March 13, 2000

Where do I start. So much happened today in France that I cannot think about yesterday in Greece but I will try. We went to the Hilton to meet Joanna's aunt for coffee. At first we wen tot he restaurant where they have a Sunday Brunch buffet. We sat down and tried to order just coffee but the waiter would not let us do that. But the food looked so damn good. I could have eaten everythign. It was like shrimp and crepes and all these cool desserts. Anyway, we went and sat at the cafe part and drank our cofee. After that we went home and just did a lot of stuff around the hosue. Our stupid but cleaner would not stop running water, hot water so our apartment turned into a sauna. Not only that but we did not have any hot water left. Then, Bianca came over so we could meet her boyfriend. I did not talk to him much because I was on the phone with Babs but he is a cutie and they looked happy. After that we got our stuff ready and went to Alex's house to get ready for the Mardi Gras party at 222. We took the 6 trolley which was kind of weird. At the house we all got each other ready. Alex was a hoochie bunny, Kathy was a cave girl and she looked really cute, Dina of course was Dracula, Joanna was dressed up as a student, Mary was a french maid and then Larry was a grandma. I of course was a strawberry. I was not too happy with it at first but then when Dina did my hair, I loved it. We went to 222 and sat. There were a lot of people from the village there. We danced a little but it was not even as close to fun as I expected. We left at 3 and came home. 

We were supposed to be the girls at the cab at 6:15 so we did not sleep at all. We went to the airport and checked in and everything. Helen had to buy her ticket there so she kind of overpaid for it. The plane was small and very empty. I slept most of the three hour flight. Finally we reached France and our adventure bgan. First and most important, I totally overpacked. Not only that but I brought the worse luggage in the world. It weighed 60 pounds and had no wheels. We were going up and down the airport looking to change money and find a hostel. We got some information and plopped our butts on the floor looking at the map. We finally randomly chose a place and tired to make reservations but we couln't. We decided to just go to the place. We went outside to take the bus to the train but there was some problem with a luggage inside and they made us all go back in. After 20 minutes we got on the bus. We went to the train station and were not sure which train to take either. It cost us 40 france to get into Paris. We did that ok and then switched to the 11 Metro that took us to the place. It ended up being just the office where you can look them up. So we got back on the MEtro and took it two stops over to Republique to find the hostal. We were so confused in the streets and dying from the luggage. Thank God for Patty who helped me so much. We finally got there. It is called Fuaj or something. We got a room for 4 and for 3. It comes out to 115 per night with breakfast so I was happy because of money issues. But the showers are communal. By this time we were all starving. We wanted to go and have some French food but everything was closed at the time we were out. So we ended up of all places at McDonalds. It was very different though. They had ice cream with blueberry topping. They had chicken nuggets but with vegetables and they had a lot of desserts. But the food was weird. Their BigMac did not look anything like one. We went back to the hostel to dress warmer and then started walking. We found a little center type of thing and there was this huge shopping mall. Everything was very weird. THen we saw some gorgeous building that we don't know what they are. Anyway, we decided to sit for coffee. The coffee shops here are very different. They are not just coffee. Actually I would say they are less coffee and more restaurants and bars too. They are hard to explain. I had a coffee express. From there we kept walking and got to the river. It was unbelievable beautiful. We took a boat ride down the Sienne river. We saw the Louvre, the Eiffel tower and Notre Damn. Paris is gorgeous. After that we were all so tired we decided to go sit at a bar. We went to one right by there and ended up getting food. Joanna had onion soup. Notice how they do not put the word French in front ofit. Minnie got a steak with some good fried. Helen got a ham sandwich on bread with cheese melted on top. Patty got a mozzarella tomato salad that was drenched in sea salt. Then they all split a creme brule. I got a fruit salad because I am an idiot who fasted today. That was really stupid of me because I missed out on a lot of good stuff I could have tried. We took the Metro and came home. At the front desk they could not find our key and me and Joanna panicked. It turned out they they put a fought person in the room which we are not too thrilled about. But it is cheap. Now I am sitting on the top bunch forcing myself to write this because I do not want to forget anything. I am done with the events of the day so I will write a little about stupid details and impressions. Everyone was right about one thing, it is very expensive. I spent about $40 today on nothing really. I guess it is ok compared to America but not to Greece. The people here are weird too. They are very random. I cannot give you any characteristic of a French person. And there are a lot of scary popele I think. They have Dijon mustard. In terms of stores, they have Gap Kids, Footlocker, KFC, Pizza Hut, Hagen Daaz. The dogs here are all shaped very strangely. They all seem unproportioned. Orangina is everywhere. There are min in the street who play a game where one throws a ball and the next guys throw one and tires to hit it. There are carousels on a lot of the street corners. They have public toilets in the streets and big green garbage cans. I can't think anymore. I need to sleep. I am sure I will remember more tomorrow but not now.