i feel like i've been home a century and france was just a dream.
i miss it but i'm happy to be back and america and not be an au pair anymore!!
so for my last few days i checked off the last few things on my nantes bucket list including...
going to the top of the tallest tower (well the only skyscraper in nantes) at sunset and basking in the love i have for my city. it's seen me at my best and my worst. (multiple times at my worst...) even though some days i absolutely hated it i miss and love it so so sooo much.
inside the tower there's a giant goose. so we sat on it and had a dysfunctional photo taken.
i climbed the fountain. it was on the bucket list and we FINALLY did it. on my last night. i was a little worried about getting in trouble by the police butttttt yofo. (you only france once) we didn't get in trouble. it was great. i wish i climbed to the top.
byebye room. (the freaking picture wouldn't turn. i tried many times. screw you blogger.)
i said bye to my host family, it was kinda awkward because the boys couldn't care less because they were excited about it being summer time and no school and going to their grandparents so they said ok bye, gave me a hug because the mom made them, and ran off. the host mom gave me these yummy chocolates and my money for the week and said thanks and then off i was. crazy how i was saying bye to my life for a year, i'll never be back in that house or in that room or experience those things again and as much grief and anxiety it all caused me i was a little sad to leave.
then the next day i went to paris for my last weekend. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 i love this place. i went to the top of the galeries lafayette and it had amazing views. i love this city. and that store is beautiful anyways.
lock bridge that's not the lock bridge any more :(:(:( but this was where the end of now you see me was filmed and so i had to go cause i looooove that movie. and it's such a pretty bridge with views and beauty and oh i love it.
WELCOME TO MY CRIIIIIB channeling my inner marie antoinette. chateau de versailles. we had a rough night the night before and at this point i was running on about 8 hours of sleep from two days. so like 4-5 hours friday night then about 3 hours on saturday night. again..yofo. i woke up and contemplated going or not because it's kind of out of the way but i was like who knows when i will be back and if i will be able to get in for free (benefits of being a student wut wutttt) so i was like screw it, i'll get a coke, and yofo this place up.and i did and it was great. 
hall of mirrors. this was created because in this era they were so vain and having mirrors were such a fancy thing to have so they were like hey we got money let's make a whole hall of mirrors! (they must've been thinking yofo also)
i left my heart in this country. i love this city and i love this girl and i love this monument and i love everything.
sur l'arc de triomphe. on top of the arc de triomphe...ummm hello amazing views.
eiffel tower at night. i love it. if you couldn't tell.
this carousel and the eiffel tower, it's a nice thing if i do say so myself.
so randomly i saw a sign that said the eiffel tour ticketing office closes at 11:30. well it was 11 and i thought why don't we go up? i haven't had the desire to before but i was like yofo! and again, who knows when i'll ever be back and do this again?! so we went up. it was magical.
i love this place. it's so pretty. i want to cry just thinking about it because it's a wonderful place. a lot of being don't really care for paris they say it's dirty and crowded and the people are rude, and some of that is true. if you go down by the seine later at night and go under a bridge it just reeks of pee. if you go to the louvre during the day there's thousands of people. if you are rude and catch someone on an off day and expect everyone to give you everything on a gold platter, of course they'll be rude. but i've met some of the nicest people in france and in paris i've had experiences with rude people but i've also had experiences with extremely nice people.
on the morning i left i was leaving at about 6 in the morning and fleur wasn't leaving until later and i had to manage the metro and lugging my bags (here's a picture just to show how ridiculous my bags were...i mean these bags were my life for a year. of course they're huge and awkward. thanks fleur for taking this flattering photo of my struggles hahaha)
two huge bags, my purse that was stuffed, and a humongo bungo backpack. i gave away so many clothes and my bag was still stuffed to the max.
