Last Weekend in Pau =(

Friday: I set my alarm for 9:20a today but got up at 9a because a reminder I had set on my cell phone went off since I forgot to turn off my phone last night. Oh well- I used the time to facebook for a little while before I really had to get myself up and going. I got myself dressed and ready, went down to breakfast, and got to chat a tiny bit with Christine's oldest Maÿlis who was on speaker phone. When Maÿlis calls (which is all the time), specifically in the morning, Christine usually puts the call on speaker and talks to Maÿlis while she irons, cleans, or prepares the lunch or something. I think it's really cute- they have mother/daughter time like that quite often. It was nice to talk to Maÿlis a little bit because I have been commenting back and forth with her on facebook since she came to visit in February. The other day I posted a very honest status that said, "I have fallen in love with famille Desroys." Maÿlis was the only person to comment on the status; know what she said? "Famille Desroys loves you too."   =,)
Eventually it was time to head out to meet Rosie downtown. I left a little late but I also didn't know exactly when the bus would be there, so there was a chance I would catch it just as I walked up. I got there and realized I had just missed the last bus, but the next one would be there in about 8 minutes. The sun was out and I was feeling terribly excited about my day. I decided to walk just across the street to the center of the round-about and sit on one of the shaded benches while I waited for the bus. I really love this round-about: it has a mini park in the center, surrounded by trees and benches, and is more often than not full of about 40 to 60 old Frenchmen wearing berets, playing pétanque (similar to bocce ball). I have walked by this round about so many times to find these old men- who have probably been playing this game together for the past 4 or 5 decades- joined by small groups of guys my age playing the same game. The old-timers and the young-bucks will spend hours in that round-about under the sun. It's one of the coolest things I have seen here.
So I was sitting there on a bench when I realized that I was the only one in the park; so I decided that now was a good time to pull out my video camera and record the moment. I recorded the park, the streets I could see, the little cafés, and talked to the camera like a friend. I hope that I can watch that back one day and it will take me back to this experience with a great rush of detail so that I never forget it.
Finally the bus came. I ended up making it downtown to our meeting spot (the big beautiful fountain in Place Clemenceau) way before Roshanna. I decided that I might as well walk to Musée Bernadotte while I was waiting and see when it closes for lunch. Well, that didn't really happen. I thought I was walking in the right direction but I was not even close. I ended up walking down this alley that winds and curves its way downhill and is lined with rickety gates leading up to ugly apartment buildings and run-down houses. It was beautifully decorated with colorful gang symbols and crafty graffiti. I seemed to be the only one on the street and as it was broad daylight and a car would pass every now and then, I felt just safe enough to keep walking expecting to be dumped out onto a main street. A few minutes of uncomfortable walking passed- where I also walked under a bridge topped with a rowdy gentleman playing the accordion and spitting out darling cat-calls as I walked by- and then I came across a dark tunnel that curved in a way where I couldn't see inside, nor could I see the end. It was nearly covered with graffiti and I couldn't hear the accordion-player anymore. See ya! I turned on my heels and made the whole trek back to where I came from only to find Roshanna now waiting for me at the fountain. Such is the way of things!
Needless to say, we did not take that blasted street to try to find the museum. We knew it was close but couldn't remember exactly what street. We were standing there trying to remember where to start walking when we saw a group of three elderly people sitting on a nearby bench. We decided to ask them if they knew where to find it. No sooner had I said, "excusez-moi monsieur," was I greeted with very firm and fairly rude "no we are not interested in what you're selling" kind of remarks. The man would hardly let me speak, and since I felt like he was being rude on a rather ridiculous level, I persisted. "Non non, je cherche le musée Bernadotte. Connaissez-vous où le trouver?" Well he kept talking over me shaking his head. So I said "merci" (and almost added "pour rien!" *for nothing!*) and we walked away. I looked back at one point and saw that the three of them where watching us and talking quietly; I think they were asking each other if it was really possible that a stranger could actually simply be looking for a place in Pau and not be wanting to sell them devilish items. Take that snobby french people!
We ended up finding the museum pretty quickly after asking a shopkeeper which street to go down. We should have known- we had walked that area on our USAC tour way back on like January 5 or something. However, we were running pretty close to lunch time at this point (12p) and the place would be closing in 15 minutes. We decided to just head to lunch first and would come back when it opened again at 2p. Where do you think we went to eat?? Visnu of course! My third and possibly my last time eating there- and it was as good as every other time. There was a lunch menu that offered an entrée, a plat principale, and a déssert for only 8 euros so we each went for it. I had eggplant fritters for my starter, mushroom curry for my main course (Roshanna and I split saffron rice and nan with our main plates), and the house cake for my dessert. We also split 50cl of the house rosé and ended with coffee. It was a fantastic lunch!

