Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Saving the best weekend for last

My last week has arrived. And as much as I am fighting the idea that I'm leaving I have to think about it so that when I get home I'm not completely shocked. But I have to fight back the tears when I think of leaving the wonderful friends that I have made.

Saturday, because Alban's family was in Spain all of us were invited over to his house for a pool day. The have a huge pool in their back yard and the weather was just beautiful. It was all of us - Mamie and Alban, Davy and Melanie, Toto, Aurélien, Ben, and Romain and I. We sat in the sun, played in the freezing cold pool and just enjoyed the beautiful weather all day long. By the end of the day we were all dark and tan.

When the sun went down we all moved inside to eat pizzas and play cards in his living room. Then while they sat in the room and talked Mamie and I made an American specialty: Pancakes. We ate them for dessert like the french do but we pulled out the maple syrup and made them eat them American style. They actually enjoyed them a lot and each of them ate 4 huge pancakes.

Then for some reason Toto decided he wanted to go jump back in the pool. The freezing cold pool that was almost too cold to get into when it was 80 degrees during the day. But we decided to let him so we all ran outside and Alban pulled back the pool cover. When Toto got in he was screaming at the top of his lungs. And then one by one everyone got in. Even Mamie and I ran and jumped in together! It was sooooo cold! But definitely worth it!

Sunday was pretty much the same thing. First I went and said goodbye to everyone that I was going to miss. Noël and his family - Some friends that I had met early that semester. They gave me a bottle of wine to take home with me. Then I went over to say goodbye to Jaqueline, Xavier and Mathias. It was really hard to say goodbye to them and when I hugged Jaqueline goodbye we both started to cry. They gave me a shirt that says Paris on it. It was really sweet of them.

Then Romain picked me up and we went back to Alban's and played in the pool all day again. Before we got in the pool we finished off the making the pancakes from the day before. There was just enough for everyone. A little later everyone showed up. This time Toto brought his girlfriend and Ben didn't come and it was just another awesome day. The guys played soccer around the pool and I tried to join in some. I wasn't very good but Romain tried to teach me some things. The water was a little warmer that day so it was a little easier to get in. Then before it got dark, Alban and Mamie went and finished off making the pizzas from the day before. Then we went inside and played cards again. It was a good night.

***

Monday was my very last day. It was mother's day the weekend after I left so I wanted to get Romain's mom something. I was going to get her flowers but because it was a holiday that day, nothing was open. So we went to a very large store equivalent to Walmart and I got her some little mini desserts. Romain and I ran to McDonalds to get some food before going over to Alban's house and we both got our usual Mcflurries :)

This day everyone was a lot more tired so we mostly just layed by the pool. It was really relaxing and I enjoyed every minute of it. We left early that day so that we could eat dinner one last time with Romain's family. His mom had a barbecue and made us some great sausages. Then we had strawberries and whipped cream for dessert before Mamie and Alban came over for a little while. I gave my gift to Romain's mom and then I started repacking. I had received 2 bottles of wine on top of the one I bought for my mom so I had to really figure out how to make everything fit, and not weigh too much. So Romain and I would pack. Then he would stand on the scale with my suitcase to see if it was too heavy. And we would add things and take things out as needed. It was quite a task but at the end I came home with one suitcase, on very heavy backpack and one very full purse. We did well!

***

The next morning we woke up at 4 am to get me to the airport by 9:00. Alban and Mamie showed up at 5am and I said goodbye to Romain's family and got all my bags into the car. We had a 3 hour drive to Roissy to Charles De Gaulle. Romain fell asleep for a little while and then it was my turn. I didn't fall asleep though. We drove thought Paris and I got to see the Eiffel tower one last time. We got to the airport early enough to look around I figure out where I needed to be. We got my suitcase checked and then we all went and got Mcflurries. After that it was just waiting time till I had to be on my flight.

Saying goodbye to Romain was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I cried all the way though security and the security guards were trying to comfort me. I did not want to leave. My plane flight was very smooth but I think I only slept a total of one hour out of 8. It was hard watching that little plane cross the screen in front of me and get farther and farther away from France. When I got into Chicago and went though customs and put my bag back on the plane and then I had 5 hours of waiting. I went back though security and found a place I could watch a movie to keep my mind occupied. But Micaela called me and that helped a lot.

I finished my movie on the plane. I didn't sleep on that one either. Mainly because I wanted to be able to sleep when I got home since I would be getting home at 11pm Colorado time but it would be 7am my time. That plane ride was very smooth too and everything went very well. When I got home my mom greeted me and we went to get my suitcase which was there...so I got home with no problems at all. I told my mom lots of stories and when we got to the house I gave my mom and brother their presents. But I was exhausted so I went to bed and slept for a good 12 hours.

And that was my semester in France! If you followed me around Europe thank you so much for reading. I loved writing these blogs and they will help me remember every little detail.

I want to say thank you to all of you special people that got to be my housemates for this semester. It was wonderful living with you and getting to share this experience together!

And I want to thank all of the wonderful friends I made in France. Romain - please tell them all thank you for me, and that you are all what made my experience the best it ever could have been!

I love you all and thank you so much!

Il n'y a que les montagnes qui ne se rencontrent jamais.

Profiter de la vie au maximum!

Bisous mes amis,

Sierra

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