The Gang's All Here!

*Kayla, name that quote!*

I went to bed late and overslept. I woke up in a panic thinking I would be late picking up Samantha and Melissa. I knew there was a potential for a headache on my trip. It seems as though if there is someone working in the little ticket counter, it doesn't mean they will help you. I took the metro to Chatelet and tried to buy a ticket on the RER to Charles de Gaulle airport. I get to the little ticket kiosk to find out that it does not accept cash, only credit cards and it NEVER accepts my credit cards. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have time to sit around and twiddle my thumbs until an answer came to me. I saw that you just had to take an escalator down to the RER B line. There was no machine to take your ticket. SCORE!

I went down the platform and had ten minutes until the train came. I called Eric in a panic thinking that maybe I would get thrown off the train halfway to the airport and poor Sam and Melissa would be all alone in a foreign country while I am getting reprimanded by the French police two days in a row. Eric reassured me I would be fine. I MIGHT have to pay when I arrived. If not, then all I would have to do is jump the turnstile. Oh that's it? That's not obvious or anything.

I arrive and it's true. I pretended that I was searching for my ticket in my backpack and pockets. Then I got bored of the act and jumped it. It was so rebellious. I didn't feel bad though since I had no choice in the matter. I was given no choice in purchasing my ticket. I walk quite a while to find the gate and I wait awhile. After about thirty minutes, they come out of the gate. Woohooo, it was so good to see their faces, but it didn't seem like two months had passed.
My mother sent a suitcase with them with some things that I needed. The suitcase isn't the most user friendly. It would be good for trips from your back door to your truck, but any more than that is handicapping. You could only drag it on the right side of your body because the handle isn't in the center. Oh don't get me wrong, I am grateful...for these blisters and callouses on my hands. I knew the contents of the suitcase would be a surprise. I could just sense the potential of entertainment when it was opened. Please see my next blog for the contents of this suitcase.

Sam and Melissa had their first experience of awesome musicians on the metro that entertain for money. These dudes were complete with an accordian and tamborine. Too bad Columbia or Arista Record execs weren't on hand...these guys are the new up and comers. Sam was laughing because there were three other Americans on the train that had the most animated faces that showed their disapproval of the music. Almost as if, at that moment, they regretted that Paris was their destination and prayed that the trip would get better.

We arrived at the metro station in Chatelet finally. I had my very first run-in with a friend. It was Garrick, a fellow Texan, that goes to Hillsong with me. It made my day that I knew enough people in the city to be able to bump into one of them. I won't drag out the experience, but the metro was a nightmare of stairs and sweat and fatigued muscles. We arrived at my building two and a half hours after their plane arrived. We shall be taking a taxi back. The metro and luggage are not friends.

We were starving so I made some of my award winning sandwiches which we ate along with some good ole Cheeze-its. We rested for a bit and I gave the gals the 20m2 tour. That didn't take but 18 seconds or so. My friend James had invited us to Cite Universitaire for a BBQ. About ten other people were supposed to come and I knew it would be a great opportunity for them to be apart of this culture by meeting people from all different backgrounds.

We walked around and saw the church that is across the street from me. I have posted pics of it before but got a different angle this time.
We kept walking and stopped by Eric's place. He was there with three other girlfriends - Coralis, Jasmin, and Jelena - getting ready for a Hillsong dinner party tonight. We had some laughed and got on our way. We walked around the area of Rue de Bac, Rue de Renne, Montparnasse...and then to the metro to Notre Dame. We had to hit one major landmark. It was beautiful, but full of tourists. Melissa was enamored by all the paintings and plans to buy one later in the week.
We grabbed some drinks at the local Franprix, then we were off to Cite Universitaire for some burgers. Once we get to the right metro, it's raining quite hard. We roll up our jeans and tough it out. We arrived and took our short walk to the Canadian House where James lives. He had so much food and we took it from his place to the kitchen since outdoors wasn't an option because of the rain. We met some of his coworkers who were awesome. Thomas is from Germany, Marc from France, Becca from California, another gal from Mexico, Niko from Nebraska and a student at Harvard here on a study abroad program. Then of course, James from Canada and Sam, Melissa, and I from Texas/Arkansas. What a combo! We laughed for the entire dinner which happened to be pretty amazing. James made his famous pesto pasta, potatoes, Greek salad, and then the burgers. Thomas brought tiramisu. On this night, us ladies just sat down and soaked it all up.

Marc is definitely French and made us laugh with his faces when Niko mentioned drinking a red wine with some sort of cold meat. GASPS! Then he told us how duck patee/fois gras is made. The ducks are overfed corn which makes their livers expand, then they are killed. It's not allowed in the US because of the "cruelty". He shared all his knowledge on wine and how it's made and the differences of wine in each region of France.

James entertained us with stories of his sister's bunnies that kept getting killed by the neighbor's dog and images of his father chasing the dogs outside in the cold while wearing his underwear. There were other stories about his hydrogen-powered bike that he plans to take to trek around the Mediterranean after he finishes in Paris. It was all good, fun conversation.

We got on the metro around 10:15pm and the girls were in a zombie state. They are such troopers and began to get quite giggly in the metro.
They are in bed as I type this and I am about to collapse as well. We've got a big week ahead of us. I cannot believe I didn't take pictures of the dinner. It might have been the most fun dinner I have had. Thank you guys for hosting us and making it such a wonderful and memorable night!