Versailles

Before returning back to the states, I had a few days in France that I spent with the Wimmers. I had a great time and did a lot of cool stuff. The transition to the colder climate and the late sunrise/early sunset was a bit of a shock from Morocco. Saturday night, Laetitia, Anne Claire and I wandered around Paris and looked at all the fancy shop windows all decked out for Christmas (leche les vitrines;) We saw some pretty good break dancers on the street, and a guy selling roasted chestnuts off his improvised shopping cart which was reminiscent of the street vendors in Morocco. We had dinner at an amazing creperie and warmed up with some apple cider. Sunday, Erich and Anne were kind enough to take me to the Louvre where we saw an exhibit on Iranian art from the Sufavid era, which was pretty amazing. They also guided me around to some famous pieces, including the codex and the mona lisa. That night, they surprised me with a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and apple pie has never tasted so good before. It was such a treat to relax with old friends again...and there was something familiar about Paris that helped me completely relax again...deep down I think I knew I was almost home.

On Monday, Anne and I drove Laetitia back to school in Reims, and we toured the Taittinger champagnery...where, oddly enough, we saw a champagne from 1981 called Arman. That kid manages to have everything named after him....Armani clothing, Armand the sculptor, and now, Arman the champagne;) Anne also kindly treated me to a delicious lunch of beef tenderloin with a yummy sauce and mashed potatoes....there's nothing like ending a long trip with delicious French cuisine=) Tuesday we spent around Versailles. Anne and I took a bike ride to the local market and looked at the various little shops. We also walked around a shopping mall and she helped me pick out some delicious French cheeses and chocolates to bring home. Some not so sober old man was ripping on me at the cash register for buying such unhealthy things. He got pretty riled up and went on for a good 5 minutes too, which was pretty entertaining. My pack got significantly heavier with the addition of champagne, cheese and chocolate, but it was all worth it.
While I was there, the metro/train government workers were on strike, yet waits for the metro were shorter than in Boston. I think the longest we had to wait the entire time was about 6 minutes....and that's with about every 1 in 3 trains running. Apparently most French don't support the strike, as the benefits for employees are exceptionally good. They get paid retirement at 55, with free use of the metro/trains, admission into many government things such as museums, and 5 weeks paid vacation among others. Another cool thing was a fully automated gas station in Paris...even the convenience store portion was automated! I entertained the Wimmers by trying (and failing ever so miserably) to pronounce "truc"...I don't know if I will ever be able to pronounce it right. Overall, I loved France and I can't wait to go back and pick grapes in a vineyard and pronounce "truc" correctly=) fully automated gas station