Paris with the Belgians

So I have been back in Paris for a week now, and it feels pretty great to be home. Home is a term, of course, that I use quite loosely, but I have decided that you know when you are home when everything smells like it should. I say this because other than finally having internet and being able to sleep in the bed I have gotten used to over the last eight and a half months, one of the biggest things that jumped out at me as FAMILIAR was how everything here smells just like my year in France. The kitchen smells like brioche and my room smells like Christmas and the livingroom kinda smells like dog but also kinda smells like Prune’s shampoo and all of these smells are the right ones hahaha. I am home and my nose knows it. :D

Going without internet for three weeks was somewhat eye-opening and refreshing, but since I have been back I have definitely been enjoying the luxery of being able to talk to whoever I want to, whenever I want to (within reason and, of course, minding the 9 hour time difference between France and California aaaand the 5 hour time difference between France and Chile). I spent the first half of this past week talking to as many friends as I could, just catching up and helplessly scrambling for the words to express what they all mean to me and how often I think about them. I woke up early and stayed up late just to talk to different friends, and it was so worth it. While in Italy I realized that most of the people I adore probably have no idea exactly HOW much I adore them and how much they impress and inspire me, so I did my best to remind them that I am just over here cheering them on as I live out my own adventures, and I think they got the idea. I mean I guess I can only hope so. A lot of the time I wish I could just unzip my entire soul and existence and let a friend step inside and say “do you see now?! Do you see how much I admire you?” but that isn’t an option so Skype calls for now are the best I can do.

Other little fun things I did during the week included getting coffee with Alessandra in the weird cafe near Campus Langues. I hadn’t seen her for awhile and she wanted to hear about Italy, so we met up after her French lesson and ended up getting coffee at a table that was in a bath tub! So that was interesting hahaha. To be honest, it was a pretty amazing place to drink a coffee and I am very glad that happened. I think Alessandra was a little embarrased to drink it there but I couldn’t have chosen a better spot, and we laughed about it quite a bit. Talking to Alessandra is both fun AND great French practice, and I feel lucky to get to spend a little time each week with such a lovely Italian girl. 

Later that same day, I met up with Jess and Maira to get even more coffee! It had been so long since I had seen Maira, and she was just as beautiful and bubbly and Brazilian as ever. We went to a cafe where you have to pay by the hour and can order whatever you want, and it was an interesting time! Afterwards, we sat by a fountain and told whatever silly stories we had been saving for each other, and it was wonderful. They are both just such hilarious and smiley people; definitely worth keeping around.

This weekend was a special one because Michael (my Belgian friend) and his good friend Christophe came to visit Paris. I had been looking forward to seeing Michael, meeting Christophe, and just showing them around in general since they had bought their tickets over a month before, and I woke up on Saturday morning enthusiastic about the task of picking Michael up at Gare du Nord. The plan was that Michael would arrive on Saturday morning, and since he had already seen Paris like four times, I would take him around to spots I liked and then the next day, Christophe would arrive and we would spend Sunday and Monday showing him all the touristy must-sees. 

I would like to say that the entire weekend was just this fantastic party time and that I loved every second, but that wouldn’t be the most honest thing to do hahah. You see, Michael was perfect, and Christophe was also perfect, it is just that I got very overwhelmed with the idea of trying to show them Paris as well as Michael had shown me Brussels, and I ended up partially ruining my whole weekend with my own anxiety. Ruined is a bit strong of a word actually, but I certainly put a damper on the experience. The worst was the first hour, when I was really trying to fight my stress and come up with ways to make Michael have a fabulous time, but after seeing how upset I was getting Michael completely took over and gave me the freedom to not choose what we were going to do. I was grateful for his kindness and understanding, because I really didn’t feel like I knew the city well enough to give him the day he had been looking forward to, but I didn’t feel a weight lifted from my shoulders. I felt dissapointed in myself, first of all for not knowing the best places in Paris, second of all for letting that stress me out, third of all for not being able to shake that stress off even though I knew it was useless, fourth of all for having an expressive face that made it clear that I wasn’t feeling as happy as I could have been, and fifth of all letting any of these things dissapoint me in the first place. Hahahah, I knowwww. These are silly things to get worked up about, I get it, but they really took a toll on me. These thoughts exhausted me throughout the whole weekend, and that plus lots and lots of walking resulted in me not being my absolute best self, and I wanted to be the best Sally possible so that their weekend would be unforgettable and splendid. 

So that was a bummer, but I am happy to report that it was more of a bummer for me than for Michael and Christophe, who seemed to have a pretty swell time. Before Christophe’s arrival, Michael got to see the Musee D’Orsay for the first time, and I was perfectly content to wander around in it once more. I also took Michael to my blogging cafe and Shakespeare and Co, both of which he seemed to enjoy and seeing that he was having a good time significantly calmed my useless anxieties. 

I had been very much looking forward to meeting this Christophe that Michael had told me so much about. The way Michael had spoken to me about Christophe made it clear that he had a very high opinion of this person, and since I have looked up to Michael for quite some time now, I couldn’t wait to meet him in person!

Aaaaand Christophe did not only meet whatever curious expectations I had imagined up about who Michael would keep around as a close friend, but exceeded them. He was quick witted and friendly and interested in a lot of things that I don’t care about (like cars because yes, you are a car guy, Tophe) and ridiculously good at keeping up conversations with his perfected posh British accent. Within the first half hour, I could see why Michael valued his opinions so much, but I was also overwhelmed by how curious he was to get to know me. Not just me, though, you know, because of course it couldn’t be that simple. He wanted to know my passions and my theories on love and how the gears in my mind work hahaha which YES, is exactly the kind of person I want to spend time with but it was a little difficult to answer in my exhausted state. We spent our time walking from tourist attraction to tourist attraction on pretty Parisian streets while Christophe asked me questions and Michael smiled and shook his head, knowing that only the craziest of answers would come out of my mouth. It was a weird weekend, but like, thank goodness it wasn’t a normal weekend! Right? 

Anyways, we saw lots of pretty things, and we ate some pretty good food. I live in Paris, so they were much more interesting to me than the actual city itself, and now that I am back at home and they are on a train back to Brussels, I miss them. Paris is so much quieter now! I need to go visit them before I leave because they really are such intriguing people. 

OH! Two cool little last things before I end this post: my postcard and Prune’s aging. 

I got a postcard from Anna (YES MY ITALIAN ANNA) this week and it made my heart melt with joy because I love her too much.

And Prune lost her second tooth, so that is exciting. 

She refuses to show the camera, though.