Currently Listening Greatest Hits By Robbie Williams see related

- Feel

July 27, 2005

Oh man, we only have two days of school left. I hate to leave Paris. It has been such crappy weather too. Originally Gretchen, Kristina, Sahar, Zoe and I were supposed to have a picnic on the Eiffel Tower after I would show them the cool Parc de la Villete. Well, after clas it rained. Instead, Adam and I decided to hit up the Centre Pompidou. I didn’t really want to go to that museum because I ahd no interest in modern art, but I didn’t wanna shell out money for something that was stupid. So, sharing one umbrella we went to the museum, my stupid ass took the wrong metro stop and we had to walk in the rain to the museum. Adam didn’t know I screwed up, he just thought this museum was far. Well, the building itself is kinda weird; it looks like the insides of the building were exposed in an array of color. The entrance to the museum was a bit confusing, as is the concept of modern art. Eh. Well we paid our 5.50 Euro and went all the way to the 5^th floor for the museum. There were great views of the city all the way up there. The escalators reminded me of Universal Studios. The museum was surprisingly awesome. I didn’t know there would be some Andy Warhol, Kandinsky and Roth! Look them up, many would argue it isn’t art, but read about it and you too will be inspired. I have to admit there were some weird ass shit over there that simply didn’t seem like art to me. There were two mannequins of naked people, a garden of body parts, video of a pair of hands caressing a fake penis, slow motion diving, a Look Who’s Talking clip, and a bunch more. Other than that, I visited the surreal. It was truly a worthwhile experience. Adam and I met up with Vince who actually bought the tickets to the Africa Remix that we were all supposed to see. Oh well. There was also a cool exhibit on the Pompidou about light and shadows. You could play around with the lights and it was like a museum finhouse! We then left to the bookstore and I have my eye on this one book called Paris 360. A bunch of panoramic shots of beautiful Paris. I Love this place. The view from the top of the Pompidou was amazing. The vast ugliness of Parisian chimneys is highly exhilarating! Well, Adam was hungry or something so we split. I wanted to go to Parc de Villete because the damn sun finally came out The parc was way north of the city so it took quite a while but I got to see some amazing  metro stops on the way. The parc was huge! The Open Air cinema was being held at the parc and there were some cool Ben and Jerry advertisements there. I talked to this one guy about the cinema and the parc, what struck me about him was how blue his eyes were. They were the deepest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I also talked to a bunch of tween who were biking around. Even the kids here have manners. They don’t say hey, garcon, or “meck” they say monsieur. They later learned that I was from Cali and they were like, “You know Tupac Shakur? Bitch Motherfucking shit!” Hahahahhaa it was hilarious. Well the rest of the parc was cool. They had odd chairs, a gigantic mirror dome, red rotundas, awesome bridges and a cool science museum. Satisfied, I left and headed to the Statue of Liberty, which was on the total opposite side of the city. Nodoby was there and I was a little bit lost. Wel the only other people that were there was an American couple. The statue was brilliant, but not as massive as back home. Right next to the statue was the Radio France building along JFK boulevard. I was tired so I headed home to get ready for partying at King’s River with everybody. All the guys sans Trevor and Wheyme left early to get on the boat, but damn it there were too many people and we couldn’t make it. Instead we headed to Bercy and ate at a café and waited for the boat to come back to party. There were a lot of Americans at Bercy, I hate it. Well, the boat came back, and the girls came late but we needed them other wise we wouldn’t get in. We got in for free, excellent, and had a jamming time. Auroleon came too. Everybody ordered a bottle and shared it. We partied downstairs and danced the night away. Damn you Adam, you shoulda got that lonely Asian chick, hahaha. Pussy. Julio and I left earlier than everyone cause we didn’t wanna pay Taxi and everyone was slow. So we walked to Place d’Italie to get on the Noctobus. We met a bunch of skaters at the skate park at Chevereusse. We tried to hitchhike back home and this huge truck stopped, but it was because he was lost. I almost died that night too! A taxi sped right past me just as I was about to get to the driver’s side of the truck to talk to the guy. Well, Julio and I had our alone time. We made it back home but he was hungry so we ate at Pizza Pino which was surprisingly open at 5 am. We chatted and had a god old time. Oh what a night.

July 28, 2005

I was so tired form the day before so I didn’t do much today. It was pouring so I wanted to be low key. It was also the final day of classes so Adam and I had to finish our project together. Our project was called “Paris: A Guy’s Strategy for Sinful Savoire-Faire.” We spent like 4 hours at Reid Hall fguring out what we would talk about. I talked about saving money and nightclubs while he talked about fashion and attraction. As he did his part, I did my journals. We finished and decided to go eat at Le Deux Magots, a really famous café here in Paris. It’s always show in tourbooks and such. We both ordered a Croque Monsieur. It was so pricy! 8 Euro for a damn grilled cheese sandwhich! It was a cool experience and the sun came out a bit. After that we walked down Rue de Rennes to get home. I was till hungry so I went to the bakery and got an Almond Croissant! It was soooo amazing! I need to get another one before I leave. I decided to put the table out on the balcony and chill there for the rest of the night. It was the last chill night and everybody was chillin with me. Ahu was delightful enough to buy me some fruit at Inno and we had a picnic at my balcony. We had sour figs and delicious peaches. Hahaha. We people watched and joked around and talked here and there. I loved it. I totally didn’t care that there was a final tomorrow. I don’t think anybody did. We discovered that Trevor didn’t know if he was circumcised or not. And much more gossip. Bleh.

