I was going to meet up with Erin at Saint Michel and go to the Gardens of Luxembourg one last time before leaving France, but I came 20 minutes late. I didn't have her number, she'd taken mine down when her French phone was going wacky so I wasn't sure if she'd even been able to save it, and so I waited for a few minutes and wandered around a little until I found out Amy and Agenor were going to hang out. My Navigo metro pass expired with the change of the month, so I'd bought 10 metro tickets and am now trying to use them wisely, and the one I'd used to get to Saint Michel was still good to go over to them, thankfully! Haha, when I spotted Amy and called out to me, she looked right over my head! I know she's tall and I'm short, but, but, seriously?! Ha, and when Agenor arrived, he strutted on over, surprised that another friend of ours, Stephanie, had found us on her way to the library. She and we parted ways, Amy and I following Agenor.
I'd just explained the limited metro situation, and we started walking, and then suddenly we found ourselves at an elevator to descend into the metro. Apparently, Agenor knew of a stop on a line that didn't require scanning a ticket/pass, and it took us directly to a beautiful part of the city I'd never been to! It's a village they created, complete with a French "Where's Waldo" and a ginormous park! There was even a water feature that wasn't for drinking, admiring, or playing--it was for cooling your feet on a hot day! Brilliant! There were also a canal, a pond with baby ducks and water chicken and fish, a manicured jardin a la francaise, a people's produce garden, an orangerie, paths, and a place to play sports. Tons of people were there because of the beautiful weather and the holiday, but it was still quite peaceful and calming overall for me!
The canal area was beautifully tranquil. Mom, Dad, do those vines look familiar?
Should I be scared?
Agenor and Amy (there's a carousel behind me)
Before finishing our Agenor-led tour of the area, we also saw the Biblioteque National de la France. (I'm going to the Spanish one in Madrid next month!) By this point in time, we needed to go back into the center of Paris to meet up with friends to go see Notre Dame, or at least such was my plan/hope. Knowing that my friends had told me my metro tickets would only work for 1.5 hours and that it was something like 4 hours since I'd first scanned the ticket to get to Saint Michel, I still wanted to give it a try. After all, what did I have to lose? If worst came to worst, I'd have to use another ticket I'd bought. To all of our amazement, the ticket opened the door, and we were just in time for the metro! I thought of it as a blessing to help me save 1.2 euros--that is, until I tried to exit the metro station and the machines wouldn't let me out! Amy insisted that I'd already gotten through with my own ticket to use the metro and that I was simply exiting, so she scanned me through...
Arriving at the meeting spot, we ended up sitting around for something like an hour and a half, chatting and kind of waiting for others, kind of just chatting. Betsy came but then left because of allergies, Agenor had a YSA meeting that Amy decided to go to also, and some others didn't come, so it was down to me and Kristal and Emily. Before I forgot, I detoured us into the adjoining LDS visitor's center to talk to Soeur Woyak one more time before she finishes her mission and goes home next week. It's not so bad at all because I know I'll see her at school this Fall!
If only timing with Notre Dame had turned out as well as it had with Soeur Woyak. Alas, Notre Dame was closed for a mass for the holiday, but the guard told us it'd reopen in half an hour. We staved off hunger until heading off the line to get in at the appointed hour of 8:30. And stood. And waited. And checked the time. And double checked with others in line. And waited. And watched the guards inside, wondering when they'd unlock it. Finally, a bit after 9pm, they opened the doors! We filed inside and began to walk around, not joining the spectacle projete in the center of the floor. To our surprise and disappointment, the side hallways were closed off! So, I made sure to get a few photos to remember my first visit inside Notre Dame and have determined to try again for the real deal later.
Agenor and Amy finished with the meeting just in time to meet up with us as we finished our half-tour. Famished, we decidedly set off for food. I was wanting a gyro, with kebab meat, which Agenor thinks as highly of as I do of McDonald's burgers, but Amy found a meal deal at a Greek restaurant. It was nice to sit down and relax!
By the end of the meal, it was already after 11pm! The day's company was wonderful, and plans had transformed the day into something wholly unexpected, but it was worthwhile and full. In short, I was relieved to make it home and kick off my shoes.
PS Last night, I had a dream that my host mom's daughter and two friends had come, but I didn't know who they were. All I knew was that they were infringing on my space by examining my bed and leftover food, so I shooed them out. The daughter was furious and left with her friends and my host mom confronted me about the situation. In my haste to explain my side, I spilled out what I realized to be Spanish, so I forced myself to try to explain in French. Thankfully, my host mom was not overly upset and assigned me minimal punishment, or so I thought. Next I knew, she had given me a list of household shores to do, but it was Sunday and she wanted me to miss church!
I know this was a dream, but I still think it ironic that when I talked to my host mom at breakfast and informed her that I'm leaving Friday afternoon to go to Spain, she replied that I was going to cross paths with her daughter who is coming into town from Madrid for the weekend! My response? Weak French getting at the idea of, "Well, this way she can have her own room back."
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