My eggplant fritters are on the left

Our wine

Mushroom curry and saffron rice (nan not pictured)

The house cake: a lovely shredded coconut concoction 

Coffee break!

After lunch we took our time walking back to the museum. After all, we had the rest of the day ahead of us! Visnu is just around the corner from the château so of course we walked past it. And we were so glad we did: there was one of those cute kid's trains parked right in front that was probably waiting to be driven when its conductor was done with lunch! We took the opportunity for a photo-op.

After this, it was on to the museum. Musée Bernadotte is actually a house, and the reason it has been turned into a museum is that the Swedish king Jean Bernadotte (1763-1844) was born on the second floor. So Pau is the birthplace of a Swedish king and a french king... you gotta be kidding me. Bernadotte eventually became Charles XIV John of Sweden when he was selected as the heir to the Swedish crown; and he took on the name of Charles III John when he was King of Norway. The current royal family in Sweden descends from Bernadotte; the current king is something like the 6th or 7th generation of Bernadottes. Another very cool fact: they visit the home of their ancestors (where Roshanna and I walked today) regularly. There are pictures in the lobby of the museum of the King of Sweden standing on the balcony we took pictures in front of. Plus, the Princess of Sweden was here just last summer. I must say that I admire their recognition of where they come from and their admiration for their history.
We took a few pictures of the outside of the house and then we went in to pay our admission. We walked up to the front desk (which is literally a desk that originates with the house but now has a computer set on top of it) and pulled out our student I.D. cards for our reduction. But the woman at the front desk stopped us and said, "c'est gratuit" (it's free). Sweet! She reminded me that french people aren't usually mean like those old folks we came across earlier today. So, we started at the second floor and took our time admiring the history in this house.

There it is! On the left you have the flag of the EU, and above the front door are the French and Swedish national flags

There were many window displays like this throughout the house- mostly they just contain artifacts and remnants of the original family's possession from when they lived here.

Bernadotte's sleeping nook

As old as it is, it retains so much of its beauty and elegance

Bernadotte had a turbulent relationship with Napoleon, but it didn't start out that way: they were originally very close friends and Napoleon even appointed Bernadotte to Marshal of France where he served until he became King of Sweden. I don't know if you can see it, but that letter on the left starts with the name "Napoleon" and the most elaborate cursive "N" I have ever seen in my life.

A print of "The Coronation of Napoleon." The original is about the size of your average 10mX6m wall (aka: it is massive) and sits in the Louvre in Paris. There is an exact replica that sits in the palace at Versailles. I would like to take this moment to brag: I have seen both of these paintings and will see them both again in about a week. Okay, I'm done now.  :)

Bernadotte

"Roshanna, take a picture of me in the fireplace!"

Lovely royal crockery

Back down in the lobby, we came across this photo that is entitled "Blondes." The museum's curator was telling us that this photo was taken as part of a project to re-intrigue Swedes with their history. I didn't find it interesting (nor did I get how this represents Swedish history) until he turned us around to look at the table and chairs behind us. One table and four chairs that also originate with the house.... they were also replicated almost exactly in this picture above: --->

See the resemblance?