July 29

Final day of class! Boo. I am going to miss Paris! The final was somewhat ok to talk about. I believe the subject was defining a tourist, expatriate and exile and making a new word for them all through your Parisian experiences. I totally BS that topic. I hope I got my A. After the class, we said our goodbyes to the teachers and they gave us a cheese and wine party. It was excellent. I now like goat cheese and hard bread! But I ahte the cheap wine. After class I went to get my last pastries in Pris. I visited Jean Luc for the last time and got myself another tartlette and this big ass layered cake. Wheyme helped me take a picture with Jean Luc. I’ll miss that dude. Well I was in a hurry to get back home after class cause I had an appointment to see a fashion show at Galleria Lafayette. Gretchen, Christina, Sophia and I went. It was fabulous. There was this one model who looked exactly like a perfect mannequin! They modeled the new fashion of D&G, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Vallentino and Vivian Westwood. Impressive. The Galleria was amazing too! It had an art neuveau scheme and a huge dome above all the perfumeries. We also got to the top floor of the building and got to take pics of the back of the Opera and the rest of Paris. Sophia nad I split form the rest to get House/Trance music that we have learned to love so much. We tried FNAC but it didn’t have as good as songs as Inno. SO Sophia bought a CD at Inno and it had the best house music that we listened to at the clubs. “I want you,” “The weekend,” “The world is mine,” “The drill,” etc. We were preparing ourselves for the night. The highlight of the day was going to the Buddha Bar! I had reservation for 9. It was Adam, Wheyme, Ahu, Gretchen, Christina, Sahar, Zoe, and I. We had the greatest time. We stayed at that place for 4 hours! The atmosphere was simply amazing. A gigantic Buddha was the centerpiece of the place.Ahu’s tourbook said that the seat that we were seated in were the most famous tables where people who were known were staying. Our meal was expensive! My whole meal cost me 50 Euro. I had Grilled Bream with veggies, a fruit and sorbet dessert and half a bottle of wine with Adam. We were lving the rich class and it was exhlirating! There was a lot of gossip thrown round and we didn’t care cause it would be our last nights there. I still can’t get enough of how amazing that place was. It had a bar on the second level but everybody on the to could see us. And they did. It was our night baby! Well the rest of the class came because Dan and them had to copy me but they only could get reservations for 11pm. We were there since 9. They had reservations for 10 but 13 people showed up. It was highly embarrassing for them! There was drama everywhere and Adam and I couldn’t help but laugh at everybody. We’re cocky bastards we know, get over it. Well, it was about 1am and the club wasn’t about to happen so our group left, fully satisfied. Oh the music there was so awesome! Alas, our group wanted to go clubbing and headed over to Chams Elysees. The girls later got groggy and decided to take a taxi home. Adam and I just went our own way and we wanted to party. We searched around to our favorite spots but the club we ended up going to was of course Six Seven. Oh how I love that club, it was my first club here in Paris and it was going to be my last! And again we didn’t pay! Adam and I did our routine and went to the lounge, waited til there was a surge of people going in and then we ditched the bouncers and went to the underground nightclub. Damn that house music, I’m addicted! Adam and I had a great time, danced in our area, searched around and loving life. Sadly we left our club and said goodbye to it. It was fitting that it was raining when we left. We ended up taking the Noctobus home. Adam was so freaking tired. Hahahah. ON the Noctobus I took video and pics of him nearly falling off the bus and making the weirdest faces. Hahahahhaa. Good memories man. Good night to a wonderful day!

July 30

I naturally woke up late, and did my laundry. We found out that the other group went to Wax. Hahahahaha. How lame. They confessed that they didn’t have a great time. I’m happy Adam and I had a greater time than everyone else. Hey, we deserve the best. Well it was the final full day to do anything so Adam and I didn’t waste time. We did a bit of shopping and roaming around. We went to Notre Dame and finally went in. We even had mass there for a bit. It was somewhat impressive in there, but being in a place with such history was great in itself. We waited for a long time to get to the top of Notre Dame. Adam wanted to go back to the Lourve so he left and I waited in what seemed like forever. But in the end it was soooo worth it all! 4 Euros well spent. The line took so long because space was limited and it was understandable why. I had an amazing view of Paris. I forgot that Notre Dame was the center of Paris and you could see everything! I was on the second tower and got to hang around in where Quasimodo would be living. I got to see the biggest bell up there. Too bad all the bells didn’t chime while I was up there. The gargoyles were inspiring and the sun was out. I had the most amazing time up there. It made me realize that I was actually leaving Paris. That was when it kicked me. I could see every monument from up there, I could tell the borders between neighborhoods and I could see how far I traveled on foot. I was actually leaving the city that I loved and it made my heart ache. I started to tear up, but I left hat majestic place. Well, I got home and prepared for the night again. I sorta panicked because I found out that the night of July 31, I needed a place to stay. SO I looked for a youth hostel, but Crystal made a deal with the lady on the reception to give us a room for the night for 60 Euro, so I would pay 30 Euro for a night. It was a good deal, but that was 30 Euro down the drain. We were told that we could stay till the night of the 31^st but they were wrong. Well, I focusded on the night instead. I was soooooo lucky to get the last reservations for the restaurant called Ceil de Paris. Adam and I had a date on the highest restaurant in all of Europe. It was on top of Tour Montparnasse and it had the most amazing panoramic view of Eiffel Tower and the rest of Paris. We saw the sunset above the Tower. The lady even gave us the BEST view in the house. We were dead center in front of the Eiffel Tower. We stayed ther for about 3 hours and saw it glitter three times. We had an amazing dinner too. Adam always got the steak and it is always the most amazing meal. Again I had fish but I had tuna steaks with tempura, a four sorbet dessert, and water for 55 Euro. We were so pimp. We had our jackets and looked neuveau riche. We had a great conversation about how much Paris has changed us, and what the hell are we gonna do next? Paris is such a life changing experience, we hate to come back to America. We’re gonna miss Marc and Raquel, riding the metro, going home late to Odessa. Hemingway was right. If you were lucky enough to live in Paris as a young man, it will stay with you forever, for Paris is a moveable feast. The night was perfect with memories and conversation. We didn’t really want to ruin it by going to a club. So we went home and decided to chill outside of my balcony and listen to the house music that we loved so much all while finishing his keg of Heineken. I hate beer, but I drank that dirty water anyways. I admit I got a bit drunk. We were laughing and talking so much. Adam even peed outside of the balcony. I had like 9 glasses of beer and I was pretty tired. We joked and mocked everybody in our program. Hahahaha. Again good times. I passed out on my bed.

