France Trip Part 1

Translating my journal into English. The dates given are the dates for the days described in the entry.

Pre-trip
There are 6 of us going to France: Cate, Jeanne, Stephanie, Melissa, Madame, and me. Cate and Jeanne are sisters, as are Stephanie and Melissa. Stephanie and Melissa are Ecuadorian. Cate just graduated, Stephanie is a rising senior, Jeanne and Melissa are rising juniors, and I'm a rising sophomore. I was the baby of the group by two years and the only one who could not legally buy alcohol in France, not that I would have wanted to.
We did an 8 day homestay with kids from a school in a town about 40 minutes away from Amiens, in La Somme in Picardy. Then we spent 2 or 3 days in Bayeux, Lisieux, and Caen, which are in Normandy, during the d-day celebrations. Finally, went to Paris for 3 days.

May 29
I couldn't sleep on the plane yesterday/today because it was too cold, so I rested more than I slept. The supper on the plane last night was pasta with bread, salad, and a brownie. There was also water in a box. For breakfast this morning we were given bagels and orange juice.
The airplane landed on time, at 1:15. We got our bags and took the RER (a faster version of the metro that goes farther out into the suburbs) to the North Station. We left our bags at consignment and then went to Paris. We saw the St. Michel fountain, Notre Dame, St. Severin church, and also the oldest church in Paris whose name I have forgotten. Oh, and the modern art fountain.

On the RER, we were all taking photos of each other, and an accordion player came on the train, so we took pictures of him.

At the Gare du Nord, I payed for the consignment because I was the only one with euros; my grandparents had given my 45 (thank you!) euros, and we hadn't been to a BNP atm yet, so we hadn't withdrawn any money.

After visiting the churches, we ate lunch/supper at a crepe place on rue Cluny. I think I ate at that same restaurant with my family five years ago...anyway. Everyone drank either Perrier or flat water, except for Cate who also had cider. We all ordered crepes as follows:
Madame: La Flamande. Umm...I forget what's in this.
Stephanie: Ham and cheese crepe.
Melissa: Le Californien. Steak with an egg on top and then a crepe with I don't know what in it.
Cate: A chocolate crepe with whipped cream on top.
Jeanne: A chocolate crepe.
Me: La Maison, which has ham, cheese, and mushrooms.

At the restaurant, we saw a man who was giving bits of crepe to birds that came right up to his hand...
Then finally we found a BNP (Bank National de Paris...we were looking for one of these because with Bank of America there is no fee to withdraw money at a BNP).
Then we went to Notre Dame de Paris. Those rose windows are amazing...one is more blue and one is more purple. And the huge chandeliers! But they aren't as big as I thought they were five years ago. While we were there, mass began, so we toured Notre Dame while listening to mass, which I didn't understand at all.

Outside of Notre Dame is the point zero of Paris -- whenver a distance is measured to Paris, it is measured to that point zero. We all took a picture with our heads together on the star that makes the point zero. Then we went to an English language bookstore where struggling writers in Paris are allowed to stay; the bookstore is called Shakespeare and Company. I bought a book of short stories by James Thurber; I think there might be a few stories in there that I could do for prose in speech next year. I saw the beds with typewriters and desks and beds, and of course books everywhere!

We went back to the North Station and quickly bought something to eat, since we didn't expect our families to feed us when we got to their homes near 11:00 pm. We almost missed our train because we had to get all our large bags on, but we did make it. However, by the time I got to eat it, because I'd been holding it for so long while we tried to get the bags on the train in such a hurry, my Toblerone was very melted and difficult to eat. I did almost nothing during that train ride, just sat and nibbled on chocolate.

In Amiens, our partners greeted us: the French/Latin teacher, the English teacher, and Cassandre and her mother! (Cassandre was my host sister.) We went to the high school in two cars; Stephanie, Melissa, and I went with Cassandre and her mother. Melissa and Stephanie asked me while I wasn't talking much when I spoke French so well, and I told them it was because I was shy. Neither one of them understood -- they're both very outgoing, especially Melissa.
We talked a bit with Cassandre and her mother in English. We talked about the high school, the town, and our ages, as well as the other kids from the high school who were hosting us.
Melissa and Stephanie met their partners. Melissa's partner was Pierre Remi, and Stephanie's partner was Charlotte. Then the other car arrived, so Cate and Jeanne met Noemie and Alison.
We all left to go home, and right as we left Madame and I pointed out that it had been 24 hours since we had met up at the airport at home.

Cassandre lives in an apartment. I had what is normally Cassandre's room, and she slept in her sister's room. I took pictures later on. The apartment is not exceptional, but it is small and pretty.
Cassandre and I ate pizza, and I met all of the family -- her sister Ophelie, her mother Reine Marie, and her father Charles.
Then I went to sleep. I think I cried a bit...I was too shy to talk, and I feared that Cassandre thought I couldn't speak French well. I knew that I didn't understand nearly as well as I thought I would -- I had never heard French go that fast, and I wasn't used to the teenage slang way of talking.