La dernière fois

This really is the last entry. I’m at the CDG airport, killing time since I arrived absurdly early to avoid stress. I’m loading pictures from spring break and charging my iPod; I’ve got a whole little office set up. I think my power adaptor is broken, however, which is unfortunate.

Ah where to begin? I left off with the last supper, after which I unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with Joanna. We didn’t end up seeing each other that night since her phone wasn’t working and I was so concerned for her safe arrival that I was too flustered to make logistical plans to meet up. In spite of my incompetence, Farah and I managed to make some funny new friends at the café we were at. They squeezed onto our table, gave us drinks, and talked our ears off. We even split a cab with one of the girls across town to meet up with Jen, JW, Heimunn, Mackenzie, and Michael. It was really sad to part ways; the friendships I’ve made here are comparable to those made at sleep-away camp. We’ve explored Paris, traveled all over Europe, and gotten to know each other in a short and intense fashion. I can’t believe we’re leaving, or have already left.

I was super efficient Saturday morning, running errands and dropping off luggage at the storage unit in Montparnasse before meeting Joanna at her hostel. We spent the day walking all over Paris. ALL OVER. We estimated that we walked at least 10 miles. We first went to the Champ de Mars to see the Eiffel Tower. Then we went to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. We hit up Notre Dame and the exterior of Sainte Chappelle, plus the anciens livres vendors on Rive Gauche. We met up with Farah and her roommate from Stanford, Mackenzie, and Heimunn for lunch at Hôtel de Ville and went to a brasserie in the Marias (Les Philosophes, I think). The last lunch ☹. More goodbyes.

After, we walked around the Marais a bit and went by the Centre Pompidou. We walked to Ile St. Louis for Berthillon ice cream and then went over to the Louvre. By the pyramids we went, through the Tuileries and Place de la Concorde, up the Champs-Elysées with a quick stop for macarons at Ladurée, and then up to the Arc de Triomphe. We metroed to Sèvres-Babylone for a quick dinner before picking up our bags at Joanna’s hostel and then going to Gare de Lyon to catch our overnight train to Nice!

The train cost 15 euro and wasn’t worth a penny more. It was a 10-hour overnight trip, but there were no sleeper cars. We had to sit in our seats the whole time and attempt to sleep as well as possible. This would have been all right, except one man was snoring SO LOUDLY. It was disgusting. The whole train was awake because of it. I was able to make it stop by coughing really loudly in his face for a while and fell asleep after that, but apparently it continued the whole night. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got to Nice but luckily were allowed to check into our room right away (around 9am!), which was amazing. We had an incredible view from our terrace. The hotel staff was incredibly kind and we benefited from Joanna’s dad’s platinum status and got a free bowl of fresh fruit. The butlers were kind and when they brought Joanna ice for her knee (which she had hurt the first day), they would wax poetic about how happy they were to meet us. Very nice.

We relaxed for a while before going to get lunch near the open-air market. It was a beautiful, cloudless day and we had a great time exploring Vieux Nice and sitting on the beach with our toes in the Mediterranean. Dinner was one of the best meals I’ve had in Europe at some random restaurant in town. I got fish soup, rabbit, and fruit salad; simple, but just delicious. We retired quite early since we were heading to Cinque Terre the next day.

We woke up early and grabbed breakfast on the waterfront before going to the train station to catch our Trenitalia to Genoa. There was a logistical mishap and I couldn’t print our tickets at the station, but the conductor ended up being very accommodating. From Genoa we took a train to Monterosso (the biggest of the Terres) and then to Manarola, the Terre where our hostel was located. All would have been perfect except we didn’t realize you have to validate your ticket before getting on the train under penalty of a 50-euro fine! The conductor was not as understanding on our connecting train, but luckily he reduced the fine to 5 euros each. We still weren’t happy about forking over the money, especially since he pocketed it in a sketchy way. You would think he would be more understanding of stupid tourists like us. At least we escaped relatively unscathed.

When we got to Manarola, we were blown away. It is a time warp. The town is straight out of a postcard. Our hostel was a beautiful old building on top of the hill, very clean, lots of rules, but very nice. We had a view of the whole town and the sea that stretched out seemingly forever. We settled into our room before heading out to explore Manarola. I asked for a map of Manarola at the desk and the hostel owner just laughed. It’s pretty much one street. We walked around a bit and looked at a cemetery on the top of the hill and started out on one of the coastal paths that connect the towns. We were really hungry by the time we finished seeing all there is to see in Manarola so we got dinner at one of the restaurants in town. Cinque Terre is the birthplace of pesto, and I had pesto ravioli TO DIE FOR. The pesto was fantastic. I’m hungry right now and really want some, but airport food just won’t cut it.

