paris please, with a side of cheese.

4 women. 3 americans. 2 leos. 2 cancers. 1 chilean.

last weekend 3 of my best barcelona buds and i set sail to paris, france. ["ohh la la" is right!] monday was a holiday [welcome to spain], so we took advantage of the long weekend. why not blow a couple hundred euros that we don't have in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? exactly.

we stayed in a hostel that was more like an american fast food restaurant - consumerism lining the walls - in a shady neighborhood ["one of the worst, definitely" said a native] - by a shady retention pond. they claimed that locals hang out at the bar downstairs, a bar dubbed "belushie's" [yes, there was that Animal House poster of him wearing the "college" shirt]. why do i doubt that statement? point is, it wasn't that french cottage along the seine that i was envisioning, but it was nice nonetheless. it was clean, they had free tours and they let us crash on the couches for free the last night because we had no where to stay [and i'm usually an obsessive compulsive planner, but thought i'd be spontaneous.]

the first morning we took advantage of 1 of the free tours which started in the latin quarter, along with fellow americans [well, most of them were canadians, but they sound like us, so it's all the same.] our precious [but gregarious] tour guide was telling us his autobiography when all of a sudden we hear this horrible, loud bang. we all turn to see a man laying lifeless in the street. he'd been hit and run over by a bus. it was frightening. we all stood shell-shocked; transfixed. luckily the man started moving a little bit...but i don't know what became of his fate. our tour guide [which i quickly lost respect for] clapped his hands and said "well, that puts a damper on the beginning of the tour." we abandoned the tour shortly after.

that first day we wandered the streets, walking until our bodies started shutting down...haha...literally. we went to the notre dame, louvre, champs-elysées, the arc de triumph, and many'a cute little french store. that night we hit the town and ate the most amazing fondue [...lets talk about how amazing the cheese is here!], escargo and chocolate mousse at an authentic [aka: touristy] french restaurant. it was de-freaking-lish. it ended with a little kitty sitting next to us cleaning itself. i don't know if the kitty lived in the restaurant or was a nomad who'd somehow found its home in our quaint, dimlit hole-in-the-wall space. french kitties are smart.

the next/last day we went to montmarte....by far my favorite spot in beloved paris. the streets are lined with charm and avant garde-ness. we made ourselves at home in every little shop...responding with a smile and a "gracias." [why can i not speak in any other language than spanish these days? barcelona has gotten inside my head just won't leave.] we spoke more spanish there than ever....even met some mexican and spanish travelers. after our rendez-vouz in montmarte we went to the eiffel tower to see what all the hype was about. the sun was setting, and there was a'glow of the sunset on the tower. mmm, nice combination. with 2 bottles of wine in hand we set up shop below the tower and soaked it in.

i have no question why they call paris the city of love. i loved it. i loved the cheese, the beer, the chocolate, the arcitecture, the river, the flow-y dresses adorning the natives, even the pout of the snotty french women...and so on.

and so....my life continues. as long as i have a little getaway every once in a while i will keep my sanity. wandering is not so bad. i kind of dig it.