I know it's been an awfully long time since I've written. Honestly there has just been too much going on. I don't suppose it'd be good use of my time turning down offers for activities here in Paris just so I can blog about the other stuff. I shouldn't have waited quite so long though since now I have to remember all the interesting things that have happened in the last 9 days.
Last weekend I was invited with my friend Julie's family to their country house in Normandie. I know, my life is horribly rough. I finished school on Friday and then went to have wine on the Seine with Emma, Lauren, and their friend. I couldn't stay too long because I had to pack to leave. I headed to Julie's house at 7. They live in a really pretty suburb of Paris called Fountain of the Rose in English. There would be 5 of us in the car with Ramie, the dad. Palmyr and her boyriend Geoffrey would be going as well. The other 2 girls Eloise and Ruffine were already at the house. We drove past Versailles Palace, 2 hours into the Normandie countryside. It doesn't get dark until like 11pm here so we got there right before dark. They have 4 big horses and 2 miniature horses. The house is old and theyre renovating it which is a dream for alot of people back home. There is a second house on the grounds as well, and that sits in the middle of a four square garden complete with cherry tree, raspberries, cassis, roses, and so many other plants. It was wonderfully relaxing. Saturday we woke up to coffee, baguette, and nutella in the garden. Julie was super sick so she went back to bed and I helped the girls put up the big tent they'd bought for the upcoming family reunion. It was surprisingly not awkward with us barely being able to speak to each other. Eloise and Palmyr speak some english and my french is terrible. I can understand it but speaking it is awful for me and anyone required to understand what I'm trying to say. Anyway, I now have an even worse farmers tan than before. I was asked to help Eloise with lunch and she made an amazingly tasty and simple dish with mushrooms, chicken, cream sauce, and pasta. Ramie had purchased a lovely cream cake so we had that for dessert. Oh and cheese and bread after the meal too. Cheese and bread come after EVERY meal. I rested for literally 10 minutes and then we started getting the horses ready for the afternoon ride. It was SO FANTASTIC. I got a quick refresher course and all of the French names for grooming bridleing and saddling. They ride English saddle here and it's nearly the same thing but the saddles are less complicated. The horses were really big and Geoffrey was strong enough to pretty much lift me onto it with ease. I was amazed. Once we were seated and Julie had instructions since this was her first time on a horse, we were on our way. All of us got to go because with the addition of the two ponies that pulled the little carriage Geoffrey drove, we all had a seat. The ride was lovely and the tree-lined country roads almost brought Louis XIV back to life. We rode for what seemed like 4 hours. My butt was incredibly sore but it was just really nice to be back on a horse, breathing in the fresh air, greeting small children and villagers like we were a parade...awesome. I also amused myself by using the word 'villagers' just then. Anyway, it was about 9pm by then so we had dinner at the house. It was salmon and capers with green beans, and then of course, bread and cheese. A few of them needed to be back in Paris the next morning so Eloise, Julie, Ruffine, and myself were left to ourselves. I talked with Eloise for awhile after the other girls went to bed and I found my french much improved when the pressure wasn't so strong. Sunday, Julie still felt terrible so we didn't do much bit sit around and listen to a bunch of french music courtesty of Ruffine including some very funny french rap. We headed back into town and I didn't end up getting home until 8:30. It was Lauren's birthday so we just celebrated with some wine in our apartment and got homework finished for the morning.
Monday we had our usual test in class. Hurray. After class I rushed home to eat and get psyched up for my tattoo appointment that was at 4pm. Rachel offered to go with me so I took her up on it. We got there early and it was done in no time. It looks really great! I was on such a high from the experience that we decided we should all go out that night and stop being so lame. Earlier that day Kathy and Nancy had emailed about having a dinner together since we'd all been doing different things for the most part. We met at Rue de la Huchette and found a restaurant. After dinner it was still raining (rain in Paris sucks) but we trudged back to Buci and got ready to go out. Ruchita, Nicole, Emma, Rachel and I all headed to this little dive Ruchita had heard about. The Sangria was amazing and so cheap. We decided that our plans of an early night were silly so we headed to where Jenn and Chelsea were having dates. The girls ordered B52 shots which the bartender sets on fire. He gave them straws for some odd reason and Ruchita thought it'd be a good idea to put them in the glass before blowing out the flames. Needless to say the straw lit on fire and the grouchy bartender had to put them out. Funny. It was stuffy in there with not much happening so we decided to leave them alone and go to Rue de Princesse again. Getting drenched does nothing for ones hair so we looked stellar by the time we made it to that street. Ruchita yelled something about how soon even her panties would be wet, which made all of us laugh hysterically as she sputtered that she hadn't meant it that way. Nicole scared some old lady by threatening to pee on her dog. I'm not entirely sure what the story was with that but it was amusing. Ruchita's theory that if Rue de Princesse was hopping on the weekends it be moderately busy during the week. She was correct. We ended up at a place where the shots were 20euro for 10 and it was a good good time. We finally decided to call it a night when Nicole comes rushing over and whispers, "We've got to get out of here I just stole the toilet paper out of the bathroom." The lights came on and she started panicking about a possible bag check. Ruchita found out that the guy she'd been talking to had a girlfriend and the night ended rather quickly with us stalking home in the wet...again. Good times.
No comments:
Post a Comment