We spent the next 15 minutes or so looking through the photos, prints, and newspaper clippings that were organized in the lobby.

The next generation: the Prince and Princess.

The current King and Queen of Sweden

I found this collage to be so exciting: in the two pictures on the left you can see parts of the royal family standing at the place we just visited today! Look at the bottom left picture, and then.....

...check this out!

We both had a lot of fun exploring this little piece of unique Pau history. It was a good way to start our last weekend in our city...
Next, we headed to the nearby Musée des Beaux Arts. This is the same museum I went to by myself a few weeks ago but I knew I wanted to come back so I didn't have to rush through it. By the time we got there, Rosie was feeling worn out. She was tired of walking and I don't think she can take being in museums for as long as I can. So she walked through the temporary exhibit with me (which I wasn't allowed to take pictures of but was very cool- it was a gallery of photos called "Women of the World" by Titouan Lamazou) and then she headed back to her place at the residence halls. It was fine with me- I think I prefer to appreciate art by myself. For one, I can take my time with it and move at my own pace. And two, there are no interruptions as I look at different paintings/sculptures and try to find the stories or messages within.
In the museum:

"Le Baiser de Judas" (The Kiss of Judas), by Vincente Basabe, 1604

"Le Portratit de la soeur" (The Portrait of the Sister), by Joseph-Paul Mesle, 1886

"Place de la Concorde sous l'averse" (Place de la Concorde in the Rain), by Alfred Smith, 1888.

I've been there! That's the mirror in Bordeaux

"Henri IV enfant" (Henri IV as a Child), by François Joseph Bosio, 1823

"Matinée à Trouville" (Morning at Trouville), by Casimir Wielhorski, 1908

"Bacchus enfant" (Bacchus Child), by Henri Allouard, 1881

I love this museum

"Christophe Colomb à la cour de Ferdinand et Isabelle" (Christopher Colombus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabelle), by Eugène Devéria.

I found this painting to be very interesting: if you look closely, you'll notice that the court on the right is mirroring the court on the left (or vice versa). There are the same amount of woman on each side, posed in the same way or making the same facial expression, and it's the same with the men. I just found this intriguing.

"Une fille d'Eve" (A Daughter of Eve) by François Etcheto, 1885

"La Fin de Madame Gardénia" (The End of Mrs. Gardenia), by Jacques Monory, 1964-66

And then I was in the more modern section. I'm not a huge fan of modern or contemporary art but I at least try to appreciate it and find something of interest/skill in it. This one I did like: it's so pretty and feminine with the colors and the big flower but then you notice the "bullet holes" all over it and realize that this piece was "shattered" by gunfire. A very interesting juxtaposition.

"I Barcatori," by Paul Eugène René Sieffert

"Pêcheurs de Saint-Yves" (Fishermen of Saint-Yves), by Anders Zorn

I thought this was beautiful.

I think I strolled, stood, and admired in here for about two hours. When I left it was 5:30p so I once again made it close to closing time (6p). Next I headed to the bus stop to head to the house and relax a little before dinner. When I got home, I chatted a little with Lionel out front (we talked about his flowers), said hi to Côme and Christine, and then I went up to my room to facebook, take off my showers, refresh, and read. I took one of my favorite books, "My Life In France" by Julia Child, out to the backyard to crack it open for the third time. I've been trying to read a USAC recommended reading called "60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" for the past three months. While it is very informative about the French, it is kind of slow. Plus, I'm not going to be in France much longer and it is high time I sit down with Julia for a little while. So there I sat, on a long chair, in the sun, reading this voice I have grown to love. It was a great half hour. 

