the much delayed paris blog

paris was wonderful.

george and i’s first day started at 5:15 am when i woke up to finish packing after 2 hrs of sleep. we left the flat at 6 to catch the tube the st. pancras [that sounds a lot like st. pancreas which makes me giggle and envision little insulin bottles with wings and golden halos] train station where we caught a train that took us to a bus station near luton airport. after a little commotion at the bus station about not having the right ticket to continue on to luton we forked over some poundage to amend the situation and hopped on the bus that took us to the airport. we waited for like 2 hours for the gate number to appear on the giant screen, which it never did. finally i asked an attendant where we were supposed to go since our flight took off in a half our and we still had not been assigned a gate. she said we were at E17 and that they had already started boarding. [sweet.] so we take off running and get to the gates where a sign mocks us with its superior knowledge that gates E15-E20 are a 15 minutes away down the concourse.

half hour until take off.

10 minute taxi time.

15 minute walk.

crap.

we flew down the concourse and arrived, panting, as the lines of people disappeared into the according-style tunnel leading to the plane. george and i celebrated with a high-five and promptly passed out on one another. there was a bit more traveling drama once we got to france but really just more of the same stuff plus the whole language barrier thing…

we FINALLY found our hostel-which was actually a legit hotel that just advertised on hosetworld.com- after walking the same street probably 8 times. it was really nice and once again george and i passed out upon contact with a cushioned furniture. keaton’s voice on the phone an hour later was one of the only things that could have possibly pulled me out of my exhausted state with a smile. i was soo excited to see him and left the hotel in a fury. adrenaline racing, i waited and waited what seemed like forever and then we spotted each other! we ran and embraced in an academy award-worthy reunion as keaton picked me up and spun me around.

the three of us ate at a little café (the first of about 50 that weekend) and split up so george could go to a church thing and keaton and i could go exploring. we stumble across le sacre couer where we got bracelet raped (ask me the africa story if you want details) and listened to an open mic on the gigantic steps of the cathedral. hundreds of people were our there drinking and singing horrible beatles renditions. it was fabulous.

[<--sacre coure and all the people on the steps for the outdoor concert.]

that night we wondered the city until about 2 am. we found our way to notre dome and then i exultantly hailed a taxi. yes exultantly.

the next morning we slept until the maid rap-tap-tapped on the door and we packed and vacated with impressive speed. we had to change hostels because there was no availability at the place we had been staying that night, so we set off to find our new beds that my mom had booked for us. walking to the new hostel we noticed some strange things along the way… sex shops started cropping up more and more frequently….the names off cafes got more and more inappropriate…we stopped infront of our hostel, directly across the street from dirty dicks and a block from the moulin rouge. i laughed aloud. thanks tammy ; )

we spent the day sight seeing- the seine river, arc de triomphe, eiffel tower, the louvre, café upon café, the famous champs elysées… taking in all the sights and sounds was wonderful. that night we met up with some friends of friends and went out to a bar and a discotech. their english was amazing, and we had so much fun talking and laughing with them all night. the boys gave in and danced with me a bit to the american 70s rock hits that pulsated through the bar. we wound up back at the hostel about 5am and slipped into unconsciousness immediately.

the next afternoon [needless to say we slept in] the gang split up again as george rejoined his church friends while keaton and i set off to find the jewish, gay, and gay-jewish district of paris. we found some of the most amazing yamakas in existence. [harry potter, power rangers, and pokemon just to give you a taste.] some quality time was spent in the gay bookstore where i bought the funniest “guide to life” book ever, and we also browsed through the rest of the star of david-adorned shops.

we met up with george at the notre dame where keaton and i were filmed for a french fashion television show thanks to keatty's plaid shorts. since it was a sunday,we got to experience the cathedral during mass, marveling at the sights of masses of people praying/ taking pictures, sounds of organ chords and harmonic voices, and smells of burning incense.

the sun sank and we headed to the eiffel tower. i begged the boys to go to it again so i could take pictures of it at night in all it's luminescent glory. it was beautiful. literally minutes after we arrived there was an electric party on the tower. sparkling lights glitter every hour on the hour after dark. what a wonderful surprise!
the day ended at an absolutely adorable french cafe along a cobblestone street complete with crepes, wine, and live music. portrait artists and those little rose-selling-men mulled the--

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ok. paris was two weekeds ago and i stillhave not finished this blog. a lot more stuff happened and all of it was thrilling. i will end the "blog de pari" there because so much more is going on in london right now but i feel like i can't write about it until i've finished my paris memoirs. too bad, paris. you were fantastic, but i have to move on now ; )

[this is supposed to be like the cloud dancing scene in moulin rouge during the elephant love long medley...yep. went there. hahahahaaaaaaaaaa]

all my love,
katie