Anticipation has a habit to set you up...

Well, here I am finally writing in here about the third weekend of October 2015. This was a crazy one.  Simultaneously the best of times and the worst of times. 

So, as some people may have seen on Facebook, there was a time on this trip (saturday morning to be exact) when I felt like this....

Cain in torment after killing his brother Abel.

Why did I feel such epic sorrow you may ask? Well, I had bought a 160 euro ticket for a beautiful tour of the Loire and I missed the bus. It was really upsetting. Like, the only reason I had decided to come to Paris was so that I could do that tour. I had a 3 day weekend from work and I was determined to make the most of it. My plans had ranged from going to Italy to going to Denmark to going to France when some friends suggested the Loire. They got all flakey so I thought, if you want to do something, just do it yourself! 

So I looked up tickets and tours of the Loire and I found one that looked absolutely fantastic. It was expensive but I decided to splurge on an experience. I bought the ticket and was so looking forward to it. Before I left for Paris I made myself directions from google maps of exactly how to get to the meeting point. I got to Paris on Friday morning and on Friday night I went to bed early and set several alarms so that I would be sure to be at my bus in time for our early departure at 7:15 am.

I wish that I could say that I saved a lost child in the metro and that's why I was late for my tour. But in actuality... my alarm went off and I hit snooze thinking that there would be another one in a few minutes. In actuality, after I hit snooze, I woke up at 7:18 and felt the horror. 

I jumped out of bed, got ready as quick as possible (didn't even put contacts in) and rushed out the door to the metro. I knew I wouldn't get there in time but I thought maybe I could change tours or something. 

I found the tour centre-exactly where my trusty instructions had told me it would be and hurried in and plead my case. To my everlasting sorrow they were so dang french about it. They told me I was an hour late and there was nothing I could do. They gave me the email for customer service and I was like, "Do you think there's any chance?" And they were basically like "NO." Then I was like "sniffle, sniffle...Is there a McDonald's nearby? I need wifi."

So they directed me to the nearby McDonalds and I left in shame. I just couldn't believe it. I actually teared up walking down the street. It was for such a stupid reason too. I kept reliving it in my brain. Luckily, I wasn't totally alone. When I got to McDonalds and got my chocolate croissant-y thing (yeah, that's sold at MacDo's in Paris) I found that my friend Sameer was online. I showed him how miserable I was:

Live from McDonalds early saturday morning

and he helped me feel better. We discussed the facts that it was just money and that no one had died. He encouraged me to go do something fun and cheap instead and consider it a sunk cost. So I stuck my chin out and did some research. My top choices upon consulting my iPhone were either Provinse, an old medeval village outside Paris or the Chateau Fontainbleu-also outside Paris. Sameer was like, "chateau!" so that's what I did.

On the way I stopped to look at the garden outside the Louvre right by my metro stop. It was beautiful and also gave shape to my distress when I saw this all too real depiction: 

Once again. Just to re-re-emphasize how much remorse I felt.

But then this view kind of reminds you that really....life isn't too bad.

People were going on morning jogs here! Very cool.

So I made my way to the train station and with the help of a nice officer, bought my ticket and boarded my train. It took like an hour and a half to get to the stop and then I took a bus to the chateau. Oh my goodness it was so beautiful. I stopped and got a meal and ate it in the chateau garden and it was just like..."if this is plan B, my life is pretty dang good." 

The Chateau Fountainbleu is a lot like Versailles but with a lot less tourists- kind of the hipster version! Because I have a card to work in the EU and I'm under 25, I was able to take the tour for free! There is a lot of history there, especially with Napoleon which was a big bonus. Cause Napoleon was pretty cool. 

Cookie Chateau Selfie

No crowds!

The people who took this picture were like, "you sure you don't want another one?"
Now I see why. Im standing so awkward! 

Guys, this is OCTOBER. Incroyable. 