July 31

I woke up around 11am and thought, holy shiza nearly everone in the program is gone! The maid was like, you have to leave in 30 minutes! I had to move all my stuff upstairs to Crystal’s room and pack up. It hit me that people are now gone! It was just Ahu, Crystal, Sahar and me left! Sadly, I kinda missed that bastard Adam. I never expected him to be as great as a buddy. His cockiness and egotistical nature was funny and amusing. I realized that I would be spending the truly last day of Paris alone. Glum. It was fitting that I visited the Catacombs at Denfrer Recherour. That palce was sooo awesomely creepy. I went aloe through this dark tunnel leading to the underground graveyards. It was cold and spooky and it was all worth it. Nce I reached the catacombs, I saw bones stacked upon bones, skulls on top of skulls. It was weird! It was kinda scary to think that these used to be real people and that they all died from disease and here they are displayed permamantly underground for 3 Euro. The whole place took 90 minutes to finish. It was amorbid feeling, and it suited my mood of leaving Paris- sadness. I left the catacombs and headed over to Bercy to see the National Library. It’s such a huge library, 4 huge buildings with books and a great open plank forum I the middle with a mini forest. It was cool to visit the place, but I didn’t want to go inside. Instead I left and headed over to the Bercy Metro and planned my trip to visit Pere Lachaise cemetery again to see Oscar Wild’s tomb. But at Bercy, I saw that there was a BMX expo going on. That Made coach On MTV who taught that prissy girl to bike was there and I passed by him and I tried tog et a pic but I bike away. I could tell the difference between a Parisian and a foreigner and her was a foreigner but I didn’t realize that he was a celebrity til after. Oh well. I got to the cemetery and damn it, I thought of Adam again. That fuckface is infectious. Lat ime we were here we wanted to see Oscar Wilde’s tomb but the place closed on us. So I zipped across the rather large cemetery and made it to his tomb. It was brilliant! It was a modern tomb, but there was something strange about it. People put on lipstick and kissed his tomb. There were hundreds of lip marks all voer his grave! I’ve never sen anything like that and I didn’t know what started it nor its purpose. I wish that when I die people would visit and kiss my grave. There was also a great quote of his on the grave, “And alien tears will fill for him, pity’s long broken urn, for his mourners will be outcast men, and outcasts always mourn.” After the cemtary I wanted to cheer up. SO I headed over to another favourite palce to go which is the Marais and Chaltelet. I loved seeing all the people wander and the broken streets and winding paths. I visited the tourist shops and bought myself a mini flag. I passed the sights I never every well and again I wanted to tear up. I would not see this palce for a very very long time. I went to little Athens and ate my final Gyros. I staind my shirt so I wanted to go home and change before I would hit up the Eiffel Tower. I ate alone and it was a sad feeling. I wish I could have spent my last day in Pris with someone special. Alas, I reached my Odessa, and removed the stain. I packed a picninc for one and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  Took my croissant and baguette and jam and sat on Champs de Mars ans had my lonely picnic. I called my Mom and I began to feel better. We had a 40 dollar phone conversation but it was good to hear from them. I told them how great Paris is and that I really didn’t want to leave. I observed everybody and realized how much I will miss people watching. I befriended a Romanian couple who were there on holiday. We both took pictures and we discussed many things. We discussed politics, language, and most importantly Romania! Hahaha they are wonderfully proud people and I am so happy to have met them. Mike and Rona. I liked them very much because they kept me company when I thought I would be alone. We watched the Eiffel Tower from dusk till the black night and saw it glitter twice. I could not think of a better place to spend the last night in Paris but on the footsteps of the Eiffel Tower. I saw it glitterfour times that night. My final metro stop was at Trocadero. Goodbye Paris, goodnight.