so yeah imagine me having to manage this all alone, on the metro (and paris metros don't believe in elevators or escalators..they're like haha suckaaaa deal with stairs.) switching metros and making sure i got to the airport on time to check in while keeping everything with me and under control. it was a struggle to say the least. so fleur helped me leave from her host dads apartment (an incredible location, right down the street from the eiffel tower and like a three minute walk from the metro station) and we got there, she helped me down the stairs there and i went to go get my ticket and as luck would have it, the machine wouldn't take my card. in europe they mostly use pin and chip cards but my slide card hasn't been too much of an issue. and i used up all my euros so that i didn't have any left and fleur didn't bring her card so for a minute i thought i was going to be screwed. well luckily we knocked on the window for the cashier even though it was "closed" and a lady came and in true stereotypical parisian fashion she was rude and was like "we're supposed to be closed." we explained the situation, she let me buy a ticket, and i went merrily on my way. i went through the little gate thing into the metro station before hugging fleur and so we said bye and parted ways. :( so i was finally on my own, the reason for all my stress and anxiety of facing the metro system on my lonesome (which isn't a problem, i've done it before) but with humongous bags this time. i faced stairs and had struggles, and a random guy saw my struggles and said "leave them down here, i'll take them up for you." so incredibly nice. then i got on the metro and had to switch and had to scan my ticket again. well i misplaced my ticket and was trying to figure out how to get my huge bags through the gate things without them closing on me or leaving my bags on the other side, and i'm searching in all the millions of pockets on my backpack and this lady comes up and says "i'll help you. do you have a ticket?" and i said "yeah i bought one i just can't find it." and so she pulls out a ticket and gives me one of hers (SO NICE.) and then helps me with my bags, she took one then this guy opened the gate for me and helped me with my other. another example of incredibly nice parisians. she took time out of her morning commute to give a little poor foreigner a ticket and help her with her bags. so then i was on my final train to the airport and while on the train i realized, my handle for the roller bags won't go down. the one on my big one was broken, like the metal was torn (can metal be torn?) so there was no way to get it down, and then on my smaller roller bag the handle was bent so i couldn't put it down. awesome. how will i figure this out. so i called my parents stressing and because i didn't know whre i had to get off (because there's a stop for terminal 1 and then a stop for terminal 2&3. i had no idea where to go) so we figured it out then i got to the airport, a random old man helped me with my bags off the train, like a 60ish year old man probably and he told me i can get a cart to roll my things and asked me where i need to go in the airport and helped me out. so nice. he took my big bag and tried to get the handle down without luck but he was still so so nice and made sure i knew where i was going. so to all the people who think french people are rude, they're all wrong. they're so nice. at least they are to a struggling little american with three huge bags.
so i finally got to my gate, checked my bag (totally thought i'd have to pay 100$ to check a second one because my bags were huge but luckily, i didn't! got by with my one free bag and the other two were cleared for carry-on!) got through security, got to my gate, and held in my tears of leaving france. i was there on time and got on the plane and got my luggage in the overhead bin (i was so concerned because i couldn't put the handle down so i was super worried it wouldn't fit and i'd be in a major pickle but it did) and somehow my backpack that was like five times the width of me fit under the seat and i got situated and was ready for the eleven hour flight. eleven. hours. from the past three days i had gotten a combined total of about 12 hours of sleep about 3-4 hours each night and so i was like i can sleep on the plane no prob! well it proved to be a very big prob. they have movies i wanted to watch so i got all sorts of excited and watched a chick-flick (the longest ride) and then i was like ok i'll sleep now. well i slept maybe 30 minutes. i could not get comfortable to save my life it was horrendous. i was in an aisle seat because i like them so that i can stretch my legs, and i don't have to climb over people every time i have to go to the bathroom. but i had nothing to lean on to sleep and i didn't know how to reclin my seat and i didn't want to because i feel bad for whoever is behind me, so i was just trying to sleep but my head kept falling and it was horrible. so i didn't get much sleep on the plane. then we got off the plane, i think i might have lied to the customs people.............(my last little exit from customs he asked if i had any food and i said no. i had a baguette and cookies. SORRY MR. CUSTOMS GUY I GOT NERVOUS.) and my handle on my big roller bag had been officially ripped off or fell off or whatever so i guess i need new suitcases...:D :D :D however i will miss my loved suitcases as they have been literally everywhere with me. rip beautiful bright blue flowered suitcases that were perfect because i never had any problems finding them at the baggage claims. you'll forever be in my heart. and i went out and there was my family with a sign and hugs galore. even though they said i smell bad...sorry that i didn't have time to shower that morning and i was on a plane for 11 hours!!! i didn't smell all that bad. my dad, being the champ that he is, brought me a mountain dew, i saw my little nephews, (pictures aren't working now so i'll add them on later) and i came home and my mom and sister decorated my room and we had hawaiian haystacks and everyone came over and it was great. it was good to see everyone again and i missed them all so much. especially my nephews. and dog.
so i'm back in america. and i'm back at my call center job, i'm back on my mountain dew addiction, and i understand everyone and eavesdrop a lot because i can and miss speaking french occassionally. but it's fun to be back but i miss france dearly. and my friends. i don't know when i'll ever see them again and it's hard to keep in contact because of different time zones but we still try. i don't miss being an au pair at all. but it was so convenient with all my friends because we were all on the same schedule whereas now my friends and i all work different schedules so we never hang out. but it's ok i just chill with my family.
so yeah, i'm back to america and living the dream. jk i'm not. i'm just trying to find my way back to europe and planning my next journey to another country. but it was an adventure and even though i had really rough times i also had incredible times and i'm so happy i went and got to experience real french life and i got to travel while i'm young and single and don't have any other commitments. i will go back sooner rather than later and see all my friends and relive mon vie française. minus la vie au pair. but here's to the end of my french adventure and to the start of my new adventure going to school and working so i can continue a life of travel.
donc, à bientôt!
corinne. :)
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