Wednesday there was a talent show at the Geinguette for students from the Institut. It was a goofy time, but fun to watch people from all different backgrounds sing, read poetry, and play music. Everyone from our group was there, plus our school friends. Afterwards we went to Place Plumereau to hang out.
Thursday night we had a delema. Bassnectur was playing in Paris and it was 80 euros for train tickets and the concert tickets. We wouldn't have gotten back to Tours at 8:30 the following morning (we had school at 9:30). So since it was our last night in town, we decided to stay in Tours. Luckily, there was the Fete de la Musique in town that evening. It's a concert that started 30 years ago to allow up and comming musicians play along side big name bands. It has now spread to over 100 countries on 5 continents. This year they were celebrating the anniversary on pop (specifically the Beatles). The festival started officially at 8, but people started playing around 6:30. You could walk all around the city and see different people play.
The last week we were there was pretty fun. We had our final exams on Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the week in class we did fun things like watch french music videos, movie trailers, and play around in Phonetic lab. Our last day of class we had a party. We played french board games (meaning english games in french, and they're hard!), drank wine, champagne, and ate cheese. It was a fun final day and I think all college classes should end.
Friday afternoon Zach, Erica S, Andrea, Morgan, Jess and Maria all headed to Paris, but on different trains. So when Zach, Erica S. and I got to Paris first, we has a fun time lugging our suitcases up and down the metro for a good hour (we were sore on Saturday). After everyone else got into town, the girls checked into our hotel (Zach had his own) and then went for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to our respective hotels and passed out around 11. It felt good to get a full nights sleep.
Saturday morning, us girls got up and going by 11. We walked from our hotel, by Notre Dame where we stopped and took pictures for a little while and then walked across the Seine to the Marias to a cafe where we ate lunch last time we were in Paris. We tried calling Zach at noon and he was still in bed. After we finished lunch we heard from him and told him to come meet us. 30 minutes later when he still hadn't shown up we called him again. An hour later when we still hadn't met up with him, he let us know he was lost by the Bastille, so we told him to stay put and hopped on the metro to rescure him. It actually worked out well because we were able to see the Bastille (where Marie Antoinette was beheadded, along with many others) and the Victor Hugo house. There was also the most delicious chocolate shop we passed with so many macaroons!!!
The Victor Hugo House and the Place des Vosges
After we met up with Zach, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower (on the complete opposite side of town) to meet up with Maria's cousins from Columbia (the country not SC) and to say goodbye to Marshall who was heading to Brussles. This was the first time we were at the Tower during the day. It's crazy how long the lines to climb the tower are. Even longer if you want to take the elevators.
At 6 we headed back to our side of town to pick up Flo and Romain (our friends from Tours) from the train station. They decided that our goodbye wasn't enough so they came to Paris for a proper one. We picked up cheese, baguettes, and wine and headed BACK to the Eiffel Tower. On the corner of Pont d'Iena and Avenue de New York they blocked all of the roads and put up a huge screen for the France Spain soccer game. We were planning on watching it there, but the police weren't letting anyone else in because there were so many people. We ended up just watching it at a cafe near the metro station. Game was 2-0 Spain, so a sad defeat (Maria was happy). Afterwards we met up with Lara who was at the Eiffel Tower with a friend who was in town for the week.
Final goodbyes to our Tours friends and also to the people from USC who we wouldn't see until school starts again. It seemed fitting to spend out last night in Paris where we started the trip. I can't wait to see them all again. It was incredibly sad to say goodbye.
So time for a wrap up now that I'm home. I thought I would be sad to leave, but I never thought I would miss it so much when I got back. It's great to see my friends and family, but lets face it, France stole my heart. I would go back tomorrow if I could, and I can now see myself living there someday. It was everything I imagined and more. The history, the sights, the sounds, the language, the love. Just as in Midnight in Paris "That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me."
One final post after this about things I learned/were different than I though!
Thank you so much for following my trip. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
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