Days 15-18: I See London, I See France

Thursday: Part 2 / Friday Morning

Onto the ferry!

Oh, what a day. So the earlier part of Thursday was already documented in my earlier post, and as awesome as that first have, it has NOTHING on the latter half. Sorry former half... you were awesome, but not as awesome as fairytale ferryboats, small bottles of wine, and creepy truckers. But that's getting ahead of myself. So, good thing Kalie and I planned ahead and gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the Tube station, because between going back and forth on packing and getting distracted by conversation and dinner, we left a little behind schedule. No worries, because we made it to London Victoria Station, stared being obnoxious with the camera, bought some deliciously spicy spring rolls (because, you know, we didn't have half enough food with dinner already), and waited around a bit until our train departed. Took the trains without problem to Newhaven Town, found the harbor after just a little bit of getting lost (Not that you really can get lost in Europe, because there are just so many things to see. I call it unintentional sight-seeing at night).

Anyhow, made it to the ferry, which was a crazy late one so there weren't that many people at all- mainly truckers, who we took great care to avoid, because honestly, creepy guys going "ooh la la" as they walk by don't really do it for me. So, I just have to say... this ferry was freaking amazing. Honestly, though. I can't even begin to describe it... but I'll still try. It was a moving fantasy, according to Kalie. But seriously. We were both expecting some guy to come up and tell us to go down to normal class, because there was no way this place wasn't first class... but, I guess it really was normal. There were lounges, an arcade, kid-zone playground, a tv room, a full on food and drink place, among so many other things. Kalie and I proceeded to grab a table, some wine ("Kalie: Will cappuccino brownie go with Merlot? Answer... Yes."), and played cards/chatted/discussed "creeper" this guy with dreds that kept walking around. It was such a surreal experience. I mean, 4 hours long, with train rides on both sides, so it isn't a quick journey, but it was absolutely excellent.

It's cold and rainy!

The guy with dreds provided entertainment as he dominated video games, and 2 french truckers tried to buy Kalie and me coffee at one point. So, Kalie took a nap, I stayed up and watched luggage, and we finally docked around 3:30 in the morning at Dieppe Harbor in France. After that, we disembarked and looked around like the lost people were were in search of the train station. Problem- it was like a 15 minute walk away and we had no idea on how to get there. So what happens? Well, "creeper" and this other girl Jessica were walking that direction too, and apparently the guy took ferries a lot, and he led us all the way to the train station without problem. This guy was hilarious. I know it probably isn't always the safest thing to mindlessly follow someone in a new country, but between the three of us girls we felt pretty safe, and it turned out that the guy was absolutely hilarious, somewhat abrasive and loud (probably due to the copious amounts of alcohol he drank), but harmless. Between telling us art history, history of his girlfriends, how France was a communist country, how the trees looked like cans of beans, getting angry at the rain, and flinging pounds because they were "useless in this communist country!"our newfound friend Hiro got us to the station, helped us find our train, and provided us with hours of entertainment while we waited for it.

Our Polish friend, Hiro

The girl, Jessica, was traveling alone, and seemed to appreciate the company as well. And as for Kalie and me? Well, we made some new friends and got to our destination safely, which was quite a relief. As we hung out in the train station, I got some fantastic footage of "Hiro" walking around. We have no idea how much he drank, but he held it well and just seemed to process life in a constant state of inebriation. He flung more coins, told me I had "eyes like a Spanish woman", asked Kalie and me if we were Barcelona lesbians, showed us a dinosaur keychain, and continued drinking his vodka. I don't think Kalie and I could have found a crazier, funnier person. We finally got on the train with Jessica and Hiro, and the antics continued, between his profanities, pulling out christmas lights from his bag and stringing them around his neck, singing, making the other passengers look at his book, painting his nails, taking multiple pictures (and somehow remaining photogenic), showing us his passport (of which he ripped a page out to make a filter), telling us all about his history, made this really ridiculous face, told a guy he had fluffy hair ("I used to have fluffy hair- like him! Like you! Now I have a bush. It looks like a f-ing mop on my head! I am in a depression with these hairs. My girlfriend made me do it, but she is in mental hospital now." And then he did his trademark cackle), and did so many other things I can't even explain it. I've never met a more ridiculous person. Honestly... this guy was a riot.

