I smell like a French whore

Last night Renee's niece, Mathilde got here. I didn't meet her last night because it was almost 12am when she got here and I was already in bed. So I met her this morning. We really didn't talk much but she seemed really nice. I think she's 19. Today my plans went exactly as planned....that sound's dumb. Well anyways, I got out of the metro and looked to my right and there was the Arc de Triomphe. It is so cool looking. Hiding behind it was the Eiffel Tower. I told Amber, who finally decided to come with me today, that I'd meet her outside of the metro. Well I didn't realize that there were like 6 different exits for the one metro. So we couldn't find each other. I called her, she called me, but we ended up finally finding each other. To get to the Arc de Triomphe you have to go through this sweet underground tunnel. There is a circle that goes around the arc and there are 12 roads that go off in different directions from that circle. I stared at the traffic and was amazed how they didn't hit each other. I could never drive in Paris. I'd probably have to get a bike...and I really don't like bikers. So we hung out around the Arc for a bit and as Amber was trying to speak French, this guy behind us over heard and corrected her. It was funny because he wasn't even French. Amber said that she didn't like Paris at all. I wondered how in the world can you not like Paris at all when you get to see sights like this every day?!?!?! You can't see this in Chicago. Sure, Chicago is cool but come on, how many people can say they lived in Paris for a year? When she says stuff like that it kinda annoys me.

We left the Arc and headed down the Champs Elysees. The road is 4 lanes going each direction...it's nuts. There are so many shops like Cartier and Louis Vuitton. I obviously can't even afford to step foot in those stores. The guard at the door would probably look at me and toss me out. "You don't look rich enough for our store, leave!" hahaha....so we went to FNAC which is pretty much like Best Buy in America. It was pretty sweet. They had a bunch of American tv shows on DVD. I tried looking for LOST but it wasn't there. They did have Gilmore Girls....but everything there was so expensive. I thought about getting the new Mika cd but didn't. Mika is a French artist who sings in English....go figure. We kept walking down the Champs Elysees and stopped in the Virgin Megastore. That was pretty cool too. I was starving so I got something to eat at this sandwich place called Pomme en Pain....or something like that. The sandwich wasn't too bad. Amber didn't get anything. She told me all about these weird word she uses...like trick means whore or something...I was like yeah, I don't say that. Our tastes in everything from music to movies are so different. But, she likes Twilight, so I'll have someone to go see New Moon with. We went into Sephora which is like the biggest perfume store in the World. It was nuts. When I walked out of there I smelled like a French whore...no joke. I only sprayed one perfume on myself, something by Christina Ricci...it smelled so good. Then this lady like attacked me with some perfume she was carrying around and it smelled horrible. Then I was testing a bunch of different perfumes. I sprayed them on the little strips of paper they have out but I must have horrible aim or something because the majority of the perfumes ended up on me and not the paper...so I'm sure I smelled just amazing.

We walked all the way down the Champs Elysees and ended up at Place de la Concord. I've never been there before, just saw it from our tour bus in high school. It was pretty sweet. The obelisk was a gift from Egypt. And it's like really old. France got it in 1833 and it was moved to Place de la Concorde after they stopped beheading people like King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette with the guillotine. I think the gold top on the obelisk is so ugly. It just looks like it doesn't belong on there. I think there used to be some other golden top on it but it was stolen or something like that so they put a new one up there...but I think it's hideous. If you stand in the center of Place de la Concorde you can see all the way down the Champs Eylsees to the Arc de Triomphe. It was pretty sweet. I felt like Lance Armstrong in Le Tour de France or something. The Champs Elysees is completely cobble-stoned so I couldn't imagine riding a bike up and down it 10 times, or however many laps they do. The first picture to the left is the Obelisk with it's ugly gold top. It's kinda hard to see it but if you make the picture bigger you can see it. The next picture I took in the center of Place de la Concorde.

I got back on the metro and headed home. Mathilde was here and I asked her if my package came and she said no. I guess they came yesterday and said no one was here...which is a lie because I was here and I had no idea they came. So now I guess I'll have to wait around for them all day. I really didn't have any set plans but I thought about going to the Louvre to find the painting that I am presenting for Nocturnes de Louvre because I haven't seen it in person yet. So hopefully they come early. Dinner was so good tonight. Renee made this cauliflower, cheese and meat thing. It was delish. Her and Mathilde are so funny. Mathilde talks so fast I don't understand a word she says. She said that she's been taking English classes for 8 years and she still doesn't understand. She says that when she's trying to listen to what the teacher is saying or if she's watching a movie she doesn't understand it because they talk to fast. She said she understood how I felt when it comes to French and people talking to fast. She seems really nice. She invited me out with her and some guy tonight but she said that I probably wouldn't have a good time because he doesn't speak proper French...he speaks slang. She said when she first met him she couldn't understand what he was saying. So I passed because I knew I'd be that much more confused.

So I guess I play the waiting game tomorrow...should be a blast.

A bientot