So finally came the time for my girlfriend, Kylie, and our friend Kathleen to come visit me in Paris for one week. During the entire week before they came, it just didn't seem real. I felt like I still had to wait another few months until I actually got to seem them. Although, back when I bought their tickets it felt like it would be ages until I saw them! I was of course extremely excited to see Kylie, but at the same time a little nervous. It had been nearly 6 1/2 months since we really saw each other - and that had been the longest we'd ever gone. Fortunately, we're both two independent people and the love and trust we have for each other really makes it a little bit easier to be away from each other. So their flight arrived Sunday the 26th of February around 11:30, which meant that Saturday I had to work my way to Paris to stay the night. I was very fortunate to have plenty of contacts in Paris to be able to sleep somewhere, and the aunt of my host family was very generous to let me stay in one of the spare rooms at their apartment. I took the train to Paris with my host sister and we arrived around dinner time so I actually ate dinner with the uncle because Mathilde had somewhere to be. Later after dinner she sent me a text and invited me to a little house party at one of her friends.s I really do always enjoy going to house parties here because I really never know who I'm going to meet but it's certain that I'm going to at least meet someone. Plus, it's a really great opportunity to practice my French with people I don't know so I can really help gauge where my level is at. After we finished there, we went back to the apartment and I got a good nights rest before waking up to head to the airport.
Sunday morning when I finally got to the airport, it felt like I had to wait for Kylie and Kat for hours..! But finally I saw the two blonde heads poke through the arrival gates and Kat was the first to see me and I waited until Kylie noticed me - which nearly a minute passed before she realized I was standing just in front of her! After we said our hellos we left the airport and made our way back into Paris. We went back to my host family's aunt's house to grab my bags and we went to the apartment that I rented for one week for the three of us in the 2nd arrondissement (which is basically in the center of Paris). After we got our bags situated, we went out for a walk and I showed them the Opera house
Then I showed them the outside of the Louvre and by this time we were hungry but also kind of wanted to get home and sleep. So we grabbed some sushi to go and went back to our apartment and ate and went to bed.
Monday morning, we woke up and went grocery shopping so that we would save money rather than going to restaurants all the time. Then after lunch we went to buy our metro passes and we visited Notre Dame
then after a visit inside we went on the Champs Elysee and walked up to the Arc de Triomphe, and after the brutal staircase climb, we booked over to Sacre Coeur just before sundown. At this point we were all pretty wiped from all the walking and climbing we did so we went back home but Kylie decided she wanted to go out to dinner, but Kat was pretty tired so Kylie and I went to a nice little Italian restaurant and spent a good part of the evening there talking.
Tuesday morning, we had planned on visiting the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay but when we got to the Louvre we realized it was closed every Tuesday. But we took the opportunity to take some nice and silly pictures while the place was practically empty. So we took a short stroll across the river and visited Orsay for Kat because that was one that she was absolutely giddy over. After we finished there, we enjoyed a nice homemade sandwich lunch in the park and then I took them to one of the best hot chocolate places ever, Angelina. It was well worth me waiting until they got here to visit, but also very hard to not go there without them considering how often I go to Paris. Then we went back to the apartment so they could take a quick nap and then we joined Dimitri to have a drink and then he took us to a nice restaurant to enjoy some dinner. It was the first time Kylie had gotten to meet any one of my friends but like normal everyone enjoyed each others company.
Wednesday morning, we went to Trocadero, which is on the opposite side of the Eiffel Tower and makes for a really good photo opportunity.
After there, we walked down and attempted to go up to the top of the tower but it was still closed and wouldn't be open until the 3rd of March. I was a bit bummed because it always is a great view of the city and something really fun to do, but with our schedule it was looking not possible to go up at all. So we walked along the park on the other side of the Eiffel Tower and then I took them to Napoleon's Tomb but unfortunately there was only 20 minutes left and to pay to see only for a short time wasn't worth it. But I had really wanted to go inside because I love the history of Napoleon and had never actually been inside before - and thankfully because I am a resident of the EU and less than 25 - I got to go into almost all of the places for free. So I ran inside real quick and then joined back up with the girls who took advantage to take a nice rest on the steps. Then just shortly after, we met up with Dimitri and Manon and we walked to a cafe to have a drink together and final had a chance to talk. This was the first time Manon got to see Kylie again after we drove her and Fabienne to the airport in Los Angeles, so Kylie was really excited. Once we finished up there, we went to meet up with Alex who was having a drink with some of his friends. Kylie was definitely excited to be around all the French and tried her best to learn as much possible as she could while we sat there. Once dinner time came around we all went to Dimitri's and cooked pizzas and Kylie got to meet Camille, who I imagined had to be excited to get to speak English with someone other than me! But we couldn't stay too late because we had lots to do Thursday and we had to be sure not to miss the metro. It was really strange for me that I wasn't sleeping at their place because normally when I go to Paris and/or their place, I usually end up sleeping there.