So, we made it to the next station, made Hiro eat a croissant and some coffee, exchanged pounds for Euros, talked with Jessica a bit while Hiro walked around the station dragging his backpack with a leash, and finally got on our next train. We hid Hiro's vodka in his backpack, and I swear he was like a little kid. It was about 7am at this point and we wouldn't let him drink, so every time the train went into a tunnel, he'd stand up with his huge smile and say: "Night time! Where's my vodka?" and then it would get light again and: "Day time? Where's my vodka?" Every time- without fail. Yet, regardless of this guy's shenanigans, he did help Kalie and me out tremendously. We made it all the way to Paris, he gave us directions on which metro to take, helped Jessica on her way, and then proceeded to make us take about 100 pictures before he gave us a goodbye and his trademark phrase: "I will miss you... Now f- off!" Oh Hiro... what an extraordinary experience.


Friday: In Paris

So, after leaving Hiro and Jessica, Kalie and I took the metro and made our way to the hostel. It turned out to be much nicer than I expected. I mean, still a hostel, so not big, shared rooms, nasty public shower, but somehow Kalie and I lucked out and got a room with 4 Australian girls with its own shower. So, not a completely legitimate hostel experience, but at least we didn't have to worry so much about living with creepy guys, or even our stuff. We really did have fantastic luck in meeting new people during this weekend trip. So, after we dropped off our stuff, we decided to run around Paris and see the sights, before we (randomly) ran into some Pepperdine kids. So, we all got some crepes, then continued looking around, got caught in an insane downpour, before we went back to the hostel and cleaned up a bit. After that, the Lausanne kids finally arrived so it was so much fun getting to see old faces again and meet some new people. It was such a fun group and so nice seeing everyone! So we helped them get adjusted and then ran off to get food. We ended up finding this delicious Kebab place that had cheap prices and fantastic sandwiches. I got a chicken panini (so good). Yes, it still is all about food.

After this, we moved on to the Eiffel Tower. You know, I've seen it a couple times, but it is never any less fantastic and overwhelming, especially at night. We we "ohhed" and "ahhed" for a bit, listened to some music, watched this guy do some sort of interpretive dance to the music, before heading all the way up to the top of the Tower. I've never gone to the top before, so that was absolutely awesome! And, one of my friends got her first kiss up there from a guy who'd been planning it for so long, so that was probably one of the cutest things I've seen in a while. Very heartwarming. The group also got applause for singing "Dynamite" while waiting in line. The people probably appreciated the distraction from the bitter cold up that high. Whew. It was freezing! and windy, which didn't help matters. After this, we decided to head back. It wasn't too late, but Kalie and I hadn't slept for 2 days, and everyone else was pretty exhausted, too. So, hoping there were any disgusting bugs in my bed, I curled up and crashed out. Thank goodness. Sleep at last.


Saturday:
It was such a relief to finally get some sleep, even if we did get up at a fairly early hour to start out of the day. The hostel provided some sad excuse for breakfast, but hey "free" food. I'm not complaining. We grabbed that and began our walk to the Louvre. It was still pretty chilly, but fun being ridiculous and hanging out with everyone again. Some of the guys were making a music video, so we took multiple stops for their filming. The video itself is absolutely hilarious and turned out quite nicely. We finally got the Louvre, which was so much fun. Again, it never gets old, because there are so many things to see, although we did all get a bit grouchy as lunchtime passed.

After the museum, we headed out on an epic journey to find food. I really do love the Lausanne group, even with their inability to make decisions on where we should go for lunch. Thankfully, we finally stopped, I got a lovely croque monsieur and frites, and was put into a happier mood once again. Oh the glories of food. Oh the glories of lots of food. Definitely ate a ton on this little "vacation." Oh well... That will be remedied by far healthier eating and the gym back in London. Right.... After the Louvre we went to the Notre Dame (again, absolutely mind-blowing each time I see it).

Then, as we wandered around looking for a bar or a pub to chill out in, we ended up running into the Techno Parade, and annual thing that goes through Paris. We all thought it was over, and yet it was still going in full force.

This thing was insane. Really, though, wow. There's all these floats that have different DJs on them blasting their music, and people just run around following them. And there were thousands of people. People running around, dancing on bus station covers, dancing on cars, sitting on stoplights. I don't even want to begin to think about cleaning that place up afterwards. It was filthy! But it was such an epic experience. I mean, we had no idea we were going to run right into this parade, so it made an amazing afternoon all the more fantastic. We followed the parade to the end, trying to ignore the large amounts of crazies running around on who-knows-what-drugs, had a minor scare when one of our friends got distracted and fell back from the group, but all-in-all we had a fun time and a great full day in Paris. But, oh course, it wasn't even close to over at this point.

