Queens, Protest, Luggage oh my!

March 9, Thursday

Sorry guys getting way behind here. Met Lindsay at Relais Odeon cute cafe near the both of us. Another rainy cold day in Paris with nothing to do but sit in cafes drink wine, eat cheese, chat and order coffee later to stay awake. We sat for 2 hours and watched all the people walk by. We decided to have a big night out tonight. I went back to my place for a disco nap (knew it would be a late night) Invited Lindsay and Ash to my place at 10:30pm for drinks. Awoke from the disco nap and needed food. I went downstairs to our friendly chinese/thai joint and got a bowl of Pho and some tea. 8 euros , not bad! Back upstairs to shower and prepare for tiny cocktail party! At 11pm Lindsay and Ash arrive and I am halfway down a bottle of red. We chat and drink until 12:30ish and are off to Buddha Bar. We jump in a cab and upon arrival the bouncer says we're closed. What? Friday and Saturday are late nights in Paris not thursday. What to do now? All dressed up with nowhere to go? Ash proposes we get into a cab and ask him what is open and give it a try. Done. Cab driver says only place open is Queen. I know, could be scary, eh? It, of course, is on the Champs Elysees where all clubs in Paris are. We go in and it is quite a scene. There are apparently no personal injury lawsuits in paris people were dancing on tables, ledges, high top tables, and hanging from a net suspended from the ceiling! It was wild. it was packed and the crowd was mixed and very young. Ash goes to the bar to get us some vodka sodas. We go upstairs where it is less crowded and you get a birds-eye view of the mosh pit! After two very watered down vodka drinks we decide to call it a night. We depart and walk down the Champs Elysees and decided food will be the cure to our sorrows. Pop into a paninni joint and get a hot melted ham and cheese! YUM! Into the cab and home we go. Still late night I think 4 or 5am?

Friday March 10
Get a call at the apt at noon from luggage delivery service they are on their way. The guy tells me not to leave my apartment. Okay? Get on internet look for apartments (no luck...still!) Get a call at 3pm he is on his way but is running late. I'll say! Get a call at 4:30 from delivery guy he is having car trouble but I will be his next stop. 5:30 delivery guy calls is stuck on the corner of my street (anyone heard of the Protests???) All of my streets are closed and there are cops everywhere. He asks if he can leave and come back on Monday, I reply NO! He asks me to come out to his car and wait with him so I can guide him to my street. Okay. I walk to meet him at the corner and can hear all of the kids chanting and the cops look like they are ready for WWIII! They have shields and machine guns full body armour etc. Hey, do you think any of you would like to join our troops in Iraq??? As opposed to chasing students with crepes wearing berets??? if you don't know why they are protesting it is because kids under the age of 26 can now be fired immediately for no reason. Of course, that is unfair! Whatever! A little french employment lesson: French are hired on contracts either permanent or temporary either way it is almost impossible to fire you once you are hired. That is why lots of French stay at jobs forever they can sleep at work and not get sacked! Sorry, a little political commentary! Pressing on we sat in Andre's van until 6:45 when things opened up and drove to my door. I have a waredrobe box and two suitcases being delivered. Mind you my doorway is probably no more than 2.5ft wide. No fat people allowed in my apt building. I nicely asked Andre if he could assist me in carrying these boxes up my 3 flights of stairs. He says...No, I just make the deliveries. Great! I open my door and the waredrobe box fits into the hallway with no more than an inch on either side. I scoot it to the next doorway and here the wooden spiral staircase that is also as wide as the hallway stares me in the face! With no choice I pick up the box and start my ascent. It goes okay until the first curve, get stuck. Not good. I unhook corner of box from iron railing and press on literally on step at a time. By the time I get to the top sweat is running down my back. Gross! This is so not french! I run downstairs for next piece of luggage which is a piece of cake compared to the waredrobe box. And one more time for last smaller suitcase. After I get into my apt the entire place is filled with luggage. Please note: current apt is approx 200-225 sq ft. Not big. Yeah! Must celebrate victory of Ironwoman competition Paris! Hooray! Go to italian restaurant next door to thai place and get a small pizza, salad, dessert and peroni beer, again 10 Euros! Latin quarter is cheap but the food sucks. Hosting another soiree tonight for Lindsay and Ash for real go out night. They come over about 11pm with red wine, vodka and mixers YIPEE! We socialize and are off to Buddha Bar (again) this time it is open and happening. Very cool music but a bit of a tourist crowd and lots of older men businesslike? Stay for a bit and then Ash gets a tip on the hottest club in Paris? VIP. On the Champs Elysees and there is a huge crowd standing at a gate with a guy on a chair literally picking people out of the crowd to let in? What is this Studio 54? Only the pretty people are allowed. Good thing we are all hot, eh? We get picked in under 5 min and are in! We go downstairs and it is so crowded! Everyone is wet with sweat and it is a bit nasty. People are at the bar drinking bottles of champagne and vodka. The ceilings are low and the inside is dark blue with mirrors all around. If I was really drunk it might make me sick and confused. We order 3 glasses of champagne before we decided what to really get to drink. Bartender comes back and it is 63 euros (approx $75) What the FFFF??? We stay finish our drinks and decide this place is not that cool. It is now 4am and of course we are hungry. We head back to my area and go to Cafe Point and they have full french cafe going. We sit outside under heat lamps and I get fois gras and a big glass of red wine. Lindsay and Ash order beef and lamb? The local cat comes by and jumps in my lap. Waiter comes by and says "bonsoir" to "le chat" the cat's name is 'the cat'. Waiter brings him cooked chicken on a plate. If I jump in the waiters lap will he feed me fois gras and red wine for free? We finish our meal and call it a night. I get home and my internet is up and Lauren is calling me on Skype. This is crazy. It is 11pm in Chicago and we start to chat. I can hear Lauren but she cannot hear me but I can instant message her. We chat for 45 minutes and then I am exhausted. In bed at 6am!