Paris

I spent another day missing class because for some reason I decided to stay up until 6am.  I was super lucky that I had packed for our trip to Paris in that time because I ended up waking up at 1215pm to be on the bus for Paris at 1pm.  Obviously, busses didn't leave until closer to 2pm.

The distance from Nancy to Paris isn't too much, but with the speed limitations for busses and traffic, it took us a looooooong time to get there.  When we did, we took a nice stroll through the Tuileries headed towards the louvre.  It was nice to just hangout and take in the scenery.  In the louvre, we were really only looking for 2 pieces: the Mona Lisa and the statue of Aphrodite.  We got to see both!  The Mona Lisa, as most say, was tiny and we didn't see it from up close.  I appreciated it from afar, especially remembering many a conversation about the punctum in that painting during COMN 2314 tutorials with Gregg: basically the idea that no one really knows what she is smirking at, if she's a she at all, and how that makes the painting special (totally random information, sorry).  Aprhodite was a very interesting sculpture to see, as most are, too.  We didn't have much time to explore anything else that night and were to meet for the busses (who were late as usual) at Place de la Concorde.  From there, as it got darker, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower and it's glitter in the night.  Heading towards our hostel, we drove through the Champs Élysées and there were rows and rows of chairs set up for the Tour de France as well as a fashion show that would be taking place.

This is random but on the bus we were having a conversation about peeing in the shower (which I do and talk about openly) and everyone thought I was so strange. Édouard I guess overheard us and Jessica made a joke about how the French don't shower anyway... He didn't seem pleased about that one.

After we got settled into our rooms, we went on a Kebab hunt with Dr McCreary, who took us to a place he said he goes every time he's in Paris.  We had a strange conversation about fresh bread compared to factory bread.  I don't remember much of it now.

When we got back to the hostel, Jessica, Katrina, and I stayed up pretty late just chatting about who knows what.  I really enjoyed spending time with those two.

Shopping and Soiree Blanche

This was probably one of my favourite days/nights in Nancy.

After class, I ran away downtown to find something white for Nuit Blanche.  I had gotten a shirt, but I wanted a white skirt as well so I'd be 100% decked in white.  Luckily I found one.

Other than that, I basically spent the day preparing and headed to the other residence after dinner for drinking games with them and the Irish.  I was particularly excited because I was drinking beer (I'm lame, you should know this by now).  Christopher seemed a little upset that night and wasn't drinking or coming out with us.  Him and I went outside and had a long chat about how he was fighting with his boy back home and were discussing self worth and how boys make things a million times harder in times where we're not sure of ourselves.  It was a nice conversation and I think my insight about how I live my life/feel about myself help him to try and understand himself better.  After that we decided to play Kings and it was a blast as usual.  We had introduced the Little Man rule (where you have to knock him into your drink before drinking) and everyone was having a hard time keeping up with it.

While we were waiting for everyone to get assembled, we decided we needed to get a group picture with Clément, who (if I haven't mentioned in previous posts) was such a cocky bastard.  Kayla had gotten a picture with him last year, so she wanted another for memory's sake.  What I didn't know was that the previous summer, her and Clément had a bit of a fling going on.  This information made that picture all the more entertatining.

As we were waiting in line to get into the club in Place Stan, Jessica went above and beyond our expectations and spent the whole time (probably half an hour) speaking in French.  She was a little intoxicated and felt very inclined to maintain French conversation with everyone, no matter what.  Most of the underagers were drinking that night too.  So much so that India, a tiny Irish girl, was falling over way before we even got into the bar.  I don't actually know if she made it through the whole night.

When we got inside, Stéphanie hooked us up with some free drinks because she knew the bartender and that was awesome.  She got extra wasted that night and guys were all over her.  That lady is a riot and I truly miss her antics every day.  At one point in the night everyone was dancing on the couches and tables and I was just laughing.  The tables were not sturdy at all and a few seconds after Kayla decide to get onto one, she fell right off.  Luckily, I was there to catch her (no exaggeration).

I was a little peeved that night because one of the Russians was all over PH and (in case I haven't mentioned this yet) I had the biggest crush on him the whole time we were in Nancy.  He was filming a lot of the night, but when he wasn't it was makeout fest with the Russian.  My tears.