After the metro ride home, which had its own fair share of singing French people, overheating in the metro, some dramatic fight that delayed the train, and other such things, we dropped back at the hostel, then went out again to our favorite Kebab place after picking up some drinks at the convenience store. Note to self. Never drink French "cider." Definitely not  anything like British cider. It was like chemicals. So, being typical college kids, Kalie and I downed that nonsense and proceeded to hit up the far-more-acceptable mimosas. Dinner was yet another fantastic affair, and then we decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower and just hang out there. So we took our drinks and settled down on the grass and just enjoyed one another's company for a while, talking, laughing, taking pictures, and being silly. And it was so much fun.

We found a playground at one point, and seriously, college kids and playgrounds? Always a fantastic idea. After fooling around there a bit, we sat back down on the lawn, made some French friends who had almost as big of a group as ours (we were around 15 people at this point, I believe), and they decided to take us to a bar (Kalie had to give the guy at the door our orange juice in order to get in. Funniest thing ever. He actually drank it). So, we all headed out, chatting with our new friends. I met this lovely girl (Joan) and actually spoke decent French with her. It was kind of cool, relearning stuff, and she spoke decent English, so between the two of us we were able to have a fairly coherent conversation. We were kicked out of the bar quite quickly because no one was really buying anything, considering our earlier kickback under the Tower (yeah, doesn't that sound awesome? I think so. Partying under the Eiffel Tower...), so we said goodbye and found our way back to the hostel.

Thank goodness some of the guys in our group aren't directionally challenged like myself.

On the way back the good times and socializing with the Lausanne group continued. It was so much fun seeing them all again- and being in Paris with them? Surreal. I thought about this all summer, but now it's all coming true, which is making this international experience all the more amazing. Cue dramatic music moment, right? Well, moving away from all of the seriousness, I decided to trip over a speed-bump on the way back (awesome. so graceful). Some of the girls got to play doctor when we got back to the hostel, which was an interesting experience in itself. Oh well, it was a fantastic evening, so a few bumps and bruises are totally okay.


Sunday:

Woke up early again.... and wow. My knee was brilliantly squishy and so painful. Definitely got a few bruises here and there from my inability to pick up my feet the night before. So, limping around very pathetically, I proceeded to pack up with Kalie, and we chilled with a few of the Lausanne kids until check-out, after which we hit up the Kebab place for the third time. Yeah, it really was THAT good. After such, we made it to the metro, three of us got left behind, and then caught up with the group again (gotta love it), and finally said our goodbyes (after I slowly gimped my way down way too many stairs). Sad, but I know we'll be visiting them again soon, so I'm not too down about it. Besides, I was excited to get back "home" to London. Funny how it's already home in my mind.

After splitting with the group, Kalie and I made our way to the train station, found a nice little cafe while we were waiting for the departure (I had vegetable soup and she tried a croque madame), and then we hopped on our train. This crazy little woman decided to yell at us in French (we finally found out that she was demanding we put our backpacks on top of our seats so she could have more room), and then she stared at Kalie the entire ride. We talked with this woman from Florida to keep from laughing at this crazy little woman. She was so crazy, in fact, that I had to get a stealth picture of her. Yeah, I am that creepy.

Hippo on a ferry ;)

So after our first train we hit the next station and looked for our connecting train. One problem... it was leaving way too late and we would miss our ferry. So, we went and talked to one of the guys working there, who pointed out that our tickets were booked for October, not September. Wow. Awesome. So, what did we do? Well, we took out 50 euros each and waited for a taxi to Dieppe, because that was the only way were going to make it in time. After getting blatantly ignored by a lady who stole the first taxi (Kalie literally ran after her saying No!), we found another one, bartered with him, and managed to get a flat 100 euros rate, and considering it ended up being 160, we got a deal. Of course, we also paid way more money than we expected to. Ugh. But, we made it to the ferry! And it was a day time one, so there were so many more people, less creepers, and yet another fantastic experience.

We decided to have dinner on the ferry, so I grabbed some lovely boeuf bourguignon and fries, and some cider to go with it. Kalie and I whipped out the cards and wine again soon after, and proceeded to have a lovely journey back home. The ferry landed, we got to the station, and took our first train, only to find that the next station wasn't sending trains to Victoria any more. Really? Really? Fine, so we made friends, figured out a roundabout route, and a few trains later we made it to London Victoria Station, hopped on the tube (such a relief), landed back in South Kensington, and walked the short walk (there was actually a street detour- so many transportation fails on this trip), and entered our lovely, warm house. Honestly- such a relief after such a long day to hop into the shower and then limp my way to bed. Again, sleep has never felt so good.

All in all? A freaking fantastic weekend. Definitely one for the books. Or the blog, considering that's what this little thing is...

I'm ready for the next trip!