Residhome Prestige Paris Massy

... is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. My apartment is a 25 min walk from studio and the walk is beautiful. We don't have internet in the apartment so I have to walk to McDonalds to use Wifi. I will post more pictures and more entries when I can!

... down the address for the people we were supposed to stay with that night and no one really spoke English. Needless to say, we finally found an internet cafe and figured it out. That night we stayed with a young French couple at their apartment about half an hour from the city. They treated us so well- we had olives and French cheese with tomatoes for appetizers and a genuine French supper afterwards- delicious crepes filled ...

... a little too angry for that... unless they were protesting the Olympics. I tried to pick out what it was that they were saying, but was unsuccessful. I decided to not disturb them and try to cross the road so I walked down the street towards the seine and came across the Place de la Bastille. This is the actually spot that the French Revolution began in July 14, 1789, and would be a very disappointing visit if you were actually expecting to see ...

So here's the remainder of the Paris stay to be almost immediately followed by our Strasbourg visit in the next entry. Sunday: In the morning, we went to the neighborhood of Montmartre for the largest flea market in the history of humankind. It was a little like walking through Chinatown in NYC and having people yelling "Chanel, Chanel!" or "Gucci, Gucci!" We left empty handed but entertained. While in the area, we ate lunch at a cute (and busy) cafe were we shared some ...

... waiting staff (all young) and an efficient kitchen. We started with the "oeuf cocotte", a delightfully airy yet creamy concoction with an egg and morel mushrooms and the "salade de hareng" (herring salad) which was delicious. Then we had the sole and the pork chop, both with simple preparations that allowed the flavor of the fish and the meat to come through. The cheese course was a Saint-Marcellin (a creamy cow's milk cheese with a very nutty and complex ...

... or "chat" in French) with a long tail for holding my various rings. I was very happy to have made those purchases and Sam bought a new purse. This whole time I hoped to meet my friends from Rome, but we could not get in touch with each other, so Sam and I made our own plans. I really enjoyed spending so much time with Sam because, as we discussed so many times, being abroad really makes you value friends and family at home ...

... sa faim de rencontre, de lieux et de culture. Se poser quelques instant et sentir le souffle profond régénérateur de la liberté, de prendre le temps d'une profonde introspection en étant face à soi même, et de ...

... and sunny. It was too late to go do the original bike ride, but we were able to bike through the entire town and stop at an ice cream place for some delicious ice cream. The rain then started again, and by the time we got back were soaked and muddy. Since we were so muddy and wet, a few of us decided to keep biking and enjoy the rain. Tons of exercise, really muddy clothes, but a lot of fun. Even when things could have been deemed bad, everyone made it fun. And besides, how often ...

... another bigger dog now walking with us, he was scared and whimpered but kept leading until two blocks before our hostel he just stopped and watched us continue, I think that it's probably like gangs where certain dogs have places they 'own' and others they can't go into, but then another dog met up with us and led us back to the hostel. We grew very attached to these dogs, and every time someone tried aggravating them we got upset and protective. There was one time where ...

... driver training in the states, I headed out to Paris (6:45pm) to meet with my boss. I arrived in Charles De Gaul (9:30am) one bag short. I hadn't made any connection flights; it was direct from O'hare, so I assumed it was stolen. Now in Paris, I had nothing but two t-shirts, two collar shirts, two panties, and all my shoes. I got to the office and met my boss, yet he had forgotten that I was even coming -- that ...