June 24- June 30

This is my LAST BLOG POST for this trip! Ah!!!
Hm... Thursday I met for lunch with Jacky Jad and Laura. A girl Laura used to babysit was studying in Spain, so she visited Paris with 5 other American girls who were on the trip. We all met in Troccadero in front of the Eiffel Tower for a huge picnic. It was really fun and the girls visiting got to see the Eiffel Tower.
After, Laura and I had to leave because we were going to an Edun party. Edun is a new brand by Bono's wife that uses products made by Africans. After, Laura had to meet the girls up for dinner, and I went with a friend Kathrine to a Carrera party (its a sunglasses brand). It was totally dead because apparently there were 6 other designer promo parties that night or something, so I got to invite all my friends. Laura couldn't make it, but Jacky and Jad did. The place was beautiful! It was some famous French actors apartment (don't ask me who, I keep forgetting) in the 16th arrondissement (the most expensive area in paris) and it overlooked the seine and the eiffel tower. So nice!
Friday, I met up with a bunch of people from work, since they go out to lunch together every Friday. After, I met up with Laura in Bastille. I got there early, so I walked around on the docks near by. Its so beautiful, all the boats. It made me really excited to come home and spend time on our boat! Then Laura, Jad, and the girls met me and we walked to some stores though Bastille towards the Marais. By the end I was so exhausted, I went to Luxembourg Garden to lay down. After, I decided I wanted to make me and Noelle some dinner, so I made fried rice. But if you know me, I'm not a cook. So, I messed up right away with the eggs. The rice and the shrimp went well, but then when I put in the peas and carrots, there were just too many peas. It ended up being peas with fried rice instead of friend rice with peas. However, Noelle said she liked it and we did eat it! After, we watched Barefoot in the Park- such a good movie!!!
Saturday Jad and I went on a tour that a teacher of mine recommended. It went through a Carmelite church that was very pretty, but the tour was a little too detailed and a little boring. Finally, after an hour, we got to the cool stuff- a room where there is a splatter of blood from a massacre during the revolution and a room with skulls and bones from the people who were massacred. After, we walked through Luxembourg Garden and stumbled on the Gay Pride Parade going down St. Michel. It was actually really cool, with these huge flatbed trucks with music and djs and people dancing and dressed up. It was incredible. After, Jad had to go home to get something he had forgotten, so I went with him. He lives outside of Paris in a small suburban town on a river. I think its really quaint; he thinks its very lame.
Sunday.... i dont remember what we did Sunday...
Monday I went to the Chateau de Vincennes. It is this neat old chateau located on the eastern corner of Paris. It is very old and what you imagine what a real castle would look like with white brick stone walls and towers and everything. There was also a small chapel that was based on Saint Chapelle, one of the most beautiful chapels in France, but this one was disappointing.
Monday night I went to a club called Queen where they play disco music! There was even a Mickael Jackson impersonator. So funny, and I really felt like i was in the 70s haha
Tuesday I went to the catacombs. The catacombs were ok. The bones were stacked and it was mostly femurs and things and then there'd be a row of skulls and that was pretty cool. The bones on the top of the stacks were loose- you really could just pick them up if you wanted to (though they check at the end to make sure you don't steal any). I was a little disappointed though- I thought there would be more art using the bones, but really they were just stacked with a few designs randomly throughout the catacombs. After, we went for a walk in the Bastille because I wanted to see a railway track that was converted into a beautiful walkway. Then we met George and went to a bar to eat (I had fish and chips and they had hamburgers- so french haha)and to watch a World Cup game. After the game, George left and we went to another bar called the Long Hop to meet Jacky and Laura... I stayed as long as humanly possible before I had to leave to go and pack. My flight was at 8am, so I had to catch a 5am train. No sleep for Kristen.
That was definitely the best week of my life, and I really got attached to Jad, Jacky, and Laura since we spent so much amazing time together and really clicked well. I wouldn't trade that time for anything, and honestly I think I may have had more fun with them than on my last trip to paris....