Not THAT Paris

Oh my! I have so much to write about! So very much! I might have to do it in a couple installments.

Paris was so wonderful! I slept the whole bus ride there. For the last stretch, we were stuck in epic traffic and it was hailing on us. But then I stepped out of the subway, and it was sunny and beautiful. It was like the Wizard of Oz or something. Amanda's brother, Simon, lives in an awesome apartment in a very cool area. He seemed very nice, but he doesn't speak much English and I don't speak any French, so we didn't really talk. But the apartment was great!

On Friday, Billy and I walked around a bit. We got yummy, yummy sushi and went out for drinks at a very cool bar with Billy's friend Sara. It was a chill day.

Saturday we got breakfast and internet at a little cafe. Then we went to the Louvre. I love renaissance paintings and they had quite a collection. We got to see the Mona Lisa, although she really was not the most exciting piece in that room. It's interesting what becomes iconic. There were lots of paintings featuring violas da gamba, which was exciting to me (although it made me miss playing a lot).

The weather Saturday was no good. It was very rainy and grey. Sometimes it would get nice for a second, but then it got rainy again. Billy gave me a brief tour of the Institut du Monde Arabe. It's a really cool building with a fantastic view at the top. The shop was a little lost on me since I don't speak French or Arabic, but oh well. At some point we went to Billy's apartment. It's really lovely. A little far from stuff, but very nice. We watched a movie and then made dinner. We had frozen pasta dinners and then shared a baguette with camembert, butter, and/or jam. We had yogurt for desert. It was really good. All the food I had this weekend was really, really awesome.

After foods and more chillin, we went to another cool bar with some of Billy's friends. Beer is way expensive in Paris! I do not approve! If I was in Paris, I would not drink beer very often. They don't have all the good Belgian stuff, and they charge obscene prices. But it was fun hanging out with Billy and his friends.

On Sunday we went to the Centre Georges Pompidou to see some modern art. We didn't realize that it was free day (the first Sunday of the month), so we had to wait in a kind of crazy line, but it wasn't too bad. The art was mostly really cool. Except the stuff that wasn't. Oh modern art! I picked up a Man Ray book and a card at the shop for Simon (he's a photographer). I also got some postcards for me. There was a big Erró exhibit that I really really liked.

After the museum, we met up with another of Billy's friends and her parents to get kosher falafel in the Jewish neighborhood. They didn't have falafel though because of Passover, so those guys got french fries and I got some very overpriced but delicious gefilte fish. (I kept passover very strictly until Paris. Can't pass up the baguettes and croissants!)

Sunday night we had a lovely meal courtesy of my mommy. The food was fantastic. I wanted to get snails, but they said they didn't have them anymore. I got a pumpkin soup-type thing, duck breast with potatoes, and an espresso/desert plate with chocolatey stuff AND custardy stuff. mmmmm! Billy got crab ravioli, beef tartar, and creme brulee.

**I WRITE MORE LATER NOT DONE GOTTA GO BYE***