August 1

My last meal was at Café de la Place. I woke up early because Crystal woke up early to pick up her boyfriend. I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to relish Paris. My Omellet was delish and I had a 5 Euro Evian! It was an expensive breakfast, but a lot of the barkeries are closed. I spent 2 hours at that café and again I pondered that I was leaving. I need to think more positive. I am going to Germany! And Italy! Oh but no dice. I was somewhat somber. Krystal and her boyfriend arrived and we said our goodbyes because ei had a plane to catch. My last metro was at Edgard Quinet. I remember seeing the sign swipe by the metro window one last time and thinking about it is making me weep. Fuck. I took the RER to Charles De Gaulle Airport. I fell asleep on the train but I woke up when the train arrived at my stop. I spent a long time at the airport because I was nervous that I wouldn’t make it on time. Easyjet is a great airline. My plane was so small and cute, and it was incredibly clean. I remember soaring through Germany and seeing the little villages here and there. I arrived at Dortmund Airport and went through the security and luggage.I got out and here is Daniele with a Superman Sign! Hahahahaha it was a great welcome. We talked and couldn’t believe that we were actually together and that I was actually in Germany now! It was only a year ago that we met and our plans are going smoothly. We reached his wonderful home in Dortmund. I am jealous of his room! He has the attic room and it looks so much like the bachelor pad that I want! His house was cool and the weather in Germany was surprisingly cold. Dan showed me around downtown. Which was a sight in itself. Germany is totally different. The atmosphere is very cold. I got to meet friends of Daniele. Robin is a cool guy who is an aspiring singer and idolizes Robbie Williams. We had tapas, at a Spanish restaurant and we met up with Dan’s ex tutor Janine. We talked a lot. Mostly about her and her boyfriend situations. I had a great tapas. Chorizo! I had my first German Beer and I learned a lot of cool German words. We stayed at that place for what seemed like hours. We then ended up at B-Uno and bar that is owned by a Filipino guy. Oh they gave me a cocktail called a Prince and it was sooooo delish!

Currently Listening State of Trance 2005 By Armin van Buuren see related

i love Amsterdam, BUT this is the only damn city where i ahve no place to stay for the first  night SO, i slept at a bar, naturally. And to make matters worse, my train to germany didn't come, so now i have to find a palce to stay tonight. It's 9:30 pm by the way, and i happent to be at an internet cafe looking for hostels. Now i must miss my flight to berlin at 7am tomorrow cause the only train to Cologne is at 7am, FUCK! I think i'm seriously  gonna have some absinth tonight once i have a place to crash. Amsterdam, i love you, but why must  you make me suffer!             

Currently Listening I Want You By Filur see related

- i want you

July 20, 2005

Monday July 18 was a very slow day. I had a midterm the next day and I know I should spend the day studying, but instead I went out to explore! My mission of the day was to explore the Palais Royale and the northern area of the Marais. So, after class I got a tarte aux pomme from my favorite boulangerie and Jean-Luc was the one who advised me to get it. He also advised me to eat a Poire flan au chocolate. OOooooo! Goodness! So I headed to Palais Royal on foot. I passed by Jardin Luxembourg and I totally forgot about this one little area in the garden that my tour book talked about. I forget the name of the area but I went and took a picture. I remember liking the area because it looked like an Indiana Jones kind of garden. I also went out to look for local CROUS at Mabillion, Odeon, and the one on the edge of Rue St. Michel whose name escapes me. Well all of them seem to be closed so I think I will stick to the one at the Cite Universite. I hate being around tourists so I try as much as I can to take detours so I won’t look like one. I crossed the Seine via Pont des Artes, and bypassed the Louvre so I could get to the Palais Royale. When I got there, it was a modern slash ornate little square. There were a bunch of modern columns in different sizes and a large garden where you could walk under a canopy of manicured trees. There were gigantic statues of cubist women everywhere too! This is a cool Palais, but I left because I was surprised about how small it was. Well I went through Rue de Rivoli and made my way all the way to a crescent looking shopping center. Then I knew I was in the Marais. There were expensive bohemian shops everywhere. Too mainstream for me now. Bohemians usually buy cheap clothes, so I have no clue why these shops are so pricy. I went south and headed to the Forum des Halles. I remember being in that area before and I realized it was the area where the Bal de Pompiers was! I went inside the Elgise Eustache; I think that’s how you spell it. IN front of the forum was a gigantic sleeping egghead! Kinda like the ones at Davis!!! Woot Davis! Well when I was a t the forum a group of teenagers from some eastern European country were taking pictures of me. I do admit I kinda look odd most of the times, and my new fashion is a mixture of Cali and Paris…Reefs, Oakleys, Mohawk, tight jeans, Abercrombie shirt, Lacoste bag, asian. Hmmmm. Ponder that look. Well, I left the forum and I headed to the north of the Marais and there were a lot of cool looking people walking around. A lot of youth too! I want to stay at the Marais, it’s always cracking and cheap over there! I then headed over to the Centre Pompidou to see the scene. Lots of people everywhere! Then I went over to a place that I heard much about but never really went- Chatelet. Chatelet is such a cool shop place and a lot of things are going on. I stopped in front of this column that had a bunch of spitting sphinxes. A mixture of Egypt and Greece in a French capital…cool! I headed home because I remembered that some of the girls wanted to go the Cite Universite for food. I rushed back and got home 10 minutes late. Well, the girls didn’t even want to go anymore! Ughhh! All that rush for nothing! Well, Julio and I were the only ones that went and he was curious of the locale. We went over to the ghetto and ate at the International School. Oh man, the food isn’t that great but at least I get my steak, salad, fries, yogurt, apple sauce, bread and all the water I want for only 4 Euro! After the dinner, we headed home and I attempted to study, but I decided to just sleep in and wake up early for the midterm.

