USA,USA,USA!

The trip to Chartres was cool. Our tour guide was great! He was an older, British gentleman that "was married to the cathedral", as he put it. Interesting?! They were renovating the cathedral, so it was really noisy inside. We took an hour long tour, which basically consisted of the tour guide, Charles, I think his name was, retelling the cathedral's history. He definitely knew everything there was to know about Chartres! After a quick recount of the Cathedral's history, Charles went on to explain a few of the several stain glass windows. He explained that the windows told stories, because back in the day most people were illiterate. I found his tour very interesting. (My Papa Jack totally would've loved the tour and the guy. He knew so much about so many different things. Just like my Papa Jack! :] )

After our tour of the cathedral, we were free to roam around the city until our train left at 3:30. I, along with 2 of my friends, opted to eat at a little cafe and then walk around until it was time to leave. Our time in Chartres was relaxing and very educational. It was nice to get out of the city for a little bit and have a chance to explore one of France's less hectic cities.

As great as our time in Chartres was, we were all very anxious to get back to Paris to watch the USA v. Algeria game. On the train, my pops hooked us up with the score. (The boys were really grateful, Dad. They say thanks, Papa Patterson :] ) As soon as the train doors open we began sprinting to the nearest cafe showing the game. We knew exactly where we were going. Kaitlyn had found an "American cafe" 2 minutes from the train station. Perfect, right!? Unfortunately, she remembered wrong. It was actually an English Pub, not an American Cafe. Normally, the boys wouldn't be opposed to watching the game in there, but there was one minor problem: they were showing the England game. So we walked and walked and walked some more looking for another place. Finally, the boys gave up and decided to go back and watch England play. Pam, determined to watch the USA game, managed to sweet talk the owner into putting the USA game on the t.v in the back of the pub. I'm not sure I've ever seen Pam, Evan, and Preston so happy in my life. Ha ha As you SHOULD all know, we won. It was a fun game to watch. I actually paid attention this time!

Today was so much less dramatic than expected. The city was supposed to be nearly shut down due to a strike. Everyone sorta planned on not being able to get to class, because of closed metros and bus lines. Lucky for me, my roommate LOVES class and made sure we got there on time. We were literally 2 of maybe 7 people that showed up. In the end, it was best that I went to class, though. It showed the professors that I'm not just here to have a good time and that I'm dedicated to their classes.

After class, Kaitlyn, Pam, and I walked the Champs Ellysses (I'm sure I totally butchered the spelling of that, sorry). The Champs is definitely very cool. Something you just have see if you spend anytime in Paris. The Swazorski crystal store was my favorite. The stairs are so cool! I'll post a picture!! :]

Dinner was lonely last night. It was just me at the dinner table, because Sarah went to a concert and our madame was at the theater. I had left overs from a few nights back. I didn't mind at all, because that was actually one of the meals I enjoy. (It was a meat and potatoes casserole type of thing) For dessert, i had an ice cream out of the freezer. Perfect! I took the metro to a Montparnesse Bievenue and then walked to meet up with Kaitlyn, Pam, and the boys at the boys' favorite pub. One thing I learned, I'm definitely not a pub person, but we sorta do whatever the boys want, so that's where we ended up. It was pretty cool, actually. There was a live band, so we weren't just sitting around watching sports and waiting for the boys to agree to head to somewhere else. The band was covering Beetles songs, but, of course, were nowhere near as good. Still, everyone was able to sing along to the songs. Once the band had finished, we walked to a cafe. "Didn't ya'll eat dinner before, though?!", you may ask. Yes, yes we did, but true to form, a few hours after dinner, the boys were hungry again. We sat and watched them devour 1 cheese plate, 2 salads, and 1 cheese and butter (gag me) sandwich. I believe we also went through 3 good sized baskets of bread. Ridiculous.

I know we rag on the boys a lot, but really they're great guys. They always look out for us (even we would prefer they just let us be) and are always willing to help any of us out in any way. They've been great. That being said, I'm definitely getting sad about leaving Paris. I'm going to miss the city, but I think what I'll miss most are all of the friends I've made. None of us will ever have a reason to all be together again after this, ya know? Luckily, the thought of seeing my friends and family back home totally trumps the idea of being sad about leaving. I am so excited to go home. I can't believe we have only a few days left in Paris. It feels like just yesterday I was at the airport hugging my family goodbye! So crazy!

This post was actually meant for yesterday, so "yesterday" in this post is Wed. and "today" is actually Thursday. In reality, its actually Friday. Okay, sorry if that was super confusing, but from this point on...today is Friday...

Today, we're going to the Opera. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous. People say you either love it or you hate it. I am really hoping I love it. Okay, so I totally just got a flashback from the movie Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts. The scene where they go to the opera and she ends up loving it. Let's hope that's me tonight! :] hehe I have absolutely no idea what to wear. I'm either wearing a pencil skirt with a nice blouse or a dress I bought in Brussels. The dress is black and has some metallic beading at the top. My first instinct is the pencil skirt, but if we go out after the Opera (which is inevitable, since its Friday) I won't want to wear a tight pencil skirt. See the dilemma?! Soo if anyone reads this before 5 pm my time or I think like 10 am ya'lls time and has an opinion, comment or fbook me! haha No, but seriously!! :] I miss having all my friends around to help me get dressed!! Soo help me out, guys!

I'll update tomorrow on how the Opera went and what I wore :] Love you all! Have a fab Friday!