La Fin

This blog marks the end of Kristen's Paris escapades, at least for this time.

Sorry to have left you all hanging over the weekend, but there wasn't that much to report. Friday night I went out with a girl from work and some of her friends to see a movie. At 10 PM, they decided they wanted to get food, so we ended getting in one girls, Claire's car... that was the most white-knuckling experience I have ever had. She wasn't a terrible driver, but Paris is a precarious place to drive even with the best driver; the French call cars "poissons," or fish sometimes. Anyway, of course the three girls ordered a huge bottle of white wine and took almost 2 1/2 hours sucking it down... which meant another night of sucking the last three sips of my Coke in and out for my straw for 1 1/2 hours. Nate was freaking out by the time that I got home at almost 1 AM, but the metro was more packed than it usually was when I took it in the morning.

The Friday was a funny day on the metro, actually.

Trip to Work: This African woman was singing to her little kid gospel revival choir style on the metro. She was clapping her hands and singing like she was in her shower.

Trip from Work: I always pick the car with the accordion player in it, who loudly plays his accordion (with varying degrees of actual ability) and then walks around begging money off people. A few times, I just wanted to tell them I would give them 20 euro if they didn't play until the St. Phillip du Roule stop.

Trip to Movie: Another accordion player in my car... and this one was AWFUL. Granted, I know nothing about how to play the accordion, but SERIOUSLY...

Trip Home: A group of very drunken but completely harmless kids started singing like college fight songs or something... and kept it up for 5 stops, and then got off at the same stop as me. La chance!

Saturday, it was mostly a lot of cleaning and packing. It's funny how grungy 18 meters squared can get. I had a fight with the ancient French toilet when one of the hinges on the lid popped off. I am not the most mechanically minded, so I seriously sat there for 45 minutes trying to get it back in. Anyway, my apartment sparkled afterwards and I went down to the area around my house and they had converted it to this gigantic open-air "marche du puce" (flea market). It was crazy to see all of the things that they had. I didn't get anything, mostly because I didn't have need of mannequin heads, billions of ceramic knickknacks, or old chairs (though there were some really cool old chairs!!). I got my last crepe from a street vendor. I will miss those so much!

I got to the airport and on the plane without incident. The flight to Cincinnati was obscenely long, of course, but all right. On the flight from Cincinnati to SLC, I sat next to a Delta engineer who felt it was necessary to tell me all of the ways the plane could fail and we could die, and then show me pictures of planes he has worked on with mechanical failures. I even asked him to stop but he kept chattering away for THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!!! When we got into SLC after that agonizing flight, the airplane couldn't be connect to the jet way because the ramp was broken or something. So we were all packed on the stuffy hot plane for another 30 minutes and about 1/3 of the airplane missed their connections in SLC. FINALLY at long last, I got off the plane and into Nate's arms again.

And that my friends, marks

THE END

Pictures of the Office

I figured today was my next to last day, so I would risk looking silly and take some pictures of what is really a very beautiful law office. Enjoy!
This is just part of the beautiful garden in the central courtyard. Seriously, it's amazingly beautiful.
Part of the marble flooring next to some of the big conference rooms. And my cool shoes...
Sweet little art deco lounge area.
K, you gotta admit that this shot is amazing. The central part of the building is six floors. I had to stand on the landing and try about 8 times because people kept walking past me. They probably thought I was weird.
Velvet carpeting on the marble steps... fancy schmancy...

The Notre Dame

The Notre Dame
Originally uploaded by litchick1027

Soooo... here's a pretty picture of the Notre Dame... that I took two years ago, but who cares! It's the same building I went to go see two years ago and I actually did go see it this time, so there you go. It's an amazing and kind of weird building, having been built over a bunch of centuries with different architects who kept trying to jazz up the architecture and all...

This is kind of silly...

but kind of fun. My sister-in-law Chrissie posted this quiz on her blog, so I took it and here are the results.


You Are Belle!

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your apperance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Is anybody still reading this?

Thank you for all the encouraging comments, prayers, and support that have been shown to me during this month away. As my externship is winding down, I am feeling very grateful to have loving family and friends to come home to. The time has gone quickly and slowly at the same time. I have learned so many new things and it's definitely been a good experience, but I think I am ready to be done. I am sorry if I have IMed you 80 times a day while I have been gone-- my computer has basically been my connection to home. I realize many of my blogs have been long and rambling and if they haven't interested you at all, I'm sorry.

Paris is cold and gray today. The girls at work say that it is NEVER like this, and I think they are right. The other two times I've been in France, I was miserably hot, though I was way further south so maybe that accounts for some of it, too. But! I got to use my adorable green umbrella that's not very good at keeping itself open, but IT'S GREEN! Green, like the way I want to try to be when I come home. Living here has made me very seriously reevaluate some of my consumerism that seems so natural in America. Some of it is unavoidable, given the proximity to places I go to school, can get food, etc. etc. But I have learned that I can live very comfortably on less space, less clothing, less of everything. Except bread... I will probably cry over the bread for at least a week.

All right, I don't have too much to say so I'm going to call it a night.

Polka band playing in my street?

I kid not... there is a polka band playing down my street and slowly walking. There aren't half bad, but I don't want to hear it.

10 Things I Will Desperately Miss About Paris

1. BREAD DUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I only mention it in pretty much every blog I have written while I have been here.

2. Is it crazy to say that I will miss the five flights of stairs? They have gotten to be a snap and it means I am getting at least a little bit of exercise as I am eating baguette and walking up the stairs.

3. I will miss being able to walk or take the Métro everywhere. It's just not really practical to not have a car in the states... I have to drive 3 miles just to go to the grocery store in Lehi, and taking the bus isn't a very viable option. I love the little open air markets and little shops. I wish we had a farmer's market nearby. It's inspiring me to get a bike with a little basket so I can bike to the store. Except... it will be 90billion°F... *sigh*

4. The view from my apartment. I love looking out of the rooftops of Le Marais during sunset. It's beautiful, really, looking at the somewhat grimy old buildings bathed in soft pinkish light.

5. I will miss very kind people here at work who have become my friends, invite me to hang out with them, and have totally accepted me into the work environment. That kind of acceptance is priceless... patience and kindness? Oh, my goodness.

6. I will miss the crêpe stand right by République that I get the most amazing lemon sugar crêpes at least once a week.

7. In general, I will miss exploring this amazing old city, that has a million and one different little side street, shops, tourist traps, types of people... this city is full of centuries worth of culture, history...

8. I will miss my tiny apartment. In some ways, it has been nice having such a small place. I don't have a lot of frilly fancy appliances and kitchen gadgets. My life is simpler and less stressful in that respect, honestly, because I don't have that much to clean... a few dishes, wipe off the counter, fold a few clothes (when they are not draped everywhere drying...).

9. I will miss not having a cell phone. HONESTLY. It has been sooooooooo nice to not be surgically attached to my cell phone. It lays inertly on a shelf, quietly waiting to be back into a country it gets a signal on. I notice how all of the other interns are checking their phones every five minutes when we go out to lunch and I just don't miss that at all. I don't necessarily love people being able to get ahold of me 24/7.

10. I will miss the free hot chocolate available at the touch of a button. Everywhere should have one of these machines. I am considering unplugging it carrying it out in my German Shepard carrier-sized purse.

Basically, I will miss the food, the people, the public transportation, and the way that life is generally healthier and about enjoying life instead of running constantly from one thing to the next.