A little after 7p, Lionel invited me in for an apéritif with the three of them. We had three choices of snacks this evening: a Chex Mix type of thing that was a little spicy, salted cashews, and Pringles. Lionel offered to make me a "Sous Cassis" and, thinking that was the wine mixed with black currant liquor thing, I said yes. Unfortunately, this was that drink he had made for me a while back with the yucky flower juice that got me too tipsy; but I made myself drink it. At least I learned from my mistake and turned down a second one this time. While at our apéro (slang), Lionel suddenly asked, "est-ce qu'aujourd'hui est ton dernier vendredi à Pau?" (Is today your last Friday in Pau?) *Silence* "Uhh, oui. Je suppose que c'est vrai." (Uhh yea, I guess that's true). *Glances between Lionel, Christine, and I. Côme didn't exist right then.*

Soon after, the three of them went to the table and I went to my room to get ready for dinner. There is an American fifties-themed restaurant downtown called "Fifties Dream" that a bunch of us USACers have been wanting to go to. When I walked in, I happily realized that we were a table of about 12 girl- this was going to be fun! Us ladies hung out for the next couple of hours, eating our burgers, hot dogs, and fries, listening to the fifties jams (complete with "Greased Lightening"), and just enjoying the atmosphere- not to mention, our last friday night in Pau...

My "American Dream Hot Dog." Guys, I'm dead serious: this hot dog came with grilled onions, cheddar, and GOAT CHEESE! It was actually really good too

After dinner, I had wanted to walk to a bar that has been frequented by most USACers but which I have yet to visit called "Le Garage." For whatever reason, that didn't end up happening. I did, however, go back to the residence halls with a lot of the girls to do some more hanging out. I ended up sitting in Allie's room with Rosie, Chai, and a couple others who you don't yet know until about 1a. Eventually, I got to walking. Because these are all wonderful people here, I was offered an escort repeatedly. It would have been nice given the late hour and the length of the walk, but I knew I was going to be fine and I really didn't like the idea of them having to make the exact same walk all over again after saying bye to me at my house. So I turned them down. I did, however, call my mom on her cell to see if anyone was home to call me through Skype. That worked out nicely: Spencer was home and my mom and sister showed up soon after. The four of us skype/cell-phoned for all of my walk and then I got right back on it safely in my bedroom. I talked to them until my dad got home from work, got to say hi to him, and then THEY kicked ME off because of how late (or early) it was my time. It was a lovely day. :)

Week 15

Monday: Overall, today was a fairly normal day: I got up late, had breakfast, hung up my laundry outside, got ready, etc. The only big difference is that I decided to sleep in so late that I ate breakfast at a rather ridiculous time and chose to just not have lunch. Instead, I went to class early, used the extra minutes to write some postcards/try to read for class/etc, and bought some little snacks on my way back to the house afterwards. If I remember correctly, I came home right after class. I got off of the bus a stop early to hit the bakery on Boulevard Tourasse and bought a warmed-up Croque Monsieur (a sandwich with ham and cheese sauce inside, and is topped with cheese that is baked like a crust)- which I ate on the walk... something the people around me did not appreciate- and Pain au Raisin (a french-type cinnamon roll with raisins) for under 5 euros. Once at the house, I turned the laundry that was drying in the house over and sat myself down at the dining table with my laptop and a cup of chicorée. Guilhem was happy to accept a piece of my raisin bread when I offered it to him; Christine wouldn't allow herself, though. =P

For dinner tonight we had a terrine of eggplant and another taboulet with mint leaves, mushrooms, cheese, and more. The terrine was cold and was about the consistency of ground eggplant, eggs, and cream- which is quite shocking, considering that's what's in it. It was very very yummy! The only problem is that Côme kept asking me questions during dinner, and I was starting to figure out the hard way that here is a guy who hasn't yet learned that people cannot understand the jumble coming out of his mouth when he talks as fast as he can without hardly opening his lips. Oh the frustration!

Terrine d'Aubergine

Taboulet

After dinner I had some time to talk to my family and finally recount some of my incredible weekend. Then it was off to bed!

