A Final Recount of Paris (For Now... I'll Be Back)

My last days in Paris were marked by sunshine, despite the fact that it had been raining all week. I think it was Paris' way of saying, "Meghan, don't leave me. We can work this out. Look how fabulous I am!" It apparently rained the day after I left, which I can only take to mean that Paris was expressing its true pain at my departure.

Melyn and I walked around our neighborhood, taking pictures and buying every dessert that I had always wanted to try but never had. We then went to the cafe where Amélie works in "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain." It was a lot a bit overpriced, but that's what you have to pay for happiness and a few photos.

I spent my second to last night saying goodbye to most of my friends in a picnic by the Eiffel Tower. In true French style, there was red wine, baguettes, meat, cheese, and beer. Many people had cigarettes as well, and I couldn't help but think, "In 48 hours, I'll be able to breathe better, but it just won't be the same."

The next day was my last official one in France. Théo took me to an amusement park. Because it was a Saturday, it was a little bit on the crowded side, but I still had a lot of fun. French amusement parks aren't that different from American ones, except that everyone speaks in French and all the signs are in French.

We then came back and had dinner at a nice restaurant. I ordered clams, which were pretty good, though immediately following, Théo showed me the clam he was eating and we had something similar to the following conversation:

Théo: See how it's moving? It's still alive.
Me: They gave you a live one? You should tell them.
Théo: They were all alive.
Me: ... Like not the ones I was eating, right?
Théo: Those were alive, too.
Me: No, they weren't! Wait, were they really?
Théo: When you order clams and they look like that, they are always alive.
Me: If you had told me that before, I wouldn't have eaten them.
Théo: I know. That's why I didn't.

Not sure I'll ever have clams again, but now I know their secret.

We then met Arnaud and a few other friends on the steps of Sacre Coeur and drank wine. Because it's so high up, the view from Sacre Coeur is fabulous. I think it was a great final view of Paris.

The next morning, Théo, Melyn, and Arnaud helped me get to the airport. I wasn't quite ready to leave, so we went to an airport cafe and bought overpriced pain au chocolat. While we ate, I was instructed to take any offers to go on later flights if the plane was overbooked. Coincidentally, it was. They had already given all the spots away by the time I got up to the counter, and I would have only stayed an hour longer in Paris.

I did cry when I was saying goodbye to everyone. Théo, Melyn, and Arnaud stayed with me until they weren't allowed to go any further. I cried as soon as I started giving Melyn the first hug. I had already warned them, so I feel they were prepared. I finally had gotten some semblance of control when I managed to say the line I've always wanted to say to someone: "We'll always have Paris." I then completely ruined the effect by sobbing. Somewhere, Humphrey Bogart was probably very upset with me.

The plane ride was ok as long as I didn't remember what I was leaving. Though I didn't sob on the plane, a few tears did leak out occasionally. The four-year-old sitting across the aisle from me kept giving me I'm-terrified-of-you looks throughout the plane ride.

Landing and getting picked up by my parents and Uncle Hank and Aunt Cheryl was nice. We all went out for my first legal drink in the US. I chose a Bailey's Irish Coffee, because Bailey's has always had a special place in my heart. And plus, I was tired and it contained caffeine.

I have gotten to see a lot of my family since, and received an amazing cake from the Vonderheides (it was Disney-themed...). That's all been lovely. I've also been making my doctor rounds (gotta check everything to make sure Meghan's working properly), so I feel like I haven't really had the chance to let everything sink in yet. I think I will write one final entry in a week or two telling how I've adjusted/ what it's like being back in Dubuque. I'm going to guess the transition from Paris to Dubuque will be a semi-tough one. Though, like I've said, they're not SO different. They both have people in them. And buildings.

Reverse culture shock report to follow!

Final Countdown

In 48 hours I will be frantically running to the airport with Théo, Melyn, and possibly Arnaud... Actually, I hope I won't be frantically running. I'm hoping I will be casually strolling. And not terrified I'll miss my plane. I also hope I won't sob all over everyone when I go to leave. If I'm wearing mascara, it'll get all over the place and then I won't be able to get it off, and everyone on the plane will judge me and avoid me, secretly calling me "raccoon girl" behind my back and making inferences about my current mental status.

Should have brought my waterproof mascara...

I'm pretty much done packing. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm going to bring home an entirely new, chic wardrobe and have a Sabrina moment. First, this won't happen because my father is not the chauffer for a rich family with a lazy, womanizing-but ridiculously good-looking- son (pity). Second, clothes here are a tad bit on the pricey side. I would have bought a new wardrobe, but I would have had to give something up- like eating. I shall come home with 2 shirts, a pair of boots, a fabulous purple trenchcoat that all shall admire, and two pairs of jeans. Most of these were acquired when my parents came to visit.

Now I just need to give away all my (non clothing-related) worldly possessions that I've acquired while here. This mainly involves food and pots and pans. Molly really did leave in a frantic hurry, and so Melyn and I have had to deal with some of her stuff. I don't want to put the same burden on Melyn, so I'm going to have everything prepared by tonight. Probably.

Théo and I are going to an amusement park tomorrow, which I feel is a perfect way to end my time here. I love roller coasters, and this park sounds a lot like Six Flags, so it'll be like a transition into home. I suppose I could have gone to EuroDisney, but then I really WOULD sob over everyone when I finally left because who ever wants to leave Disneyland?

That's ok. I'll be back.

