Chasse au Trésor

I don’t think I am ever going to get used to how beautiful everything is here. As am I easily distracted in the best of times, it usually takes me twice as long as it should to get anywhere because I cant walk a block without stopping to look at something. (I probably walk into at least four patisseries a day, just to admire the colorful macaroons and tiny little cakes). However, especially after a summer of working two jobs, it is very nice to be relaxed enough that it doesn’t matter if I take the four winding side streets opposed to the one main road. My commitments for this week have been my welcome classes, but that ends today giving me a week before I have to start real school. Lots of time for exploring…

Last night was probably one of my favorite group organized activities: a treasure hunt around the big monuments. I’m using the term “treasure hunt” loosely, because it ended up being running from monument to monument based on a clue (such as – title of a Victor Hugo novel = Notre Dame), to be met with a challenge and a lot of alcohol. As you can imagine, after the first two stops we started going pretty slowly. The fun thing about the treasure hunt was that it was the first time I have seen a lot of the monuments here since I arrived. And really, wandering around the outside of the Louvre at night looking for a clue is very different then cueing for hours with your parents waiting to see the Mona Lisa. There was so many moments when we would all be running in a slightly drunken frenzy to suddenly stop and be completely taken aback by where we were. There is some cheesy “treasure” metaphor in here but I’m not going to go there.

Despite stopping for French fries along the way and being horrible and throwing a cork into a cup our team still managed to win a basket full of French food, which we ate on Pont des Arts*. After sitting around until we were all almost frozen and hungry again, we went on a search for “cheap” food. This does not really exist in Paris, as a learned my first night out when I spent an hour in the rain searching for a 24 hour kebab stand. (It seems like the best bet is to stay out until the metros start running and the boulageries open up again). However, we did manage to find some affordable-ish Japanese food, which I have to say was the most un-Japanese thing I have ever eaten. (Beef with rice and cheese???) While eating our food, I spotted a group of French boys all holding vespa helmets. Feeling unusual courageous from the combination of liquors distributed throughout the treasure hunt, I asked them for a ride around town. This was probably one of my better ideas, as they offered me and my friend a mini tour of Paris, sitting on the backs of their scooters with big round helmets…It was just as cool as I thought it would be, but unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of my first vespa ride. I guess this just means I need to do it again?
*Cars aren’t allowed on this bridge as it is rather fragile, it so every night it is full of groups of people sitting around eating and drinking. I have somehow managed to end up there most nights, as it is a really good meeting spot for meeting new people and reuniting with the few people I know here.

Pictures: Our team holding our victory basket at pont des arts, David and I being tourists outside the Louvre and doing the "pass the cup of vodka with your teeth" challenge outside of notre dame