another post that i wrote last summer, never finished, and don't want to lose. talking about finances and europe. two themes that have resurfaced! my roommate and i are planning to head to europe this summer AND i had a goal to get my budget in line by end of january. more to come on that...
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so this was a great trip overall. despite the small (EXPENSIVE) apartment, the lack of internet in the apartment (which, admittedly, is our own fault we didn't book a place with it), the lack of WATER in the apartment, the anxiety of heading to europe, the delayed train, etc, i had a really great time. its sad to be back in the US, but i guess its normal - back to the grind. being in paris ALMOST made me want to live there again. but, finalement, je ne pense pas. the bureaucracy, the lack of desire to help others, etc, is not super enticing to me. i really like customer service and hospitality, which are in abundance in the US. i WOULD like to improve my french again (i can't believe how BAD its gotten!), but i dont know if that desire is strong enough to overcome everything else that annoys me. maybe i'll take some french classes in boston. OR... i could just... move to london! i am starting to really really love london. i don't think i've ever been really impressed with it, but the more i come here, the more i like it. and its just a few hour train ride from france! elaine, my closest friend in london, is moving to paris in october, so i will know fewer people in england, but still... can you see me in london? i think it'd be great! i just have to figure out a way to get there... too bad all of my clients are in the US.
so, anyway, back to the trip. again, it was great. and we accomplished most of the things on our list:have ice cream at berthillion on ile st. louis (can't believe i've never been to that island before!) - DEFINITELY FABULOUS ICE CREAM.see St. Chapelle church (on ile de la cite) - actually, this was kind of a let-down. i guess its nice enough, but it was 8 euros and... well, a church. i'm just not into them. and they kind of make me sad to hear about the things the church has done.go to buttes chaumont park. we didn't actually cross this one off. i love this park (even though i dont even like parks, in general). will keep it on list for next timereturn to Reims - we didn't end up going bcs it was so expensive. i'm OK with that. (i technically squiggled this off the list meaning it got taken off the list)Walk from Bastille to Canal St. Martin to the Sacre Coeur - which, TECHNICALLY we only walked from republique onwards, but this totally counts.Musee d'Orsay - did not make it here, either. want to go when van gogh's painting is back (after Feb 2011) and its not tourist seasonWax - i waxed and spent a TON of money. 91 euros. eek!go to slow club and/or caveaux des oubliettes - we didn't end up going to these places, but will keep them on the list.eat at a good resto - i originally intended for this to mean an asian restaurant, which we DID go to, but then elaine wanted to go to a very frenchy french resto, which we did, as well.10) we added when we were half-way through our stay: "get water qui coule" (get running water) - which we DID get! AND we got 70 euros back for the night we didn't have water. who said the french didn't take care of you?? (aside from me, of course...)
this ended up being a fairly expensive trip. (not even counting the briefcase i purchased!) my wax cost WAY more than i expected (they took off more than i expected, too, though!).
[i'm watching glee as i repost this...]
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so this was a great trip overall. despite the small (EXPENSIVE) apartment, the lack of internet in the apartment (which, admittedly, is our own fault we didn't book a place with it), the lack of WATER in the apartment, the anxiety of heading to europe, the delayed train, etc, i had a really great time. its sad to be back in the US, but i guess its normal - back to the grind. being in paris ALMOST made me want to live there again. but, finalement, je ne pense pas. the bureaucracy, the lack of desire to help others, etc, is not super enticing to me. i really like customer service and hospitality, which are in abundance in the US. i WOULD like to improve my french again (i can't believe how BAD its gotten!), but i dont know if that desire is strong enough to overcome everything else that annoys me. maybe i'll take some french classes in boston. OR... i could just... move to london! i am starting to really really love london. i don't think i've ever been really impressed with it, but the more i come here, the more i like it. and its just a few hour train ride from france! elaine, my closest friend in london, is moving to paris in october, so i will know fewer people in england, but still... can you see me in london? i think it'd be great! i just have to figure out a way to get there... too bad all of my clients are in the US.
so, anyway, back to the trip. again, it was great. and we accomplished most of the things on our list:have ice cream at berthillion on ile st. louis (can't believe i've never been to that island before!) - DEFINITELY FABULOUS ICE CREAM.see St. Chapelle church (on ile de la cite) - actually, this was kind of a let-down. i guess its nice enough, but it was 8 euros and... well, a church. i'm just not into them. and they kind of make me sad to hear about the things the church has done.go to buttes chaumont park. we didn't actually cross this one off. i love this park (even though i dont even like parks, in general). will keep it on list for next timereturn to Reims - we didn't end up going bcs it was so expensive. i'm OK with that. (i technically squiggled this off the list meaning it got taken off the list)Walk from Bastille to Canal St. Martin to the Sacre Coeur - which, TECHNICALLY we only walked from republique onwards, but this totally counts.Musee d'Orsay - did not make it here, either. want to go when van gogh's painting is back (after Feb 2011) and its not tourist seasonWax - i waxed and spent a TON of money. 91 euros. eek!go to slow club and/or caveaux des oubliettes - we didn't end up going to these places, but will keep them on the list.eat at a good resto - i originally intended for this to mean an asian restaurant, which we DID go to, but then elaine wanted to go to a very frenchy french resto, which we did, as well.10) we added when we were half-way through our stay: "get water qui coule" (get running water) - which we DID get! AND we got 70 euros back for the night we didn't have water. who said the french didn't take care of you?? (aside from me, of course...)
this ended up being a fairly expensive trip. (not even counting the briefcase i purchased!) my wax cost WAY more than i expected (they took off more than i expected, too, though!).
[i'm watching glee as i repost this...]
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