I'm already making plans for the coming weeks so I don't get too sad. I'm excited to see my family and friends, and Mrs. VonderHeide, I accept your offer of cake.

Prague and Packing

I'm in the final week stretch here in Paris. I'm going to miss it a ridiculous amount, but I'm excited to go back and see everyone. And plus, my friend Michelle is learning how to make pain au chocolat so that I don't get too Paris-sick.

The final day in Galway was fun. We went to a barbeque, which I hadn't been to in forever. I forgot how much I miss barbeques. I didn't actually eat at the barbeque because I'd already had far too much food that day, but the smells were enough for me.

Allison and I met Théo in Prague and we all travelled to our hostel. I booked us a dorm room that could house ten people. There were 4 Spanish guys and an Italian in the room with us. They all very much enjoyed spending long nights together, and would frequently reenter the room at 5 in the morning. This didn't really bother us, though we did judge them the night all 4 of the Spanish guys wore matching all-white outfits and proceeded to take a photo shoot in the room where they struck poses that slightly resembled Backstreet Boy pictures of yesteryear.

The three of us mainly just wandered around Prague, checking out the castle and all the cool stuff. I felt kind of bad for Théo because Allison and I would be walking and then get distracted by shiny objects or puppets that were carved to look like Harry Potter and demand to go into the shop. I don't think he was as impressed by the shiny objects as we were.

We also saw a show while there. Faust in blacklight (no words). Allison and I enjoyed it, Théo did not. Really, I'm starting to feel bad for him as I write this. I give him props for not leaving us to go hang out with the Spanish guys in their white outfits.

We did go to the largest club in Europe (it's like 5 million floors) and also went on a ghost tour. Apparently Prague has an entire street that no one lives on because it's haunted. There are only shops. Our tour guide said, "People used to live above the shops, but it gets annoying when ghosts walk through the walls all the time carrying their heads under their arms or whatever it is ghosts do."

So true. Annoying would be how I would describe a ghost sighting.

Flying home worked out well. Apparently having "Mrs" instead of "Ms" on my ticket didn't matter, and no one questioned the validity of my fake marriage.

Yesterday, I saw a friend from my college who had been staying in London. We got lunch in a cafe and I recounted my various European adventures while listening to hers. Now I'm just trying to plan the rest of my time here and pack to get ready to go back. I told my dad yesterday that I'm insisting on a family party celebrating my homecoming. I was kind of joking, but I do want cake. I don't even care what the cake says... "Welcome Home, Meghan", "Shit, She's Back", "Happy Birthday, Jesus"... Cake is cake, man. They don't have those proper really-really-bad-for-you cake mixes here, so I haven't had a decently sugarified cake since I left. I think this needs to change.

Alright, packing. Andddddddddddd go!

Irish Adventure Number 2

I finally made it to see Allison (one of my best friends from high school) in Galway. She wanted me to meet her boyfriend, Paul. When I got here on Saturday, Paul was drinking in the backyard with one of his friends. This turned out to set the tone of the evening as more and more of Paul’s friends came over to drink with us in true Irish style. All of them brought huge cases of beer. It made me feel right at home.

At one point, Allison said, “I’m surrounded by boys… I just can’t seem to get away from them.” At this very moment, three more boys knocked on the door, bringing the number of males in the house up to 12 compared to just 3 girls (me, Allison, and her roommate Carly), so I was inclined to believe her. They were all very nice though, and quite willing to sing Disney songs with me once they got drunk enough, so we got along swimmingly.

Later in the night, we all went out to a pub and danced to Irish songs. Paul and his friends kept buying me drinks, which was very nice of them. I would barely start one when a new one was placed in front of me. Instead of drinking a lot, it actually accomplished the opposite. I got so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of alcohol in front of me that I don’t believe I actually drank the equivalent of a full drink, it was more like one tiny sip of each accompanied by a “thanks.” I think this made them think I didn’t like whatever they had given me, which would cause them to buy me yet another drink. I suppose a better approach would have been, “Meghan, what would you like to drink?” But why ask someone what they want when you can just buy them loads and loads of drinks in complete and utter uncertainty?

Allison and I have spent the last few days going around all the sites in Galway, and today we went to visit a castle. It had a little village set up around it, so it was quite intense. Someone took farmhouses from all parts of Ireland from the early 19^th century and rebuilt them all over the estate, so one from Galway and one from Kerry and one from Shannon would be all next to each other. I don’t know who took the time to do this, but I hope they were well paid for it.

For dinner, Allison and I reserved spots for the medieval banquet that you can eat inside the castle. We had honeyed mead and meat in the banquet hall, just like in Beowulf, so I felt like I was living the literature major’s dream. We also got sung to by a little, old Irish man. I was just excited to have gotten to eat a banquet in a real castle, and will probably brag about this for the rest of my life to all those who haven’t been fortunate to relive Beowulf.

Tomorrow we’re just going to hang out around Galway, and then leave for Prague early in the morning on Thursday. We’re meeting up with Théo there, and are both extremely excited. We’ve already planned on going on a Haunted Prague tour, as Prague is supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in all of Europe. I’m prepared to not be able to sleep for the rest of my time there after taking the tour.

No worries, I’ll detail all the reasons Prague is haunted in my next entry. Well, providing I actually get back to Paris alright. I’ve already had to call the Prague airlines I’m using several times as they first put my name down as “Mr. Meghan” on the ticket and then “Mrs. Meghan.” I should have just left the first one on the ticket and seen if they asked me about how the sex change had gone.

I'd definitely have something to write about then.