            I woke up early for the midterm, had an early breakfast, and went off to Reid Hall with all my gear. I realized, how the hell am I supposed to study, cause there’s nothing to study! It’s all subjective. SO I attempted to read what I had to read, and was just damn sleepy. The midterm was about the cultural rebellion presented by artists at the time. It was an OK test, still no results though. I had a crepe banana avec nutella for lunch. Then when we got out of class, Adam joined me for my day’s adventure. I headed over to Le Defense to see Le Grande Arch. It is Paris’s pentagon and it’s a huge cubic structure with a hollow square. Mark would hate this place. Nothing but commercial buildings everywhere, and there weren’t that many people around. I have to admit, the place was very breathtaking and shows the marvels of our modern civilization, but then again it isn’t very known as a tourist spot. The buildings there were all futuristic and cool looking, I enjoy modern architecture very much, so this was a site to see. You could even se L’Arc de Triomphe from Le Grande Arch; they face directly from each other. Well, we then left Le Defense and went to the total opposite side of Paris to Pere E… We went to the cemetery there and looked for Jim Morrison’s Grave. This cemetery was so much cooler than the Montparnasse one, it’s full of uneven hills, haunting trees and dilapidated tombs, scarier! We found Jim Morrison’s humble grave and left to find Oscar Wilde’s tomb, but just as we were mere meters from the tomb, the cemetery was closing and we were forced to leave. Boo that. I enjoyed the many creepy tombstones in the cemetery. It’s just what I imagined for a scary European cemetery! We then headed to Notre Dame to try to get in, but the line was so long that I said forget it. We instead roamed around Chatelet and went over to Little Athens for dinner. I wanted a gyro so bad. And it was such a great deal! 4 Euros for a gigantic gyro with fries! Oh YUM! We ate our dinner on the river Seine and saw a lot of tourist boats pass by. Well, we had appointments for a Salsa club that night so we went home to get ready. The Salsa night was being hosted at La Coupole! It’s a very famous American café and in the heart of Montparnasse. I got into my suit and wore my daring red shirt. I looked very Latin except that I’m asian! Hahaha. Ahu let me sip very very expensive white wine and it WAS SOOO GOOOOOD!  I have learned my lesson and not buy cheap wine. You must buy expensive wine to get a great taste! Well, the club was awesome. I was so intimidated because everyone there was advanced and soo good. I learned a couple of moves and I will admit I was the best dancer in the group. I really want to learn more salsa, it’s so sexual and graciously intense. I loved it! Inspired. I would have never thought that during my stay here in Paris that I would go to a salsa club. I love this place!

            Today, Wednesday, was a confusing day in class so I won’t even bother talking about it. My plan for the day was to go to Montmartre for a final time and explore the vicinity and also visit the Opera. As I was walking down Rue de Rennes, It began to pour! I was soaked, so I hurried back to the hotel. Frustrated that I’m going to waste my day, I decided to go to the patisserie and Jean-Luc again decided for me to get a Tropicanne? OH MMY GOD, it was so delish! Earlier I also got a Frasier from him because he only makes them on Fridays. He told me I should come back ion winter when the cake variety is greater. And he predicts that when I come back to Paris I will have kids or I will direct my kids to come to his bakery. Of course he is true. Well, I’m at Reid Hall right now, and my plans for the rest of the day are simple. I might either go to a café or Marais to eat and write my postcards. Then later this night I’m finally going to go boat cruising! There’s a boat that has a club in it and that’s the adventure for the day. It sucks that the weather is crappy. Oh well, I’m out!

July 26, 2005

            The days here in Paris NEVER get dull!!! It’s been a long week, and sadly this upcoming week will be my last here in Paris. Sigh. Well, Let’s begin on the night I left off. So Wednesday night was amazing! Adam, Trevor, Sophia and I went to the boat party up in Bercy. The boat is called King’s River. I assumed that it was a stationary boat club like the ones in London, but I was wrong! We arrived at Bercy and we first passed by the Omnisport Stadium. That stadium is incredibly large and the walls were made of GRASS! I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was fake grass but it truly was the real deal! Well we passed by several bridges and walked along the quais looking for this damn boat. Turned out, it had docked off about an hour ago and it was returning just as we arrived. The boat was huge! And there were soooo many people! There were 2 main dance areas, one on the deck, and the other inside the boat. A pavilion was on the stern and three bars. They two dance areas both played different music. The bottom first played disco while the top played salsa. Then, later in the night they both played house and Hip Hop. I mostly chilled at the pavilion and I really wanted to dance, but I wished more of the girls came because Sophia wasn’t feeling the music and she was just waiting for this dude she met at La Fabrique. Amazingly, Adam and damn Trevor found chicks to talk to. Of course the one with Trevor turned him down, but Adam talked to this Italian blonde and they talked about clubs to go to or something. There was this one dude that was a really great dancer. We were watching him in the bottom floor and then suddenly he looked in my direction and was calling for me to dance with him. Dang I just got hit on. Everybody got a good laugh. I just attract guys damn it. Well, Sophia is a guy magnet and everyone wanted her. I wasn’t drunk, sadly, so my inhibitions stayed where they were and I didn’t get wild. Sophia went around looking for a cell phone to call her boy toy. She found one alright and he came to pick us up because it was getting late and we had class the next morning. The guy’s name was Tim, I think, and he brought his car. I was excited for being able to ride around Paris in some stranger’s car, there’s a thrill in it for some reason. Well, they flirted while I made small conversation. When we were at around Place d’Italie, his car broke down. I was like, WTF mate. His gears wouldn’t switch, and so it would stop here and there. Thank God that it was like 2 in the morning because there weren’t that many cars around, otherwise we would be honked at like crazy. So we ended up cruising in first gear al the way home. When I got to Odessa, Kristina was still up and so was Auroleon. We chatted for a long long time. We talked about music, California, apartments, etc. Sophia didn’t want to go to her hotel, and Auroleon let her stay in the hotel in a free room. Apparently Auroleon made a move towards Sophia and she got uncomfortable. Whatever man, she got a free room. Well, that was a good night.

