Au Revoir La France! =(

Sooo. I'm sitting in the Charles de Gaulle Airport waiting for my flight.  Paris was very relaxing and fun but I'm so ready to see my family! Tuesday morning I got up early and went to the Louvre.  Maureen and I decided that we LOVE going to museums alone because you can go fast when you want to and slow when you want to.  At the Louvre, I looked at French, Spanish, and Italian sculptures.  I also went to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo again.  It was really nice to be able to go back being older and all, but I really don't feel as though I got the full experience.  I would like to take some art history classes before I return again so I can have a fuller appreciation for what I'm looking at.  I got lunch at a place near the opera house, which was nice.  It's so weird to eat alone but I am so used to it now.  Afterward, I took the metro and got off near the Musee Galliera, or Musee de la Mode (fashion museum).  Unfortunately, it was closed and doesn't open again til late November.  That was a bummer! After that, I went back to my hotel and grabbed a pizza to go at a little Italian place.  I showered, got ready, and went out with Maureen and her friends in her program.  It was the funniest thing, but I saw this kid Todd I know from Michigan.  He is hooking up with Maureen's roommate, who is way too hot for him.  My theory is that girls have lower self-confidence than they should and guys have higher self-confidence than they should, so you always see girls who are too pretty for the guys they are with.  Seriously, look around it's true.  The boys treat them like shit too because they think they are so cool because they can get such a hot girl.  Not true.  Not all, but a lot of girls realize this (still my theory) and realize how much better they can do after the fact.  Smart guys will realize this during the fact and step up their game to keep the girl.  Dumb ones are jerks and act like idiots, lose the girl, and never find a girl that measures up.  Moving on, we went bar-hopping in Paris...stayed out til 3 a.m. etc.  I went back to my hotel and slept in and Maureen and I went to lunch at her favorite gyro place.  So bad, but so good.  Afterward we went to the Musee d'Orsay, and we split up and agreed on a place to meet in a few hours, since we both like exploring museums alone so much!  I like Musee d'Orsay better than the Louvre because there are more things that I recognize and it's actually air-conditioned.  I saw a lot of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and more.  I would like to go back there someday.  Last night we got dinner at an Italian place.  I had mussels and pasta, it was good.  Maureen had a really yummy pizza.  Afterwards I went home and packed.  This morning I woke up, took bus 91 to Gare de Lyon, and caught a shuttle from there to the airport.  It only cost 15 euro.  It was very easy, way easier than the metro (which I am still sore from dragging my bags from Gare de Lyon to Avenue de Gobelin where the hotel was).  I probably waited like 45 minutes for the shuttle to come and I made buddies with this couple who lives in Paris but is on their way to Hong Kong for few weeks.  The girl just finished college and she was sooo cute.  She was wearing these tortoise shell RayBan eyeglasses, and I was in lovvve.  I really want another pair of glasses.  Ooh. Boarding is delayed 10 minutes!  Bummer.  Anyway, her boyfriend was cute too.  Really tall with dark hair and blue eyes.  They were so nice.  We sat by each other on the bus and talked the whole time, and I ended up friending her on Facebook.  Gotta love Facebook.  Well I board in about 10 minutes, so I'm gonna wrap up this post.  See ya in the mitten!

