Sunday à Paris...

For the third time this semester, I now find myself in Paris. We arrived yesterday around noon and found our awkardly-built hostel. I'm almost positive there are no 90-degree angles in the entire building so all the hallways are sort of winding or sloping. It's fine, though, and perfect for broke college students. Yesterday we saw Notre Dame and then met Amelia and her friend Rachel for drinks. Turns out their apartment that they're renting for Christmas break is litterally across the street from our hostel. They can see our hostel door from their window. What a crazy coincidence! After that, Clariece, Chris and I went to the Eiffel Tower and then met up with Amelia and Rachel for dinner.

Today Clariece and Chris wanted to do a bunch of touristy stuff and I decided to stay behind. Being a tourist is fun, but I am still recovering from finals and have recently seen many things here already. Amelia and I went out to coffee and then Rachel joined us for shopping, more coffee, and lunch. It's been really great to see Amelia. She's been in Paris this semester and even though Paris and Strasbourg are completely different, they're both still incredibly French. I think we'll be able to help each other through the transition back to American life, just because we'll sort of understand where the other person is coming from... Anyway, after shopping I guess I just wandered for a while. I have never gotten that sense of wonder and amazement from this city, but it's quite pretty all the same and I enjoy wandering around looking into the boutiques around town. I went to the Shakespeare Book Company, an internationally-known english bookstore, and browsed for at least an hour. Then I went to a café on the Seine and read for a while.

And now I'm here at an internet café. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it feels strange not to be in Seattle. Amelia and Rachel invited us over for dinner tomorrow night so hopefully we'll have at least one good meal and be in the company of good friends. Then Christmas morning we hop a train to Amsterdam. I love travelling, but I think by the end of all this I'll be ready to go home and have a somewhat normal life...

A few pictures from my last days in Strasbourg:

At Au Diable Bleu, one of our favorite bars. Jill, Matt, Sarah, and myself.

The famous part of Strasbourg I never actually see.

Me, being silly and taking a picture of myself. I'm just that cool.

A bientôt!