Thursday morning, we woke up and got ready to go a little earlier than normal and we went to the Louvre and we spent about four hours there seeing each that that Kylie, Kat and I wanted to see. We took a quick lunch break and then wrapped up the last things and then made our way over to the George Pompidou Center, but of course not before enjoying a pastry together. Surprisingly, we all really enjoyed our time in that museum and we all really found a lot of things that we liked.
Later that night we met up with Dimitri, Manon, Alex, and Camille for a drink but Camille had to go to a party so the rest of us grabbed dinner together and then the 3 of us went back home to sleep.
Friday morning, I decided that I really wanted Kylie and Kat to have the chance to see the city of Paris with a panoramic view so I took them to the Montparnasse Tower which is just nearly the same level in height as the Eiffel Tower, but with a lot less people and a much quicker ride to the top. So we spent a few minutes up there and went back down and ran over to the train station and we made our way out to Versailles. I was really excited to go there because it had been about two years since I went and, even more, this time was with Kylie and Kat! Plus, something amazing was going to happen here; I just had a feeling. So we walked all inside the chateau and I think Kylie spent most of her time daydreaming as if she was really living there and for the 5th day still wanted to have the knowledge if: "This is original, right?" "Is this original?" "This can't be original." and when we finished the tour inside, we made our way out to the gardens. We headed off onto one of the sides of the gardens and I found a spot that looked the most green and I made sure there were no random people around and i told Kat to go see where one of the secret paths led to. So that left me walking with Kylie alone in the garden and she was obsessed by one of the trees and she was making jokes about it but I was so focused on making sure I was going to do it in the right place and say the right thing, and then we stopped. I turned to her and I asked if she was happy with everything: with being here in Paris, with being with me, and she said yes absolutely. So I asked her if she wanted to be happier? And she said that she didn't know how she could be any happier, and so I dropped to one knee and asked Kylie Breanne Hosken to marry me! I'm pretty sure before I had even finished the question she had already said yes but not before a whole barrage of "What?!" came out. I was surprised that she hadn't started crying right away but she was so shocked, I think, that it prolonged it because after about five minutes she started to tear up. So then Kat had us take some pictures together and we spent the rest of the time walking around the estate and taking pictures there.
When we decided our legs couldn't take it anymore, we took the next train home and we had a celebration drink with our friends and made our way to a club to dance a little!
Saturday was even more exciting because this day we were going to my home city, Orleans. We arrived around noon and I dropped off some of my bags so I would have less to worry about the next day coming back home. Kylie really wanted to come in but I was too busy organizing a surprise dinner with my host family and I had told her nobody was home. So I ran back outside and then I showed her around my school and where my classes were and where I normally ate lunch. After, we took the tram back into downtown and I showed them all the cool things in the city and, like I had promised: I would get them some french chocolate. When it was finally time, we walked back to my house and I surprised Kylie [Kat was already in on the secret, of course] with my whole family as they came down the stairs one by one. We all gathered in the living room and questions were flying everywhere and Kylie was showing off her new addition on her finger and we were doing some translating between questions and answers. It was absolutely great. We enjoyed 2 bottles of champagne and then moved to the dining room where there was 10 of us! But we truly all had a wonderful time with a tasty dinner [as always!] and a delicious dessert. It was too bad we had to leave so early but the last train was at 9:30pm so we had to plan dinner around that. My host dad was very generous enough to drive us back to the train station so we didn't have to walk the whole way. Then we just went back to the apartment and packed our things and had cleaned most of the place.
Sunday morning after we had checked out, I took the girls back to the airport and we said our goodbyes and told them both that I'll see them real soon! Then, quickly, I made my way back into Paris and to the train station to catch the next train back into Orleans because I had a basketball game to play, finally! My coaches and friend were really nice to stay behind and wait for me at the station in town and then we drove out to our game. I was really excited because this was finally the first game i got to play since registering with the club. I finished the game with 4 points and missed a free throw on and And-1. Finally, after all of that..I got to come home and actually take a breath. Luckily, I'm on vacation until Monday. The next familiar face I'll get to see will be Mme. Greenberg, my high school French teacher!