As we were getting ready to leave, there were a bunch of obnoxious guys at the front door who were being especially rude to us for no reason.  One of them stole the flower right out of Katie's hair (he also ended up breaking a serving tray and running out of the club before he got caught).  In retaliation of her stolen flower, Katie decided she was going to steal this giant candle from the club and carry it home in her tiny purse (said candle sits on the shelf above my closet in my mom's house).  On the way home, we stopped at a pâtisserie who had a sort of walk-thru window open super late.  We got pizza and it was delicious.  We met these black French ladies who were just a riot and who were using their fabulous English skills on us, telling us how they travel often to the States.

Katie was really drunk so we took a little longer than everyone to get home.  And in our drunkness, we decided to stop for Kebabs on the way home, too.  We went into the Kebab shop and ordered our sandwiches and Katie just had to have a conversation with the guy behind the counter.  He was Turkish and pretty amused (but also very annoyed) by Katie's antics.  She was trying to order in French but was failing miserably due to her level of intoxication.  As he was making our Kebabs, a few guys walked in and Katie decided to grab the Turkish guy's notepad and try to take their orders using his abbreviations for something things. She hadn't specified what she wanted on her sandwich so I think the guy made her the grossest one possible because she was being so annoying.

The night ended with an intoxicated Irish girl (Katie, obviously) spilling the beans on her love for Édouard.

Double Class Tuesday

Double class Tuesday turned into single class Tuesday for me.  Unfortunately, I woke up probably 15 minutes late and rather than heading to class I just decided to skip the morning.  I went to lunch then headed to my afternoon classes.  It was particularly interesting to see how my teachers treated me as I'd been the only person absent from morning classes.  (There is again a note that tells me to look through my notebook to share about class, sorry.)

Wednesday and Luxembourg

Again there is a note about class but no specifics. Sorry for not being able to update about that (not that I actually expect anyone to be reading this).

The exceptional thing about this Wednesday was that we got to take a little trip to Luxembourg.  A beautiful, tiny country.  When we arrived, we went on this really random nature walk  (through intricate stairways and walkways) from the lowest point of Luxembourg to the highest.  It was a little annoying, at first, but we took silly pictures and made the best of it.  A lot of stairs were involved, though, which didn't help the situation.  When we reached the highest point, we were given free time.  There are a couple of things that really stand out in my memory when I remember our time in Luxembourg.  There was alleyways and streets that were quaint and cute.  My memory is hazy so I can't describe them here, but they were beautiful (I'll go through pictures later, maybe, to help me out).  We were given free time for an hour or so and I spent it with the Americans.  As we were walking through the downtown area, there was a flash mob of dancers walking around, dressed in solid colours.  They would walk for a few minutes then freeze all at once for what felt like ages.  I'd never experienced that so I thought it was really cool.  I think the funniest thing about the day was that we found a Pizza Hut to have dinner at.  It was especially exciting to be somewhere that was like a little piece of home, and food that seemed natural to us, rather than strange.

After dinner we stopped by a little souvenir shop so Christopher could grab a pack of cigarettes and I found a set of stamps for my dad. I don't really remember the ride home or what else we did but it was a pretty great day.

Monday and the movies

I'll edit this when I find my notebook from the trip because my note on this draft said to check my school notes to see what we did.  From what I can vaguely recall, it was a regular school day and I didn't do much else. Before dinner, I probably went back to my room to lounge and check up on things going on at home.

This particular Monday was movie night and while my friends were all set on going, I wasn't too convinced.  At dinner, though, after much scheming, I think it was the my American friends who convinced me to go.   The movie theatre had giant comfy seats.  We saw a film titled Yo Yo.  It was a black and white, mostly silent  1965 comedy about a rich man in the 20s who falls in love with a beautiful young lady who works in the circus.

We decided to take a different route than everyone to head back to the dorms and, if I recall correctly, we managed to get lost.

Sunday at Verdun

Our Sunday spent at Verdun was an especially moving for me.  So much had been said about the history of France from the time we arrived in Nancy, but it felt like our time in Verdun was a more first hand experience.

