They even have a menu of other drinks, with Coke priced at a whopping 30 euros!! Really funny. The place isn't chic or fancy at all, but it's really authentic and certainly my favorite dining experience in Paris so far. Although, we did have a very nice boeuf bourguignon recently, too, but in a much less authentic setting.
So, that's pretty much what I've been doing since I haven't been blogging....eating. I've also been following the US Primaries, playing Cerebrale Academie & Super Paper Mario, checking schools and jobs, oh, and watching the NFL playoffs (while eating hot-dogs, of course).
Pre-Christmas update
Countdown to clean air
Sorry, Charlies
Nearly freezing
Insomnia
Perhaps this a good opportunity for me start waking up early and being productive - doing things like working out, emailing friends, reading a book or studying for the grad-school exam I've been putting off. Yes, I think I'll turn this annoying occurrence into a productive habit! Now, I just need to convince Guillaume that I'll be interrupting his 10 hours of shut-eye for a worthy cause.
Invasion sirens in 2007?
Itchy feet
Eye Sty
I'm applying a warm compress to it as recommended, so hopefully it'll be gone in a couple of days.