Almost Enough to Make Me Believe in Karma...

Bonjour! J'ai passe' un week-end tellement merveilleux a Paris! That translated, "I had an absolutely wonderful weekend in Paris!"

So, I went to visit the wonderful Lala who is studying abroad in the City of Lights, and needless to say, best weekend ever. However, before I get into the events of this weekend, I must remark that on Friday as the taxi was bearing me through the misty Edinburgh morning to the airport, I was gripped with such a feeling of love for this city, I could hardly stand the thought that I was leaving it.

Bruntsfield Commons, a view which I see on my way to Church!

"The Meadows", with Edinburgh Castle in the background.

After all, who would want to leave someplace like this? The only thing that got me through it was the thought of seeing Lala, and then it struck me that I was going to Paris. Paris, where I can kinda speak the language. Those prospects made me happy, as the last countries I have flown to (Spain, Denmark, Germany) I have not been able to speak the language, or speak it upon arrival.

"French, a language that makes sense."

Friday afternoon, Lala came to meet me at the airport, and all that was wrong in the world was righted again because I was with one of my closest friends, and together we fought our way through the hordes of French people streaming in and out of Châtelet. Châtelet is indeed a nightmare of a station, as after we had disembarked the train from the airport, we realized that we needed the metro ticket to get out of the station. Silly me, I was too preoccupied with my baggage and extra clothing items to look after my ticket - there were ticket booths on the other side of the barriers, but no way to get to them. However, disaster was averted when I found my ticket in my purse, and then we proceeded out of Châtelet to fight the streaming hordes of Saint-Lazare.

After dropping off my bags at Lala's host family's home in Asnières (which is absolutely picture-perfect and so beautiful in a way that is so French-country-home-finding-itself-in-the-suburbs-of-Paris kind of way), we ran down to the local boutiques and bought some flowers and real French bread. La made me take a bite of the piping hot bread - I would find it no chore to live the rest of my days on warm French bread.

Next, we took the Metro back into the center and found ourselves right beneath the Tour Jacques across from Notre Dame. We had our first croque-monsieurs and walked along the Seine, watching the Tour Eiffel flash its little search light every now and again. We even walked across one of the footbridges across the Seine, where there were tons of "jeunes Parisiens" sitting, eating, drinking, and talking on the bridge. What else were we to do but join them?

La in front of a band performing on the bridge.

Oh right, we also walked to the Louvre at night, and through the archway that is on the other side of the Louvre.

Internally reliving my first trip to Paris.

After wandering the streets of central Paris for a while, we turned around, headed home, and had a good night's rest. Saturday morning we had a real French breakfast of bread, honey, marmalade, and hot chocolate. La wasn't kidding when she said that all French people eat is bread. It is truly a staple here.

Lala had to go to a meeting for one of her classes in the Musee D'Orsay, and I had never been to that museum before, so I came along for the journey. It was a glorious hour and a half spent by myself while Lala did her headphoned, guided walking tour with her class. I saw some real beauties, but for the sake of my reader's patience, I won't post them here.

After the museum, we made our way to the artist area around Montmartre, bought ourselves some fougasses, and then ate them on the steps below the Sacre-Couer. At Montmartre, I had my first taste of French ice cream: vanilla and strawberry, the perfect combination for the sweetness of French ice cream.

After Montmartre, we passed through the cemetery nearby for a few minutes, and then were on our way to the center again to go to the Saint-Chapelle.

Lala in the Saint-Chapelle

Us in front of the Saint-Chapelle and the Palais de Justice.

To finish the day off, we took a boat tour at that beautiful time when it's not quite afternoon, not quite evening, and saw the major sites of Paris, including the most recognizable attractions in the country, the Tour Eiffel:

After the boat tour, when dusk was just setting in, we went back to Asnières, got some food from the local grocery store, had a wonderful dinner of stir-fry halibut, soup, bread, and the most delicious store-bought fondant chocolat you could imagine (if what I bought was even a fondant). We read a bit, and made an early evening of Saturday night.

On Sunday morning, we had a bit of toast, and Lala was so gracious as to accompany me to the worship service of Church, which was really cool. I thought we were going to miss it, but the Lord was on our side. Afterwards, we spent some time at the Centre Georges Pompidou and explored a Catholic cathedral nearby. Lala knew of a good falafel shop in the Jewish Quarter, and so we went over there for lunch, and I got myself a delicious French-Jewish latke, which tasted like heaven on earth. If I lived in Paris, the Jewish Quarter would be my favourite haunt because of the shops and ambiance of conviviality.

At this point, we turned towards home and Asnières, as I still needed to pack and then be on my merry way to Charles de Gaulle airport. There was a bit of work to be done on the train line direct to the airport, so I had to take a little detour, but all was well, and I'm now safely back in my little corner of the world in Edinburgh.

Mom and Dad, I didn't even have to ask what courgettes were; I already knew.