In our calendars, we were expected to be ready for the busses for 9am but, as usual in France, we didn't end up leaving until 10am. Us North Americans were very frustrated because we are so used to punctuality in situations like that, but it still made for a great day.

We went into the Bois de Caures to the Poste de Commande de Driant.  We had a tour guide explaining to us how Driant would command his soldiers from this station. It was quite interesting.  Next we headed to the Fort Douaumont, which Wikipedia states to be the highest and largest of 19 defensive forts protecting Verdun in WWI. We explored and got to experience the barracks and places where canons were shot from.  Our guide showed us the area where most of the firing was aimed towards, which is now covered in trees.  From there we headed to the Abris à 4 Cheminées.  Originally, this was created as a shelter for soldiers.  Dark and dug 12m into a hill, soon after the war began it was a place of refuge for injured soldiers as well as a self proclaimed (almost) hospital wing.  Here, volunteers from the Red Cross came to nurse wounded soldiers in almost pure darkness.  The whole time we were in Bois des Caures, we were reminded of the mass amount of lives lost during the war and that the ground beneath of was made up of earth and dead bodies.  Apparently people have been caught and banned from using metal detectors to find artifacts but still every year more and more pieces of soldier equipment or parts of skeletons are found and donated to museums.

From the Bois des Caures, we headed to the Nécropole Nationale and Ossuaire Douaumont.  This was an exceptionally moving experience for me.  I've never been one to care or be changed by learning about the history of war, but this definitely changed my perspective.  As I mentioned, thousands of soldiers were killed during the war and their bodies were buried in a number of cemeteries. This Nécropole Nationale in Douaumont is notably the largest, from what we were told.  In front of the Ossuaire, there is a cemetery with almost 20,000 graves, Catholics separate from Muslims.  Crosses are placed above the graves of the Catholics, and more appropriate stones for the Muslims (I don't remember exactly what they were).  What's interesting about the cemetery, to me at least, is the way it's set up. There is a temple on the premises in honour of Muslim soldiers, and all the stones above their graves are angled parallel to this temple whereas the crosses are parallel to the ossuary.   I thought that was interesting. Anyway, the most haunting/moving part of the experience was the ossuary.  Below the structure lies approx. 130,000 unidentified remains. From the outside, there are window allowing visitors to look into the catacombs.  In one of the windows sat a skull, fully intact. Crazy.  Inside the monument there were statues with quotes remembering those who were unidentified and laid in these catacombs, all the soldiers honoured.  Along the hall laid partial-tombs, and along the walls the names of missing soldiers were etched in stone.  I spent a lot of time reading the names and looking at their ages.  Some of the stones had brothers' names side by side, some as young as 16.  I still get chills when I think about that experience and the way it made me really think of the effects of war. I wanted to go into the catacombs to get the full experience, but unfortunately no one would come with me.

When we left the Ossuaire, we headed to a Ferme Auberge for dinner, it was basically a family owned farm restaurant where we were promised authentic French farm cuisine.  We dined in the farm house, where different rooms were set up with sets of tables and a main room held the food.  This night was an especially courageous night for most of us, as we decided to try a duck pie.  Yes, that's right, duck meat.

Shopping Day with the Irish

I spent the day going on a shopping trip with Katie and Laura to try and find an outfit for White Night.  It was nice to spend some time with some girls I sincerely got along with. There isn't much to share about this day, other than the fact that we spent a lot of time going store to store and trying a million things on.

There were two stores in particular that stood out to me that day, and I got something from each. There was an H&M Accessories that really caught my attention. It was really interesting to see a piece of what I'm used to seeing inside an H&M store. I had been looking for a backpack I could use for classes so as no to lug around my giant Swiss Army bag and there I found a nice little drawstring bag that worked perfectly. I still use it today!

I was also very intrigued by the regular H&M store having a plus size section. I've always been a fan of H&M but being plus size has always made it difficult for me to shop there. I tried on so many things just for the sake of trying them on, and let me tell you! I was so excited to find things that existed in regular H&M sizes in my size too! I ended up buying a cute White polka dotted shirt for white night.