Tuesday: The majority of today was like yesterday: pretty normale. I did have lunch today though and it was super duper tasty. I don't know why I haven't demanded that this be made for me before now, considering how much I love the whole grain mustard!: Christine sautéed thin slices of chicken and then marinated them IN the mustard! This with some green veggies was a perfect lunch.
After class (don't you appreciate how I skip over that part?) I had about two solid hours to kill before my cuisine class started. I decided to really get down to business on the postcards I have been putting off. So, I did, and I completed about 20 of them! It was pretty incredible if I do say so myself. :) Finally, it was time to go to class. "Whoopi!"- Julia Child.
The menu tonight started with a salad that was mixed with tomatoes and corn, but I didn't care much about that. We were making quiche!! And guess what... we made three of them! There were only four of us there to eat them but who cares! We had enough filling for two Quiche Lorraine (cheese and bacon) and enough for one divine spinach, cheese, and cream quiche. For dessert, we made crêpes... I couldn't believe it! We are not skilled enough to make real crêpes (big rounds that are spread into a perfect circle with a long metal spatula) but Françoise did bring a nifty contraption that allowed us to pour and spread baby crêpes into circular forms. It was so much fun! The way this turned into a dessert sounds ridiculous even as I write it: start with one crêpe, top it off with slices of pear that are laid in a sort of sundial on the crêpe, layer on another crêpe, top this with a heaping spoon of creamy vanilla ice cream, put on ANOTHER crêpe, drown the entire concoction in hot chocolate sauce that is made from melting an entire dark chocolate bar in a bowl of the pear juice. Phew! Our stomachs swelled with pleasure.

Ingredients at the ready!

First quiche :)

Second :))

Third sitting ready :)))

Me pouring crêpe batter!

I'm so good ;)

Our lovely table

It's eatin' time!

Dessert- believe it or not, there is food under there

Told you there was food! Even if it is ice cream XD

I couldn't let the chocolatey ice cream sauce go to waste; so I had two more crêpes topped with chocolate sauce to help the matter :)

On my walk home.... I hope I've mentioned how beautiful Pau is and how much I love it

I took some leftover crêpes and quiche home to the family, but when I got there they were still munching on a crab quiche that Christine had made. They did manage to get the slice of spinach quiche down but the large slice of Lorraine was going to have to wait for the next day. At least they ate the crêpes for dessert: with jam of course. :)

Christine let me know before I went to bed tonight that her and Lionel would be going away the next day and wouldn't get back until late Thursday evening. And since Guilhem is away at Scouts, that meant that Côme and I had the house to ourselves. Oh great. You mean I am going to be alone in the house with someone I can't understand for the life of me and who is continually asking me questions?! Mon Dieu...

Wednesday: Today was a wonderful day! Not only was there no Business in the EU, but there was no class for a fabulous reason: we were touring a local chocolate factory instead! =D Pau is the home of many interesting things, and it seems she also is the birthplace of Verdier Chocolatiers- a chocolate making, molding, and packaging facility that was started by Monsieur Verdier at the end of WWII and continues to be family owned and operated. Monsieur Verdier's son and daughther-in-law (a darling Mrs. Sees-looking woman) now own the chocolate factory. And to my great delight, Madame Verdier was there today to welcome us to her chocolate factory! She even set out two large bowls full up to the brim of a rather varied assortment of chocolates for us to eat at our pleasure (delicious!). If we had purchased all of the chocolate she set out for us today, it would have probably cost up to 100 euros. I love this woman.

To get to the factory, our Business in the EU class (including our instructor Ryan) met at the université bus stop together to hop on the 15-minute bus to the facility. Once there, it was a delightful experience of shaking Madame Verdier's hand (she shook every hand, though there were at least 17 of us), getting a guided tour of the chocolate making and chocolate packaging rooms (very busy with Easter preparations), having the chance to ask questions about Monsieur Verdier and how he started his chocolate business, and then getting to eat and buy as much chocolate as we should like! Ryan tried to use this opportunity to relate back to our class; he wanted us to ask questions about how business changed with EU health regulations. We did ask a few questions like this, but most of us were counting the seconds until we were released back into the gift shop.

EEEEEE!!!

Oh. Mon. DIEU!

