"You can't be serious. Mary, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

This was started last week, and finished today, so if it seems a bit disjointed, that's why.

So I'm still kind of in a state of shock, but I was lucky enough to go to Paris for the weekend. But unlike the spoiled brats from Kentucky that sat in front of me at one of the French Open matches ("Look at me, I played tennis at Brandeis, I'm so fancy") I like to think that I appreciated the experience a lot more than they did. But I'll start from the beginning.

The process of getting to Paris actually took a couple more steps than I thought it would when we started planning, but we ended up getting there safe and sound. We had to take a train to Milan, a bus from the Milan train station to the airport, and then the flight to Paris. We ended up taking Easyjet, which was a pretty nice airline, considering how cheap it was... and even better, it flew straight into Charles de Gaulle airport instead of some airport way out of the city. The negative thing, though, was that we got in kind of late and the train workers were on strike (Boo Socialism, in this one incident where I needed public transportation late at night), so we ended up having to take a taxi all the way to our hotel... kind of expensive, but it was either that or sleep at the airport... when we already paid for a hostel. At least the taxi driver was friendly, and knew almost where our hostel was.


Cheesin' it up before the flight to Paris.

Speaking of where the hostel was... kind of sketchy. As regal as "Les Chesonniers" sounds, it left a lot to be desired. The man at the front desk ended up being one of the only rude people that I encountered throughout my entire trip in Paris. Our room was... well, modest. The girls' room ended up being a little better, but only because it was made for 3 people instead of ours that was made for two. Also, the interesting thing to me was that there was a sink and a bidet in the room, but no toilet. I guess I just don't understand the point of a bidet if there's no toilet... I could explain further, but I think you get the picture. Blergh.


Les Chesonniers. How romantic.

But anyways, after our brief rest that night, we got up bright and early and left for the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It ended up not being that far from the hotel, and we got our first taste of how amazing the metro stations in Paris are. I wish we had something even somewhat similar to this in America... no matter where you are in the city, you can find a metro station that will take you wherever else you need to go in a reasonable amount of time, and for cheap. But anyways, Notre Dame was stunning... now that I actually now what Gothic architecture entails, I feel like I could appreciate it even more than I would have been able to a couple of months ago. The stained glass, the sculptures, the attention to detail, the sheer history of it... all of it just hits you in the face as you walk in, and reminds you of the incredible things that the humans, as a race, have been able to do in our short history. Not to get all philosophical about it, but I just think it's really cool.


Notre Dame!

So then after that we went to a little cafe next to Notre Dame, and ordered a traditional French breakfast. I got a banana crepe, and while not super filling, it was really, really good. Also, I got a Grand Chocolat, which is basically a hot chocolate, but French, and therefore better. I think everybody else enjoyed their meals too... they were pretty similar, and nobody seemed to have any complaints.

After that, EIFFEL TOWER! As much of a tourist as it makes me, I was really excited to go up in the tower. It's such a pretty structure, and the view from the second floor (the top floor was closed) was impressive, to say the least. Paris is just a really cool place, and I love the architecture of all of the buildings. After pushing a few small Asian ladies out of the way, I was able to take some really cool pictures of the city, which I'll post below.


The view from the Eiffel Tower... so amazing.

So then, the French Open. I bought this ticket off of ebay, so it was just me going to the matches on Friday. The compound was set up in a really cool way, but completely different than I expected it to be. I just wandered around for a little bit with my giant backpack on until I realized that there were a whole 'nother set of courts behind the first major stadium. Fancy that. And luckily, there were some bigger matches happening in these. First off, I got to see Serena practicing... I was literally 10 feet from her, maximum. And let me tell you, I knew she was a big girl, but she is THICK. I feel like her backside alone is the size of a novelty sized giant basketball, and that's putting it nicely. Still though, it was really cool to see her practicing. Then I watched a couple of doubles matches, which were cool... Seppi was probably the most famous guy in the matches I watched that morning. Then I just wandered around and watched various matches with people I had never or vaguely heard of, which was still pretty cool. Good tennis is good tennis. The coolest match, though, was when I got into the Serena and Venus doubles match... they ended up crushing these two poor European girls. There was literally no chance.


SO THICK!


Suck it, foreigners. America wins again. At least until next round, when they lost to some random ladies. Boo.

After the match, I got lost. Not even going to pretend that it was someone else's fault... I found the street I thought our hotel was on on the bus map, and because I am the gender that I am, refused to believe that I could be wrong and didn't actually ask anybody. So I took the metro to this street (which did at least have the same name as the one my actual hotel was on), and walked around the wrong part of Paris for about 2 hours by myself before realizing that I was in the completely wrong place. But to be fair, even the taxi drivers I asked told me I was in the right place. So anyways, I eventually made it back to the right hostel around 10 PM, where I found Jeremy... and we went to McDonald's to eat dinner - sadly, that was not the first and would not be the last time that I went to McDonald's in Paris. Don't judge me, it was a matter of convenience. And side note, McDonald's are way nicer in Paris than in America. Weird.

The next day, I had somebody to accompany me to the match - hooray for Jeremy! We saw some pretty cool matches... a good women's doubles match, and really good women's singles match (featuring Wozniak, a canuck! We cheered loudly for our friendly neighbor to the north), and a pretty decent men's singles match between Robredo and Maxim Gonzales... all of the matches were great, and we had literally front row seats the entire time. Granted, we do now have awesome farmers tans, but... totally worth every second. Also, I'm equally excited about the souvenirs that I bought... I can't wait to shove my pretentiousness in other people's faces when I get back home. Because I'm 'That Guy.'


The winner! Aka Robredo... he was awesome. Maximo Gonzales just lost focus... way to suck. Definitely not representing for the Americas.


BURNED. Literally. Sunburn. Ouch.

That night we tried to go out with one of my friend's older brother, but due to confusion, bathroom breaks for the ladies, and general disorientation, it didn't work out. Which in the end was fine, because we were all pretty tired anyways, and midterms were coming up. Long story short, no great loss.

Finally, the next morning we got up and went to McDonald's for the third time (jealous?), and then took the train to the airport to fly back. All in all, it was a great trip - I got to accomplish one of my life dreams, and had a great time with everyone that came.


Random picture of Chelsea and me eating our non-McDonald's breakfast... There was a local bakery right across the street that had all of these wonderful pastries. This was called a Chocolat Suisse, and if I never find one again, my life will not be complete. Because I have an unhealthy relationship with food.

Next report: Midterms and Interlaken! Get excited!