There's a cool staircase in the back but you can't really see it

Now you can! It's called the horseshoe staircase or something

Top of the staircase

My Secret Garden. 

The coat. The hat. The legend.

I was obsessed with the fall colours.

Obsessed!

The chateau had a great 3 euro audio guide AND a Napoleon exhibit. So worth it. After that I walked around town a little bit and enjoyed the charm. Got a macaron and a chocolate from a sweets place that were delicious. Eventually I had walked too far to turn back but I didn't know the appropriate time to catch the bus. I decided to just walk back to the train station. 

The downside of this was that it was a long way. The upside was that I proved to myself that after about a decade of french lessons, I do, in fact, know how to ask for directions in French. Another perk was that I saw a man walking along by himself in a Ramones t-shirt carrying just a baguette. So French!

As I had been walking around the town I had seen signs for the little medieval town I had been interested in so I figured it was close by. I did a little research and decided to go there! I took the train to the appropriate stop and then waited for the bus. It was starting to get late though and the bus was really late. I didn't want to get stuck outside Paris. So I thought, maybe I shouldn't be so greedy. I also knew that all the museums would be closed in Paris so I decided to just get dinner in that little town and then head back. I had a bit of a misadventure taking the bus into town and trying to find somewhere to eat. The first place I went to, I sat down and it turns out they only had drinks! I was too embarrassed to leave so I got hot chocolate. Then I went next door and got a sandwich which I ate outside by the fountain. Weirdly, people seemed to like my American accent in French. Everyone was quite nice to me.

More cookie selfies.

The bus finally came and it was the one I was originally supposed to be on. It took me like an HOUR into the countryside to Provins, the town I originally wanted to be in. I was like, oh the irony. Because by then it was too dark to see anything. I think I saw the outline of a fortress on the hill. So I just got off the bus at the train station in Provins, thinking that one train station was as good as another. But then I missed the train. I was misinformed about which side it would be leaving from. I wasn't the only one. I ended up bonding with this other American girl there. Eventually we were the only ones left in the station and it was like 11 pm. We had one more chance to get the right train. 

As we started talking it turned out that she WENT TO THE SAME ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AS ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS AT BYU! I was like ...whhhhaaaaatttt? She was really nice and I invited her to come stay with me in Den Haag if she ever wants to. I'm hoping that for some reason I needed to meet her and that's why I missed my tour! 

Me and my new friend when we finally made it onto the train.

Well, anyway, that was Saturday. To back track, Friday was really good. I got into town too early in the morning for anyone to be awake which was kind of awkward but it all worked out (the perks of taking super cheap buses). I met up with my friend and fellow intern from OPCW who was visiting her family in Paris for the weekend and I had a great time eating crepes, looking at Napoleon's tomb, seeing museums and going to the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe! She was a great and very patient tour guide for me.

Outside the Hotel Des Invalides

Yes, I was a total tourist and took a picture with my savoury crepe

Imitating the thinker at the Musee Rodin 

Me and Miriam
(and The Thinker)

It's a statue of Eve leaving the garden ashamed.
I took a solidarity picture with her because I think Eve is pretty cool and shouldn't be ashamed. 

There were a LOT of weeping angels in Paris in general and at the Rodin Museum in particular.
It was hard not to blink.

Michael Jackson

Napoleon's tomb

Eiffel Tower

So excited about the Eiffel Tower that I'm falling down

Miriam doesn't like taking pictures as much as I do but she was a great sport

Market in the evening

INCREDIBLE Dessert crepe

Oh, Champs Elysee! (da da da do do) 

On Sunday I went to a museum with my cousin who was nice enough to let me stay with her all weekend. 

Outside Le Petit Palais 

So yeah. That was my awful for a second but mostly wonderful weekend in Paris! Am I the luckiest girl or what? Also if you want to know what I'm referencing with that title check out this classic from the Arctic Monkeys. So appropriate for so many circumstances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7UU097W_w