"enjoy Paree...you know, Paris!" (thanks, mom.)

If you couldn't tell, I have been stalling writing this. No particular reason really. I just haven't been in the mood to do any writing. But, I am going to put down the Nutella jar (yeah, I know I shouldn't have bought it.) and begin. Not only will this finally give you guys something to read but it will save me from putting more empty calories in my mouth. I'm telling you, Nutella is the devil.

So, where did I leave off? Oh, yes. Nuit Blanche (aka "White Night"). Initially, I was told that Nuit Blanche had all these cool things going on all night and if we made through the whole night, we would get breakfast. Free food? Count me in. Plus, I do love a good challenge. (I have stayed up all night plenty of times. I am in college for goodness sakes. This will be a piece of pie.) In the end, my expectations were not fully met but I had fun nonetheless. Hell, I almost always have fun no matter what it is...unless you jump on me in the middle of my nap. I don't like that.

It all started once we got back from Versailles and we attempted to find food. We were starving. The plan was to find a grocery store, get bread/cheese/meat/wine, and chill in a park until we figured out our next plan of attack. We never found the grocery store, but we did get sandwiches and quiche instead. Then we went to check out some of the monuments at night because we figured we had some time before anything began. We wandered to the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and other monuments that hold some historical significance.

We met up with a friend of Caitlin's who lives on the outskirts of Paris and wanted to hang out with us. He happily showed us all the sights and gave us some brief history. Well, as much history as you can get from a French guy in his twenties. I got to ask him a whole bunch of questions, so I was happy just the same. And, if he didn't really know the answer I made one up in my head. We stopped by some of the events going on. Let me just say, they were kind of out there. I guess some people call it art (and others don't) and if that works for them than great. I just don't understand how the whole enjoyment factor of watching food digest (through thermal vision - or whatever it is called) is cool. Honestly, I felt like I was on acid and I have never even touched the stuff. My only reference comes from those darn '60/'70s references that I have come across.

Anyways, we ended up sitting in Cathédrale Notre Dame the rest of the night. Mainly because it was getting cold and some of the girls were complaining that they wanted to warm up. (It was nothing for me. I am from the Midwest. I was born when it was cold.) I thought the church was so cool though. Considering it has all these gothic references all over the church, the lack of sunlight intensified everything. (Maybe, I just like it more than normal because I named my first car Quasimodo. Who knows?) Eventually, they kicked us out so we wandered around Paris until we could go stand in line at the Louvre. (We never went to the free breakfast - we learned it was just a croissant and coffee. Really, Paris? Lame.)

Now, how great is this? A select number of museums are free on the first Sunday of every month, including the Louvre. This was perfect and made me happy. I basically saw some important things (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Great Sphinx of Tanis, etc) for free. Jealous? Near where the Mona Lisa is, there are all these religious paintings (when I was trying to type that I accidentally typed panties...oops!). Since I was the only one in the group with any Catholic background (I don't think I have ever had that happen before.) I tried to answer their questions. Mainly, I made up stuff that I thought sounded good. I figured I could get away with quite a bit when they assumed that every baby was Jesus. Silly girls.

(Top: Mona Lisa; 
Top Middle: Venus de Milo

Bottom Middle: Great Sphinx of Tanis; 
Bottom: Code of Hammurabi)

I am not going to give a minute by minute description of everything else we did. Instead, I'll give you the summary: I did go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower, inside Notre Dame (which also happened to be during a Latin mass - I was surprised they even let us in then.), window shopped on the super expensive shopping street (Avenue des Champs-Elysees), saw the Sacre Coeur (as Elissa suggested, thanks!), ate a crepe and part of a macaroon, and barely slept.

I would just like to make two last very important points about my trip.

First, I had some great fondue. Caitlin invited us out to dinner with her and her mother's old coworker and wife who now live in Paris. They took us to this great fondue place. It looked like a dive, but it was fabulous. The inside had writing on the walls (mainly from American college kids - check out the second picture below! Yay, for Illinois.) and we drank wine out of baby bottles (documented in the first picture - lovely, girls). Totally normal there. (Apparently, in France there is an extra tax imposed on the establishment that makes them pay extra if their customers will be drinking win out of a glass. Baby bottles are not glasses. Well, at least that is the reasoning they gave us. Crazy, French!)

Second, I had some great hot chocolate (called Chocolat Africain) and cake. I think I consumed 37 days worth of calories and sugar in one sitting. I don't regret it for a second. We found this place called Angelina's (which is technically a tea room) which according to the menu was frequently visited by Coco Chanel back in the day. Their hot chocolate is basically a melted candy bar. Not even joking. I had too much of it (as usual) and felt sick for a little bit after but we walked around after to try to burn some calories. I don't think that worked though. The cake I had was ssoooo good too. I don't even remember what was in it. All I know is that it was called Paris&NewYork. My taste buds enjoyed that. Like I said, I don't regret any of it.

[Pictures to come!]

Oh, and I bought a Longchamp bag which come from Paris. Its mine and its beautiful! And expensive (but much cheaper than if I had bought it in the US!). But, I haven't really bought anything while here (other than the necessities) and knew I would use this for many years. These are perfect for traveling and carrying books, etc. Basically, I really like it. Okay?

So that was Paris. It was a blast. I got to experience fall! (finally!!!) It made me feel like there was a little piece of home hanging out with me (minus the accents everywhere...).

Paris was also super expensive. Hence, why I will be "visiting" Milan this weekend instead of touring the rest of the world. My bank account needs a break. I also need to remember to charge my battery before I go places. That way it won't die half way through the trip.

Oh! And our course schedule for Illinois came out. I already figured out my classes. (I'm such a nerd.) My schedule will be amazing next semester. Well, my Mondays and Wednesdays will be busy but Tuesdays and Thursdays won't at all (one class!). And no class on Fridays (again!). Maybe I can do something productive with my time? Maybe.

Wait, this means I am a senior. Oh, crap. To answer all of your questions: No, I have no idea what I will be doing next year. No, I am not going to grad school right away. Yes, I would like any help you can give me. Yes, I am sort of freaking out, but I have been told that is completely normal.