On Thursday, the two highlights were Musee d’Orsay and going out that night. Musee d’Orsay has got to be my most favorite museum. It has most of my favorite kind of art…Impressionists, Pointillism, Premodern, etc… I spent a lot of time at the fifth floor looking at my favorite artists: Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne, Whistler, Renoir, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, etc. Oh man, I couldn’t believe I was looking at the real deal paintings and they were just a touch away. I LOVED seeing all the sculptures of Rodin and new modern sculptures. They fascinate me more than the original Greek classics, though I do enjoy the Hellenistic age of Greek sculpture. Anyways, the first floor was great too. It had a lot of older works, but fascinating nonetheless. There was even a picture of a hairy vagina. The structure of the museum is very strange and a bit confusing, so I was practically lost for a good portion of the time. The museum used to be an old train station. Well, I had a very fun time. I met up with Adam randomly just as I was about to leave, we made another round at the 5^th floor because it was less crowded this time. We then left Musee d’Orsay and went to the Opera. We got out of the Opera Metro and then took our pictures, it’s a nice building, nothing more to say. We didn’t go in because we went to Cite Universite to eat. Ughhhh. I am actually getting fat here in Paris and it’s disgusting. The only food that fills me up is the most disgusting cafeteria food that serves chewy steak and greasy fries. Well, we got home late that night. A lot of the people on the program went to Nice, so Adam, Wheyme, Trevor and Ahu went out to have a good time. I decided to go to Sanz Sans again because it’s free and it’s Hip Hop night. It’s such a cool club. The décor is classic posh in a red atmosphere. This was also the best Hip Hop DJ I’ve heard, not playing too much mainstream but great classic jams; he was a white guy too! Well the club was popping, but one problem- it was a sausage fest. Anna and Rachel met up with us later that night. After the place became packed with guys, well it was the Marais, we left for Wax. Wax was not that great, still a red atmosphere but played house music and the décor is circular, not chic like Sanz Sans. We chilled and danced there until around 4am when we all walked over to St Michel to catch the Noctobus home. Well, another great night ended.

            Friday was a rejuvenating day. I woke up when my body let me, then I did laundry. I hate doing manual laundry. I needed to visit Montmartre again before I left, so that was the plan for the day. It was a cloudy day. I took the Metro up there and found myself on the rear end of Sacre Coeur because I wanted to get off at a different stop. I found a very secluded park and nobody was around. It was a great picture spot. I went to the alley and made a left, then nothing but tourists. I’m glad I found my secret garden. I also went to visit the staircases of Montmartre, a romanticized area of Montmartre. I walked down the stairs and decided that I needed to leave the saintly part of Montmartre for a while and visit the sin street for lunch. I hungered for a Greek sandwich and found a decent one near the Sexodrome. I ate on the park in the middle of the boulevard and people watched. It’s amazing that parents let their kids hang out in this sex boulevard. It’s a part of life I guess. Well, I took the Metro up the hill and looked for Au Agile Lapin, a old cabaret. I got to it and it looked like a house from Alice in Wonderland! Oh the streets up in Montmartre are so picturesque! Small, winding, cobblestone roads with greenery everywhere. I will miss Montmartre! My final stop to Montmartre was to enter the Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur is definitely my favorite church. It’s dome structure is so different and its striking white façade is so pure. We were not allowed to take pictures or film in the church, but I did it anyways. That gave me a guilty feeling. But it was just too beautiful. There was a mosaic of Jesus and holy pictures everywhere. It was very spiritual. I left the church and hung out in the front steps of the church, watching young couples make out, tourists being annoying, and spectacles in general. After leaving beautiful Montmartre, I went to the L’Arc de Triomphe and decided to go in it. I went through the tunnel and it was great that not many people were there. I saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, and saw the murals on the L’Arc up close and personal. I enjoyed just hanging out at this monument. I was in the center of the star. It was fantastic. Being that it was Friday, I waited till it was 6pm to get into the Louvre. It was my third and final time going to the Louvre. My plan was to finish the third part of the Louvre and to see all my favorite paintings one last time. I went to the Mona Lisa and there were into as many people there like last time. I actually had time to enjoy a lot of the paintings. I hung out at the Neoclassical paintings and wrote all my postcards there. I also hung out at the French sculpture area, my favorite area of the Louvre. I then made a giant run through the whole Louvre and because there weren’t that many people, it was easy to see everything in 3 hours. I left, tired but internally fulfilled. That night I stopped by the Marais to get something to eat, then went home. I got home and Adam and the rest wanted to go out to Little Athens, but I wanted to stay in and sleep. I ditched them at the Metro. Great Friday.

