Back in the US...SA

12 hour flight...9 hour time difference...7 days in France...5 rolls of film....1 awesome trip.

I don't know how to begin to blog the past week, but it was just great. Maybe I start from the beginning.

I arrived on Dec. 31st at 7:30 am, where it was raining, cold, and confusing. France is on a more northly latitude that SoCal, so the sun didn't rise until like 9 am. I got off the plane...and onto a bus? Not into the airport. The bus took us to the gate where our passports would be checked, a small indoor room facing a glassed-in wall of small booths where French immigration officials should have been sitting. But no one was in there. I found one person among the throng that spoke French and English, and we joked that French labor laws must prevent anyone from actually working before 8 am. But 8 am came and went, and as more international flights arrived, the small room was getting more and more packed...and more and more anxious. Finally, several French police officers let the crowd know that someone had left a bad unattended and they were figuring out what to do with it. What that ended up being was clearing out the gate (where my brother happened to waiting for me on the other side of the glass gates) and then, after an hour of standing around and acting sassy, blowing up the bag. In the airport. KA-BOOM! We all applauded, and within a few minutes were shuttled through the glass gates. The immigration officers, who were allowed to work after all, just being kept "safe" I guess elsewhere, seemed embarassed and didn't even stamp my passport or check my bags. I just got a "bon voyage" and was soon in a little Peugeot on my way to the heart of Paris.Bienvenue a Paris indeed!

I was picked up by my brother Matt and his friend Pilou, and we dropped my bags off at Pilou's apartment. Pilou is what we were calling "half a lawyer", meaning he'd passed the French bar exam and was now working on his year and a half of apprenticeship before being able to hang his own shingle. He was fortunate enough to have a wonderful little studio in the heart of Paris, a short Metro ride to anywhere we wanted to go. But it was small...I shared the bed with my brother and Pilou slept on a mat on the floor for the week. I was so grateful for it though, and it was fun having slumber parties with my brother again. There were nights we'd watch South Park DVDs while eating foi gras on the bed until 2 am.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Within a few minutes of dropping the bags and changing my clothes, we were on a Metro to the Eiffel Tower. I haven't developed all my pictures yet, but I have a few that we got on a digital camera...here's my favorite shot of the Eiffel tower from that first cold morning in Paris.
We didn't get to the top that day...it would have been a good day, too...nice and clear. But the throng of tourists that were mobbed underneath the four base posts was impossible to wade through, and it was a 4 hour wait. We got a few pictures of it and in front of it, then moved on.

I think we walked around some more and mentally planned out the week. I think we went back then and I passed out for a few hours. When I woke, Pilou made a delicious quiche...seriously, delicious doesn't even describe it. It had cheese and this awesome prosciutto-like stuff called "lardon" or something. Just amazing. We hung out and then all changed for the New Year's party we were heading to.

The party was at the apartment of some friends of Pilou and Matt who they both met when studying abroad in Belgium (my brother is a world traveller). Here are some great photos from that night:
Above: Isabelle, me, my brother, Pilou, and Ngoc.
New friends, Ngoc and Thomas. That's real champagne they are holding. It was really, really good...we had 5 bottles of it.
Me and Pilou with one of the many bottles of really terrific wine we enjoyed. I must say, I've never drank better than I did that night. Just the happiest, greatest feeling. Not knowing French didn't matter...not when music is the universal language..
I believe ABBA was playing. Above, Pilou, Ngoc, Thomas and moi. It was a lot of fun, but mostly because I got to see my brother. I heart my brother. Here's a great photo of us both...seriously, this is one of the best photos I've ever seen of us two:
It's clear we're siblings.

The night was great and we didn't get home until well after 5 am.

The next day, we started touring seriously. In the next three days, we went walking a LOT...Paris was gorgeous and just wonderful to walk around in. It was cold though; apparently, it was the coldest winter on record or something. I just know I had to walk around every day in my big, red coat with my funny hat. My hat was a beret, just because that's the only warm hat I own, not because I thought it was French...it was cute, though. Here are a few shots of where we went on our touring.
Above: Matt and I on a pont over the Siene with the Louvre in the background. Its a HUGE museum. We didn't go in, just walked around and enjoyed the architecture of it. We did get to the Musee d'Orsay where I very randomly met my friend Martina, who happened to also be in Paris at the same time. Huge city...giant country...she was only in Paris for about 48 hours, and we just happened to be in the coat check line at the same exact time. How serendipitous is that? More pics...
Here is Pilou and I in front of the Sacre Cour in Montmartre. Its a gorgeous white church, but maybe more well-known after the movie Amelie. Its the location in the movie where she draws all the blue arrows to send her beloved on a goose-chase for his photo album. Someone repainted the blue arrows on the stairs...its cute, but it is a gorgeous church. We went to the top and enjoyed the view:
You can see the Eiffel tower in the background. It was hazy, but this was a fun trip. To get to the top, you have to walk on the actual roof of the church. Its really amazing and worth the 5 euro it cost to get to the top! We went to the top of a lot of places, including the Arc du Triomphe, where my brother snapped this really gorgeous photo:
*blink* See Sacre Cour in the background? There is a better pic of this shot but I like this one. Its just real. Not every photo is a postcard.
At the bottom, the facade of the Arc has some awesome statues. Here I am imitating this particularly...interesting one. I got the arms wrong trying to imitate this vengeful angel.

Anybody read David Sedaris' book Me Talk Pretty One Day? Anyone who's read the story in it "A Shiner Like a Diamond" will understand why I titled this photo Amy Sedaris.
Anyway...that's all I have the energy to update now. I'll talk more about the things we saw...the food we ate (awesome food...) and all the great stuff. I will have more photos coming up once I get my own pics developed. Thanks for all who read this blog and wished me well on my trip - I had a GREAT time! Glad to be home though. My own bed is something I would travel across the world to.