Adventurous Weekend

So I'm sitting in a McDonalds in Paris right now close to Maureen's apartment.  I had a VERY interesting weekend, let me tell you.  Friday, Adrienne and I boarded a train to Milan and had a fabulous (FABULOUS!!!!) time shopping and eating Italian food.  There really isn't much else to do in Milan, believe it or not! We went on a bus tour and saw all the important monuments, and Monday I went to La Scala (not sure if I spelled that right).  It's the famous Milan opera house.  Unfortunately the actual theater was closed for construction but I explored the museum by myself and the building was sooo beautiful.  You could only take pictures in the lobby though, so that's all I have.  They had this big exhibit on a woman named Maria Callas who was an opera singer there for a period of 30 or 40 years.  She was Greek, so that reminded me of my favorite girls that I miss oh-so-much (it's getting to be a bit ridiculous).  They had all the costumes that she ever wore and they are so intricate and beautiful and they all seemed hand-made.  Hopefully my parents stopped reading this because what I did Monday night is a little sketchy.  I COUCH SURFED! Yeah, worst idea ever, lesson learned.  Important part = I'm still alive. I planned on staying in the Riviera area for a few days, but I was so uncomfortable at the apartment I was at that I up and left the next morning which  brought me here.  I can't believe how stupid I am for bringing TWO suitcases that are SO heavy and how stupid the French are for not having ONE DAMN ELEVATOR OR ESCALATOR in the entire underground system.  My shoulders/back, literally, have never felt so bad (remember, I am a swimmer).  A pair of macho guys did save me a trip up one flight of stairs though.  Anyway, I feel really empowered and independent because of my success in traveling alone (for the most part).  Next step is to be able to pay for it myself... ha! Yea right.  I would not have survived Milan if I didn't have my parents to fall back on...Adrienne and I booked a 12 Euro/night hostel in Milan, which worked out fine the first night, even if it was a little sketch.  We climbed the stairs and walked into what looked like a scene out of Requiem for a Dream and waited for our room for quite awhile even though we had previously booked it online.  In the meantime, a little mini-bulldog (my favorite) peed on the floor, but neither of us had noticed and we kept stepping in it.  When our room was finally ready, we were told that two other people would be joining us in the room later.  We were so exhausted from our day of traveling that we went right to bed and around 3 in the morning, the concierge just walked in (the doors don't lock), and led in two girls, one of whom took off all her clothes and got in the bed next to me which was only about 5 inches away from me.  I could smell her breath the entire night, and it REEKED of alcohol, let me tell you.  The next day, we were told we would have to move rooms.  We were led (very sketchily) to a room in a different building which REALLY looked like a scene out of Requiem for a Dream.  There were 8 bunk beds and half-naked men strewn everywhere, plus the room smelled like absolute shit.  As we were being shown the room, Adrienne and I were exchanging TERRIFIED looks that said "no way in hell are we seriously staying here."  I pulled out the parents-love-me card and told my mom that we would have to find a hotel. We ended up finding a place in a 4-star hotel that was only 63 Euros a night.  Breakfast was included and it was sooo good, and so worth the extra money.  Anyway, I guess I'll wrap up this post and head back to my hotel because Maureen is deeply involved in her work right now.  She has two exams, two papers, and a presentation tomorrow.  But you know what that means! She will be ready to party for my last night in France, and I CAN'T WAIT! It's a bummer that I have to go back to acknowledging my severe dependence on my parents in the U.S.  But, I am looking forward to a few things including AIR CONDITIONING, the good hygiene of the general American population, driving my own car instead of taking the disgusting metro/SNCF trains everywhere.... I have come to the conclusion that homeless people piss all over the underground when everyone else is sleeping.....How else can it smell so bad???  Tomorrow, I plan on hitting up the Louvre again as well as the Galliera because I've never been there.  I'd like to go shopping of course, but I seriously can't afford to put anything else in my suitcase.  I have a terrible feeling I'm going to lose a wheel or an arm or both next time I need to take it somewhere...  Well, back to the hotel for moi. Make sure to call me or get online if you are bored because for the next three nights I will be alone in my hotel =(  While I have definitely gotten to appreciate all the benefits that come with being totally by myself during my stay in France, I have also come to appreciate all the benefits of living with my two wonderful families (at home and at school).  I miss my brothers and sisters so much that it hurts, and I cannot wait to move into my new apartment with Vassi and start things up with that crowd again.  Yesterday, I talked on the phone to my sisters and after I hung up I started crying because I miss them that much.  I know, pathetic.  It's just, I' m SO close to seeing them, yet so far.  Until next time!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Well, my bags are all packed up and I'm just waiting to leave Grenoble.  I am meeting Adrienne at the train station and we're headed to Milan.  It's been fun, but I am not sad to leave the town, just my friends.  But I know I'll see them all again during welcome week.  This will probably be my last post on here! So thank you guys all for reading and see you in Michigan. Love you all! xoxo