            Saturday was another chill day. I woke up late, as usual. And I was craving a pastry! I walked to all the boulangeries and no dice! I gave up and stayed at the front desk to chat. Then Ahu told me to go to the Farmer’s Market to find a pastry, and I did. On the way, this one guy noticed that I looked lost slash frustrated. I told him I was looking for a boulangerie and he directed me to one way far away. The whole time we were just talking politics, capitalism, French and American people, issues, life in general. He was nice enough to buy the pastries for me! 7 Euros worth! They were delish, and we shared the pastries. We talked for a good three hours. You learn a lot from the French. I even got a lesson on American history from a French guy! His name was Pierre. He kinda freaked me out at first, but he turned out to be a nice guy. He wanted me to have dinner, but I didn’t accept, pastry was good enough. Well, after that I think I took a nap because I would be going out that night. My plan was to go to two night clubs which were free- Gibus and Tryptique. The night before, I found a flyer for an Asian Fever night. Adam wanted to go, and he begged everyone to go. I would go only if he paid for me, and that was his deal. SO we went, but I was dressed for my other two electronic clubs. Surprisingly, there were a lot of white girls at the Asian club. The club called Qin was really posh! So I was finally all for going despite my initial protest. The problem was that when we finally made it to the bouncer, he said two lone guys are not allowed and also because of the way I was dressed they wouldn’t let me in. Oh well, I wanted to go to Tryptique anyways. We raced to the final Metro and made it south of Bourse near the Louvre. Well we were sorta lost being that it was 1am and it was a distance away. On the way I stopped to ask this one couple for directions. They were the cool kids. They shared a bottle of white wine with us and we talked of film, comics and clubs. They were Joanna who was a visual arts student and I forget the guy’s name but he was an architect major. They were friends from way back in St. Etienne and found themselves in Paris. Then a homeless guy stopped and sat with us and asked for a cig, and the couple shared their cigs and wine with him. IT was amazing; nobody in the states would ever do this. The guy talked about why he is homeless, which was because his girlfriend died of cancer, and his daughter was raped by an inmate of his when he was in prison. Sad story. Adam and I went to Tryptique afterwards. The place was PACKED! We were in line for like 40 minutes before we got in. There were a lot of yuppies and hipsters everywhere. A way different scene from last time. Well, Joanna and his boy caught us when we were right in front of the line about to get in, and everybody behind us got mad cause they were cutting. Oh well, though luck. When we got in, the DJs were sick! They alternated  DJs but this one skinny DJ had the best beats and sound. They played a trance version of Drop it Like it’s Hot. It was off the hook. We met Ana, Layla, Kristin and Rachel there. Adam and I danced for a while and took Kristin over to experience it. Awesome. Rachel and Layla left early. Ana was flirting with this one Frenchman and Adam was trying to get with this one asian chick. Kristin and I left around 5am and took the Noctobus home. This sucked cause I had to wake up at 8 to get to the Tour de France on time. This meant only 2 hours of sleep. I made the most of it. Goodnight. Trevor sucks. I know he’s reading this right now. Trevor, you’re a fag.

            Sunday was TOUR DE FRANCE! I woke up obviously sleep deprived, but I do what I have to do. I left and met up with Katy to leave at 9am. Adam and Wheyme took their sweet ass time and we ditched them. So Katy and I got to Champs D’Elysees and all you could see are yellow shirts everywhere. The atmosphere was amazing! We wanted a spot right next to the L’Arc, but we also wanted to see the finish line, so we walked down Champs. That was a bad idea because a lot of space was filling up. We only made it up to Palais Royale on Champs and headed back trying to find a sweet spot to film the Tour. Adam met up with us and he bought a nasty ass Androulette. I was gross but I ate it. We even found a cool beer place on Champs which sold kegs of Heineken for 20 Euro. Well, when the Tour started it was cloudy and rainy, which sucked because now I’m sick. They had a crazy ass parade of Publicite. A lot of companies had crazy floats, drove cars all wild and had blazing music. It was funny and all, but it dragged after a while. I was tired of standing for hours. Then finally after the Publicite, we heard commentary about the race. Then all the bikers started arriving. The Tour was amazing, all the bikers whizzing by us was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I saw Lance Armstrong, of course the winner of the event. It was amazing to witness such a historical event. Paris is always conjuring up milestones. I took amazing video of the Tour. They whizzed on the Champs like 8 times, something I didn’t expect at all. I had a great time. It ended at around 5pm. So obviously I was tired as fuck. I went home and wanted soup cause I was feeling sick as hell. I couldn’t find a Pho place, so I just ate a delish Greek sandwich. I really wanted to watch the War of the Worlds. I met up with Adam and he watched it with me. The movie cost me 10 Euro, and the cinema was amazingly small. I’m so used to my big screen cinemas. It was a great movie. Too bad the film was cut off in the middle cause of technical difficulties. It was a freaky kinda film. Well we left and I just wanted to sleep. And that’s what did. Too bad Adam lost 450 Euro at the cinema. That sucked. Other than that, it was a great day. Viva la Tour de France!

