It's Saturday Night Folks!

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was a very long, fun day. I got up around 9, and made myself breakfast. Then I got on the metro and headed to Champs-Elysées at 11, to meet up with people. We met at the Arc de Triomphe, which wasn’t hard to find, as it’s the first thing you see when getting out of the metro, but it was a bit harder to figure out how to get to it. See, it’s in the middle of a giant roundabout, the convergence of TWELVE streets! Eventually I found the stairs to the underground passage that lets out under the Arc. It looked like another entrance to the metro. We got tickets to go up to the top, free for us as students!

There were a lot of stairs. I lost count, but the informational pamphlet says there are 284 to the very top. The first set is the longest, and a tight spiral that is very tiring.  Then they give you a little break to look at some historical stuff, then some more stairs to the attic room, which has some more history and models. There’s also a memorial to the Unknown Soldier. Then a few more stairs will take you outside to the roof. You have to be really careful when walking around on the roof, because there are little steps down and up all over it. You get an amazing view of the city from there though.

After we came down from the roof, we walked along the Champs-Elysées, which is one of the largest shopping and café streets in Paris. We got a quick lunch and warmed up some, then headed back out into the crowds and did some shopping. Most of it was just going into stores, looking around, and trying a few thing on. We split up and headed home around 5:30 after making plans to meet up in the Latin Quarter at 10. I wandered around my neighborhood a bit until I found a burger/sandwich shop where I made a fool of myself as I ate dinner. So, I ordered my sandwich and fries, and then stood there at the counter waiting for the guy to ask for my money, because that’s what happens when you order food. You order it, then pay for it, then eat it, in that order usually. Not here apparently. He told me to get me to get my drink and sit down, so I did. About 5 minutes later he came and asked if I wanted any sauces on my sandwich and I said no, and then went to follow him to pick up my sandwich and pay for it, which was also wrong apparently. I got told to sit down again, and then he brought the tray to my table-still without a receipt or asking for payment! I was quite confused at this point, but decided to just eat my food, so I did. Then, finally when I took my tray up to the counter, he took my money and I got out of there. It was a good sandwich, and very much in my budget, and I kind of want to go there again, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to work up the nerve to show my face there again!

After that, I went home, which I had to myself, and hung out for a couple of hours. Then I got dressed and took the metro to where we were all meeting. I got there a bit early, 9:50, but it turned out to be a lot early, as only one other girl was there. Two others finally showed up around 10:30, and we headed down the street to find a bar. We found a nice one, called Zebar, which makes me laugh because it’s like “the bar” with the stereotypical French accent! It definitely catered to tourists, as our waitress started speaking to us in English before three words had made it out of our mouths to ask for a menu. After an hour or so, more of the girls showed up, bringing us to a group of eight. As fun as it was to have a large group of us, trading stories and whatnot, it made it hard to get into the next place we decided to go. I don’t remember the name of this one; we just chose it because it had people actually dancing in it. We danced a bit before making our way to a booth in the back. I, and two other girls, only stayed for about 40 minutes there, because we wanted to make sure we got back home before the metro stopped running at 2, 2:15, or 2:30. See, everyone we asked said it stopped running at a different time, so we left with plenty of time to spare. I got home, and through the gate and doors, without any problems. My hostess was back and asleep as it was 2am, so I tried to be quiet as I got ready for bed.

I didn’t do much on Sunday. Slept in till almost noon, which was wonderful because the curtains and shutters on my window keep out almost all light. Also, it must have snowed sometime between when I got in and then, because there was a light dusting of snow on the street outside my window when I opened the curtain. I went out for lunch, which ended up being a sandwich at a nearby patisserie, and ate it while wandering around the neighborhood. I found a lot of good priced restaurants and cafes, but most of them are closed on Sundays. But they will be good for Friday and Saturday lunches and dinners if I’m staying at home. I also found what I call a park, and the signs called a garden or square, nearby. It has lots of benches and trees, and a playground for children, and I have a feeling I’m going to spend a lot of Sunday lunches and afternoons there once it warms up. There were several children running around, playing in the snow, and it was beautiful!