We went to bed early to get up early and start exploring the other towns. Breakfast at the hostel was good, all organic, with some amazing yogurt. We caught a train to Monterosso, the first of the Terres, and walked around a bit. It has a sandy beach and quite a few storees, but it was early in the morning and nothing was going on. We then found the hiking trail to Vernazza and set out on our way. The views were stunning and the greenery was lush and refreshing. We passed countless terrace farming plots where olives, herbs, and lemons were thriving. The turquoise Mediterranean splashed below as we wound around the coast. We kept hearing what sounded like thunder but dismissed as trains passing through the mountain tunnels. We were wrong; it was thunder. A storm rolled in and we found ourselves caught on the trail in rain and then hail! We waited out a bit but then continued on, getting soaked but still enjoying it. We finally made it to Vernazza after quite the adventurous hike and had pesto pizza for lunch.

Vernazza had quite a few good shops that had good gift merchandise. We made use of that. Then it was off to Corniglia, a picturesque terre up on a massive hill. After making the walk, we stopped for Italian coffees that were appropriately strong and hot, and only cost 1.50 euro! Then back to Manarola along the coast to freshen up for dinner in Riomaggiore, the last terre. back at the hostel, two new roommates had moved in. They smelled so bad. We couldn’t stop laughing when we got inside because it was just gross. To make things worse, one of them snored like a man and none of us got a good night’s rest. Nonetheless, we were up and at it early the next morning to catch a train to La Spezia and then to Florence.

When we got to Florence we checked into our hostel, Leonardo’s, which was an interesting place. It was super homey and cozy, and we got our own room! Glorious. Leonardo let us borrow his laptop and gave us a great map and info booklets about Florence, plus recommendations for where to eat, what to visit, where to go out, etc. We spent the day checking out the major sites, like the Duomo (amazing), the jewelry bridge (I want everything), and the Boboli Gardens. We had the BEST lunch at a restaurant Leonardo recommended. I had pizza whose ingredients were unbelievably fresh, but the real gem was the fettucine al fredo with black truffles that Jen and Heimunn split. So good. After our day tour, Jen had to leave for the airport and then there were three. We took a nap at the hostel before going to dinner at another of Leo’s recommendations where the waiter (who looked uncannily like Mr. Bean) was OBSESSED with Heimunn. He gave us two free rounds of Limoncino, bought Heimunn a rose, kissed her on the cheek and said she was his love. It was great.

After we went to the bar strip to see the Florence nightlife and wandered into a random bar. Of course there is someone from my high school there since the world is about the size of a 10x8 room and people pop up everywhere. It was nice to catch up a bit and always fun(ny) to see a familiar face in an unexpected place. We went to a “club” called Twice which just seemed silly after the clubs in Barcelona, but we definitely made Limoncino out of lemons and had a ball dancing in the corner by ourselves to the American music they played.

Our last day in Florence was spent shopping. Besides all that fabulous history, Florence doesn’t have anything but shopping. It’s insane. Shop after shop after shop after shop after shop. We tried to take it easy since Joanna’s knee was still quite bad and our day was passed pretty leisurely. We took a bus to Pisa to catch our flight back to Paris that night (last night). Now I’m at the airport. Five airports in 36 hours: Pisa, Paris Orly, Paris CDG, London Heathrow, JFK. I’m exhausted.

I’m anticipating a good deal of reverse culture shock. It’s going to be so strange to walk around and hear English all the time. Life is just so easy in the US. You can get anything you want whenever. American culture is built around innovation to accommodate people’s needs and desires, whereas French culture is pretty much the opposite. You adjust to society, society won’t lift a finger for you. And that’s okay. I’ve grown to really like that. I was incredibly relieved to touch down in Paris, not only because there were about 50 screaming and singing Italian children on the plane, but also because I take comfort in French culture, language, and society. It feels right. It fits. I don’t mind bending over backwards for Paris.

And so I finish this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my European experiences; I had a good time experiencing them.