Adventure

Well, I have some stories.

This week is our "winter break," so I have been doing a few things. We ended up not going to Belgium; I found out too late how to get cheaper tickets. Next time, I suppose. Instead, we had some other adventures. On Sunday, we took a train to Saint-Malo so that we could see one of our favorite musicians play a free show in an old church. Since it was a Sunday, the buses weren't really running, so we just walked everywhere we needed to go (isn't it funny how I would probably never do this in the U.S.?) Fortunately it was a nice day (for once), and Saint-Malo is very beautiful (on the coast, medieval buildings and cobblestone streets). We walked to the quarter where the show was going to be and decided to find the church so that we would know later where to go (the show was supposedly at 8). Well, when we got to the church, we heard his voice (the singer, called The Tallest Man on Earth. Look him up, he is just incredible) coming from inside. There were two guys standing outside, and they said "you can go in, it's free." We were confused, but we went into the church, and there he was, in a room full of people, playing a song. It was, of course, the last song. We had missed the show; the time had been wrong on the website. We were standing in disbelief (horror, really) at what we had missed, and we saw him walk outside to smoke a cigarette. We decided we might as well go talk to him, even though we didn't get to hear him play. So we did, and we told him that we had come all the way from Rennes for no other reason than to see the show, and that we'd missed it, etc. He said he was sorry, that really sucks, etc. We talked to him for a little while more, and then he was like "well, I mean, I'm beat, but....can I like, play you a song or something? Would that help?"
What do you think our answer was?
So we followed him back into the church into a secret door up a tiny winding staircase into a tiny room in a tower of the church. There was a bed, piles of clothes, plates of sugared gummy candy (French hospitality) and exactly three chairs. So long story short(er), he played my favorite song, and it was incredible. What a great guy. I think also he was relieved to find some people who speak English (he's from Sweden, but his songs are in English). We even translated for him a few times. Afterward, we spent the rest of the day (and the next several days) not believing that that could have possibly happened. Oh, but it did. And the whole trip was absolutely 100% worth it.

The next day, we left for Paris. I spent the past few days in Paris, seeing a few things, going to museums, but mostly just hanging out and enjoying the city. I have yet to see Paris in nice weather, unfortunately. I think the sun came out for about 10 minutes the whole time we were there. Oh well. Someday. Fortunately, Paris is still beautiful, even in the grossest weather. There was a moment when we were in the Louvre, the sun came out, and we decided to go up on the roof. Well, literally two seconds after we got up there, it started pouring. Like, a monsoon on top of the Louvre. CHAOS. But speaking of museums, I discovered that I can get into most of the museums in Paris for free because I am technically a student resident of the European Union. Sweet deal, right? The Louvre, I found, is very enormous (people are not kidding when they say how huge it is...it is seriously the size of a small city), very crowded, and full of old stuff. It great, don't get me wrong, but I think I've had my fill for a while. The ancient Egyptian art was especially great. Honestly, I preferred Musee d'Orsay, which was fantastic and in which I did not spend nearly enough time. Why do people take pictures of paintings? It's so weird, everyone is always crowded around the Mona Lisa or something, taking pictures of it. I don't get it.

One of the fun things about Paris was meeting random people. Two of our friends from our program were staying in Paris also, so we hung out with them for a couple of days. They were staying at a really cool hostel in a room with four other people. So we met people from all over, which was awesome. That is the great thing about youth hostels; they are so full of random people from everywhere who just want to see things. Scottie and I met a woman from Spain at our hostel, and we were talking with her about languages. She speaks Spanish, Catalan, English, and French. Her husband is French, so they speak French together. He also speaks Arabic. So their kids speak Spanish, Catalan, English, French, and Arabic. And that is pretty typical. She told me that English is their favorite language to speak. I wish I had a favorite language. Jeez. She turned to us and was like "so how many languages do you speak?" and was astonished to find that I only speak two. Shame, shame, shame America.
Possibly my favorite moment in Paris was right at the end of my visit. When I was on my way to the train station, there was an entire orchestra playing a song in the metro. I mean, there are a lot of metro musicians; I saw some pretty great ones. Accordion players, cellists, acoustic guitar guys, etc. But a whole ensemble of stringed instruments...that I had not seen. And the metro has really good acoustics, if you were wondering.

Interestingly enough, it feels good to be back home in Rennes. It is less stressful, less expensive, and the metro doesn't smell like urine. Can I insert that I am so proud of Scottie and myself for not getting lost once. We are well on our way to being expert travellers. Also I can't wait to sleep in my bed tonight. We crashed on the floor of a semi-distant acquaintance of Scottie's who is studying in Paris. We are friends now. Hehe. But, you know, I haven't brushed my hair in like five days, and my feet are feeling the miles and miles I must have trekked since Sunday. Paris is truly lovely, but I am thankful for my little medieval city in La Bretagne.