Back in Paris: Visitors, Round 2

Already I'm finding myself catching up to the present and I'm wicked excited for that.

This past weekend, along with the departure of Sarah, Mark Andrew, Pat and Quinton to the States, came with the arrival of Irene et al., Lauren and Karen (one of Lauren's classmates from Oxford).

On Friday evening, I cooked dinner for Lauren and Karen, the course-list of which included:
Apératifs
Salmon carpaccio
Baked pasta with a pseudo-cheesy red sauce
Sweetened carrots
Salad (mâche, comme toujours !)
Cheese: emmental, comté, chèvre
Chocolat pudding with liégeois
Pain au chocolat and chocolat chaud

With the above menu, I think it becomes obvious why we did not feel like moving after that.

Saturday was my big tourist day with them. I met Lauren and Karen at the Sacré Coeur, after which we sat at a brasserie by the artist's square. We then headed off for some gelato and returned to the square to take a look at the different works on display for selling. Next, we attempted to go to Ste. Chapelle; with confusion as to whether or not we were supposed to pay to get in, we chose to walk along the Seine before ultimately deciding to take a river tour of the "Stars (i.e., monuments and notable sites) of Paris". With the sun slowly setting over Paris, we headed over to the Louvre where Karen got her photos taken with Lauren and the Pyramids. Close by, we headed over to the first English bookstore established on the European continent (got my English copy of HP7, as the French version was too expensive) and then later stumbled upon a street that included an Italian restaurant, two Japanese restaurants (one of them which had sushi), a piano bar, a jazz bar, and a movie theatre nearby. Naturally, we ate at the sushi restaurant and ended the evening with an American movie, Last Chance for Love.

On Sunday, I went to Church and made a quick stop at the grocery store, before meeting up with Lauren for lunch before she had to leave to go back to Grenoble. After a weekend full of activity, it was great to just sit down at a café with her and talk. Yet, the activity resumed as, after she left and I return to my apartment, I got a message to see a movie with Trevor, Tanya, and Camille (and when we got there, Pamela, too). When we got to the theatre, we were greeted with the exciting news that the price would be only 3,50 €/ticket/movie (instead of 10+ €) until the 25th. After watching La Fille du RER, Trevor and I headed back to the apartment, where we then met up with Irene. The three of us then climbed the stairs of the Arc de Triomphe and surveyed Paris at night, before returning back home. For dinner, Trevor cooked rice and beans, definitely feeding us more than was absolutely necessary.

On Monday, Irene left Paris to go back to Madrid, and I met up with Trevor after work. Unexpectedly, we watched a French movie (LOL) and I watched a quickly-spoken but rather hilarious French movie (Coco), while Trevor's second movie was in English.

Yesterday (Tuesday), Debra (my off-campus advisor from Albion) came to visit Paris, my programme and, by extension, me. I met up with Debra and Trevor back at BU and, together, made our way back to Argentine, where we had dinner at the brasserie right next door to our apartment. Following dinner, we met with our host family and impressively kept up an English-dominant conversation for over an hour. We capped off the night with, of course, pains au chocolat and chocolat chaud. Get ready Albion... I'm bringing this back with me!