On the tour

That's one of Monsieur Verdier's grandsons. Besides the Easter and Christmas seasons, the factory is operated by about 12 individuals- all are blood-related to Verdier or if they're not, are very close family friends. 

This machine is a Verdier original (like from about 60 years ago) and continues to be a critical component of chocolate and candy making here. Though, the parts for repairs are becoming harder to find.

That picture there was painted by Verdier's son... with CHOCOLATE.

The packing room- getting ready for Easter!

"Master's Degree" awarded to Guy Verdier at his confectionary "Verdier Candies/Treats" certifying him as a Master Confectioner 

Monsieur Verdier holding his great-grandson, with his son on his left and his grandson on his right

Me and Chai with Madame Verdier. :)

We were given a good 20 minutes in the gift shop after our tour and most of us filled that time with ogling the window displays and devouring Verdier's delicious chocolates. I made sure to taste and buy Verdier's most famous creation (and it is famous): Raisins Dorés ("Golden Raisins"). This delicacy is made by soaking golden raisins in the local sweet white wine from Jurançon, coating them in powdered sugar so they don't stick, and then drenching them in Verdier chocolate. They were without a doubt the best chocolate-covered raisins I have ever tasted! I bought a large bag to leave with my host family as a parting gift and two smaller ones to bring home with me. I also bought a small bag of piment-covered almonds because of Lionel's and my obsession with putting the pepper on everything. Plus, since I knew I would be missing Easter with my real family, I bought three chocolate eggs (milk, dark, and white chocolate) for my siblings and I to share when I get home. The eggs were also filled with other Verdier chocolates.

Then, sadly, it was time to leave this lovely place. We made sure to thank Madame Verdier for her hospitality and she shook most of our hands once again. Then we all headed to the bus together. Once back in Pau, everyone got off at different stops but a few of us were together in that we didn't have plans for the rest of the day. The only thing I was planning on doing today was heading to the train station to see if I could get money back for that train I missed back in February (it turned out that I needed more than a whole month to recover enough from that terrible day to even think about this ticket again). But besides that, all I wanted to do today was get some sun and some lunch. I decided to just take the bus straight to the station and then would meet with Carl, Andrés, and a few others for food downtown. I got to the station, walked up to the counter, and explained my situation. I told the guy what Christine had instructed me to say (that we had spoken to a conductor that same night that I missed the train and the conductor said he was going to call and cancel the ticket), and he said it wasn't a problem. But, after scanning the ticket, all the guy behind the counter had to say to me was that the ticket was not, in fact, cancelled; so it was impossible for me to get any money back for it. I walked away from the counter with my shoulders up by my ears, completely frustrated. After a few deep breaths, I decided that money didn't have to be so special to me. Up until that point, I had gotten over the negative happenings of that first day of my week in Italy, I had had an unforgettably good trip there, and I was back in a city I love, in the sunshine, about to have food with friends. What the heck was the big deal? It took me a few minutes to relinquish all of my irritation at losing a good chunk of money, but I did it. There was no longer anything to be done about it, so what was the point in even thinking more about it?

Taking the funicular from the train station to the bus stop

After that little episode, I was on my way to the heart of downtown. I got off the bus and called Carl to see where everyone was at. He met me not a minute later, and the two of us walked to this neat little noodle place where I had one of the best pasta lunches ever. The way the menu works is simple: pick your noodle, pick your sauce, pick what cheese you want on top, and then pick what size to-go box you want. I selected ricotta and spinach stuffed raviolis, creamy/cheesy Alfredo sauce, topped with Gruyère cheese. YUM!

Now that's a good lunch right there

Carl, Andrés, Molly, Rodney, and I all sat there soaking it in for a while before Molly and Rodney had to take off. I think the two boys and I sat in the sun for another half an hour before I decided that I wanted to head back to my house. Why? It had suddenly dawned on me that today was a perfect day to lay in the backyard in my new bikini!