            Monday, oh school. I’m getting sick of it. I enjoyed the first half of this education, but now it’s dragging and sort of not interesting. Still feeling sickly, I didn’t want to waste a Parisian day. I headed to Notre Dame thinking that I would get in, but the line was to long and I figured that I would attend mass there sometime, s that’s when I would go. Instead I went to Saint Chapelle. It a good church right in front of Notre Dame, I didn’t wanna pay 7 Euro to get in, so I just filmed the outside which was great in itself. Right next to it, you could get into the Palace of Justice. Wow, I was in the amazing square where I would have never thought I would be in. It reminded me of getting into the House of Parliament in London. It started o drizzle, but that didn’t stop me from going to Plage Paris. It’s basically a free beach resort on the Seine. I walked along it, it was cold so nobody wore bathing suits. It was interesting; they had tether ball, sands, lounge chairs, sprinklers etc. It was Brazilian themed, quite fitting. I walked all through the Plage and I wanted to head over the Place de Vendome. I really didn’t know what was there. All I knew that I should visit it. I’m glad I did too! On my way up there, I stumbled into the most intimidating rich Lacoste shop ever. This huge glass pane wall was actually a door leading to the store. The staircase had side illuminations that changed color as you walked it. None of the tags had prices! I had to get out, I felt out of place. I then entered the Place. It had a huge column of Napoleon with Babylonian like drawings around it. It was such a rich neighborhood. I didn’t like it. I entered the Ritz Hotel. What an opulent hotel! The doorman kind of looked confused when I got in. He seemed to not know if I was a guest or not. I acted like I was. I walked in there aimlessly. The place is sooo opulent. Like a modern day Versailles. I saw in the most plush slash expensive looking couches. Pretending t count all the riches I had. I walked down the corridors and found myself in the Hemingway Bar. WOW! So expensive. Ironic that this poor author has one of the richest bars in Paris. You need a jacket to get in!  missed the Bourgeois life so I left the beautifully decorated Ritz.  I stopped at the Post office to mail my postcards, it costs 90 Euro cents to send a card. That’s bank! Well, after that I went to the Orangerie, but it was closed for remodeling. Instead, I hung out at the Concorde and took a lot of film and pictures of L’Arc, the Obelisk, Tuilleries, Madeleine and the fountains. I enjoyed my trip there. Next I wanted to visit this cool park called Monceau. I went north of Madeleine and strolled down the park. They had Grecian columns on the ponds, Egyptian pyramids on the lawns, Roman dome entrance and French manicured gardens. It was a great find! I wish I lived in Paris! People are just lounging, having picnics, and doing yoga. I will miss it here. Then my final stop before going home was to the Chaillot quarter. I stopped at Trocadero on the 6^th. It is by far the best view of the Eiffel Tower. I took a lot of pictures. There were barely anyone there so I had the enjoyment of walking around and admiring the Eiffel Tower. I stayed there for a good hour and a half. There were even break dancers on the side of Trocadero for the amusement of everybody. The guy on the boat party was there and I hope he forgot me. Thank God he did. Well, I headed home, ate a crepe for dinner and rested for the evening. Adam wanted me to go with him to the Queen. It’s a gay club here in Paris and it’s supposed to be really popular. Tonight was supposed to be 80s night, and we were gonna meet these Italian broads from boat party. Well when we got there, it was very empty, and all I heard was disco music. And we were misinformed, it was a Disco night, not 80s. I got my conso and sat in the reserved area. These two 18 year olds started hitting on me. Damn Adam, why didn’t he sit on the side I was on. His side had this two cute girls there. Well, I had no choice, and I was very open, so I talked to them. I don’t know their names but one of them obviously like me cause he told me his dream is to visit Asia. Um yeah. They wanted me to dance with the both of them. SO we got up and Adam and I went to hide in the bathroom instead. Well when we got out of the bathroom, A LOT of people started coming in! I was pleasantly surprised that there were PLENTY of girls coming in. This was by far the largest congregation of hot girls in Paris! The music was fun and of course I couldn’t really dance to it. This was the best club I’ve ever been to! They had confetti, tons of it, blowing at us! I was sooo FANTASTIC! They even had the best fog machines I’ve ever seen. The light and sound system is incredible. There were two mini stages for people to dance on and a huge disco ball in the middle! I got to dance with this one rally drunk French girl and her sister. Hahahaha. I was good times. It was sooooo crowded, you could barely move! I danced on the stage too! Funny thing was that the two 18 year old from earlier were there too, and at that point I was having so much fun that I didn’t care and I dance with them. I got hit on by these two other 20 somethings, but I didn’t care. I mad upset at only two things: they only played a few 80s songs and that a lot of the girls seemed like lesbians or were really standoffish. I don’t care, they were eye candy! Well Adam and I left and took the taxi home. It was a “fabulous” night! School in the morning!

            So today is a pretty sickening day. I was tired from last night. Only 5 hours of sleep. I did my daily routine. I went to the boulangerie and asked Jean-Luc for a pastry. I got a Normandie today. Before I forget, I also got a Diplomate, Tropeziene, and a Coup de Soleil before. School was so-so, as usual. Oh BTW, I got an A- on my essay. I’m excited. That actually means I’m doing good in this class. I wanted to go to the catacombs, but when I got there the line was too long, so I ditched that. I also wanted to go to H&M to get this one hat, but it didn’t fit right so I left. Instead I went home, try to do homework and sleep. I really feel like I’m wasting a day, but I’m really tired and sickly. Now I must do my journal, and today I finally told Trevor the truth about what I knew about him and how much he is despised and how gross of a slum he is. Yuck. Well, now I’m sick, and tired. Au Revoir!