Thursday night, we went out to the bar and ended up meeting two very nice guys. One was just in town until the next morning, but the other guy lives here. They were nice to talk to, and they showed us the things that all Frenchies need to keep in their cars... including a very large spotlight thing, a bright vest, and one of those triangle things you put in the road. They can be fined without these things! (Or maybe it's just a Picardie thing... someone else needs to weigh in on that). Unfortunately, we have no way of getting into contact with him... Hart exchanged numbers with him, but that is now the problem. Explanation coming up.
Friday's classes went well. I think playing Scattergories with my secondes de LV2 (kids who take English as their second foreign language instead of their first) was my most successful lesson. At least they all understood what was going on for a change. In my BTS class, we had some visitors, because this was Portes Ouvertes (open house) weekend. Claude also mentioned a Paris trip to me for this coming Friday and asked me if I wanted to come. I said sure, so he went to ask about it. They're visiting the National Assembly. You can't go on your own - you have to go with a school or something. G. the surveillant came into my LV2 class to get some info from me, but nothing was set in stone.
Friday night, we had the Mexican assistant from St. Quentin in Chauny. And oh what a night for her to visit! Viany made Mexican crepes... basically crepes with spicy chicken and beef in them. J. gendarme also joined us for dinner. It's always great to have him around! We really really did not want to go to Cuba, but we gave in and went. We had a good time while there... talked to our friends and such. Afterwards... not so great. Someone stole Hart's phone (which is why we don't have that guy's number) and her makeup and Katie's jacket. Not cool! Plus, there was a huge fight outside the bar. (Don't worry! We were fine! We have lots of people who are looking out for us!) T. was waiting for us back at the apartment, because the person who stole Hart's phone sent him texts, and he knew for sure that it couldn't be Hart. The night ended in lots of anger from the girls. But T.'s a good guy. We love him!
Saturday, we went to the last few minutes of Portes Ouvertes, because Katie wanted to see the ateliers. I ran into the head surveillant who gave me the go ahead on the Paris trip. Yay! Free trip to Paris! I have a feeling I'm just like an extra chaperone, but we'll see. It should be interesting. I'm not quite sure of all that's going to happen, because we're leaving at 8am and returning around 10:30pm. That's a long day! Anyway, Katie got to see the workshops. We were also introduced to a guy who used to be in charge of the ateliers (or something or another). His son is living in the States, so of course, he wanted to chat with us.
We went into Paris for the afternoon and night (Nuit Blanche!). I did some shopping... only bought a pair of shoes though. Then, I met up with Michaela for Chinese food. Yum! After meeting up with Hart, we saw a dance off in the middle of the street. So cool! I love Paris! Next, we went to Breakfast in America to load up on their bottomless cup of coffee. Katie and her roommate from school met up with us there.
Then, we all headed out to an "international bar" (i.e. only anglophones). It was a good time. After they closed, we shared a bottle of wine on the steps of a church (classy, I know). It started to rain, so that was not fun. After that, we somehow ended up a Spanish bar. Apparently, there were no actual French bars involved in this night. It was a decent time though - the live music was good.
Of course by 4am, we were starving, so we headed towards Les Halles where a bunch of kebab stands are open. I got a yummy chevre panini. Such a healthy breakfast, I know. We went back to Chauny on the first train. That was a nice nap. And of course, it started raining between Noyon (the stop before Chauny) and Chauny. Go figure. I love walking home in the rain!
Today, I slept the day away before pulling myself out of bed in the mid-afternoon. I started making vacation plans. I'll be in Rome from April 8 - 11. Everyone says that I must know Rome, so now I will! And after writing that sentence, I just realized I used the exact French translation for "Il faut connaitre Rome" instead of saying something like "I should visit Rome". Oops. This tends to be occurring more and more. Anyway, Viany and another Colombian are going then, so I will be joining them and also doing my own thing a bit because those two together for long periods of time can be trying. This trip will also ensure that I will be back with Viany for her birthday on the 11th. We all want to be here, because she has gone all out for our birthdays. I still need to make hostel arrangements, so any recs would be appreciated.
For the second week, I'm thinking of going to Dublin. I'm not 100% sure, because I will most likely be going alone, and I'm not quite sure I can really occupy myself for that amount of time. We'll see. I'm going to decide by tomorrow. Since it looks like I will have a bunch of days where I'm not traveling somewhere, I might try to spend some time in Paris with Anna. Her birthday is also the 11th, so I'm hoping to see her that weekend.
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