On my way home

The boys joked about a "tanning party at Sam's" but I was able to get rid of them. :) Once at the house, I threw open all of the windows, changed into my swimsuit, turned up the classic radio station, and laid on a long chair (one of those old-fashioned wooden ones with a strip of canvas down the center) for about half an hour. Ahhhh peace.

When I felt good and toasty, I decided to throw some clothes on and put my laundry out on the clothesline (I had forgotten there was a load of mine in the washer from the night). I finished with that and then went up to my room to turn on some music and find things to do on my computer. I spent the next couple of hours in my own little world.

Côme arrived in the early evening and I was [reluctantly] present downstairs to say hi. I was expecting a terribly awkward evening so I had planned ahead: I had all of the dinner supplies ready and set up on the coffee table with the intention of telling him, "Oh, Guilhem and I love to eat at the coffee table in front of the TV when we have the house to ourselves." He seemed to think this was kind of a weird or improper idea, but I had absolutely no intention of eating at the dining table with no distraction but his impossible questions for the next hour. If he wasn't cool with my plan, I was still going to eat there- by myself! I felt kind of bad about all of this, but I just felt too nervous about this little evening situation. Not that I was afraid at all of Côme- it is just more difficult than you might think to interact with someone you feel you can't communicate with. He even asked if I wanted to go for a walk downtown- such a sweet idea... if only I could understand one thing out of his mouth!

After dinner (the rest of Christine's quiche, the quiche from my class, green salad, and yogurt) I told Côme some sort of excuse. I think it was that I needed to go up and talk with my family. I felt bad again to back out of this whole situation instead of confronting it head-on, but once I had made the decision to handle it that way I committed to it for my own sake. Phew- at least it was over.

Thursday: Today was a typical day until the afternoon. After Business in the EU, I decided not to head home but to hang out with a couple of the guys from my class instead. Tyler, Andrés, and I walked across the street to the Carrefour market to buy some snacks and then headed back over to the university to find a patch of shady grass. The three of us sat there munching, talking, and laying out in the shade for at least an hour.

Part one of my after-school snack: a quiche with cooked black olives, onions, and bell peppers- surprisingly delicious!

Part two: an eggy bread-pastry with chocolate chips inside =)

Toasting life with a couple of beers

Haha Andrés and Tyler

Around 5p, I called Roshanna to see if she wanted to meet up with us too. Her and one or two other USAC people found their way to us, and the group of us somehow ended up sitting in a circle with some French hippies for the next 45 minutes; one of them playing and singing original compositions on his acoustic guitar (they weren't half bad). It was actually a very happy little scene, and it is weird to think back to it now with all of those faces so clear in my mind, knowing I will never see those people again...

Eventually, Roshanna and I were freezing cold out on the grass without sweatshirts, and we were also getting hungry for dinner. Having called ahead to let Christine know I would be eating downtown, we were able to take our time finding a place. The two of us girls hopped on the bus and headed to Place Clemenceau to look for a good restaurant. Roshanna knew of a neat little American-style bar/restaurant right there in the center called Au Bureau ("At the Office"- so when you call your spouse and they ask where you are, you can honestly say you are "at the office"). It looked pleasantly busy inside so we decided to try it out. Unfortunately, my camera died before I could take a picture of my food, but not to worry! Roshanna covered me and will get the pics to me at some point. For dinner I had a real cheeseburger and fries! It was actually quite nice to have something so filling and familiar; the only difference was the slab of goat cheese on top of my patty. Still amazing! Rosie and I sat at dinner for a while but knew we needed to head home soon as it was so chilly out. So we walked ourselves over to the bus stop at Pole Bosquet (shivering from head to toe) and headed home.

Once at the the house, I walked in to find Christine, Lionel, and Côme just finishing their dessert. I went up to put all of my things away and then came down to say goodnight. Sadly (fortunately!), Côme was leaving in the morning, so I had to say bye to him tonight. He kissed me again on both cheeks and that was that. I had survived the difficult Parisian invasion! hahaha!!