Day 112

Today I met a slightly crazed lady on the bus. She ran into me several times in her haste to get somewhere. Where? I had no idea given the way she was dressed. He wild bright red hair was pin-straight and hardly seemed real. Her makeup was about the same and she had a small Marilyn Monroe piercing, more appropriate for someone my age than her fifty years or so. She had on a white coat with a sort of fur vest/poncho thing over it and high heels. Her purse was gaudy, much like the Juicy Couture pieces of crap I see rich sixteen-year-old girls carrying around, and in her other hand was a fancy pink shopping bag. Out of pure curiosity and boredom, I peeked into her bags while I was standing behind her. Her purse contained a roll of toilet paper for certain and other trinkets I couldn't recognize. The shopping bag had nothing more than a few white ceramic cups rolling around. It was weird and by the looks of everyone else as she exited the bus, they thought so too.

Day 111

Today I met an adorable girl who found me my dream dress. It's my last day in Paris and I was off to go shopping but not without some serious reservations. I had heard horror stories of Americans not being helped in shops and the smartly decorated windows and fine clothes made me feel a bit out of place. But, I was determined to find something and told myself, it's like Pretty Woman, you've got the money. If they don't want to help, they just lost a sale. I walked in one store and found nothing. The second store I walked in a tiny sales associate with gorgeous bushbaby eyes greeted me and thankfully, spoke English. I told her what I wanted and she went around the store grabbing me pretty much anything that wasn't black. The second dress she grabbed was beautiful. I was in love with it the moment I saw it. I tried on three different dresses and each time I came out of the dressing room she greeted me and accessorised the dress appropriately. But, we both knew the dress I saw was the one. It was the second one I tried on in Paris and it was a done deal. Perfectly easy and an enjoyable experience rolled into one. What more could a shopping lover want on the last day in Paris?

Day 110

Today I met Audiele (totally guessing on the spelling). She was a perfect example of "don't judge a book by it's cover." I was sitting on the Metro when this lady jumped on with her husband. The man was sophisticated with his turtle neck, navy blazer and smart glasses and the woman seemed to enjoy being his arm candy. However, this piece of candy was a bit of a mess. He bleach-blonde hair was teased to the point of a rat's nest which was complimented by a bright turquoise sparkly eyeliner and hot pink lipstick that looked like a two-year-old had drawn on her face with no attempt to stay in the lines. I was appalled. She seemed to be completely in her own world and with the way she looked, I can't say I expected much intelligence out of her especially after she strangely smiled at us with gray coloured teeth. Of course, I had to make a comment to Shannon and not 30 seconds after, the woman asked where we were from with a sincere smile. For six or so more stops we talked about what we did and what they did and surprisingly enough, she was French and fluent in eight languages and was teaching Russian and French in the States. Her husband was American and owned a software company in California. Needless to say, I was shocked at this discovery and she even loved America. Like, really loved it. After they said goodbye over and over and disappeared off the Metro I felt the need to slap myself on the wrist. She ended up being one of the nicest ladies and I was about to write her off. Shame on me. However, if for some reason I did get to know her better, you can be sure I would be taking her on a trip to Sephora for some new makeup and serious lessons on application.

Day 109

Today I met Mark, and guess what? He's Australian. It's Christmas and what else is there to do but drink when you don't have family or guests to entertain? Well, I guess you drink then too. Point is, we spent the night at Shannon's hostel bar for a night of Australians and creeps. After a few glasses of champagne we met Mark, a 29 year old guy who was taking a break from managing his own company. He was a loud party animal and would surely be a frat guy with his muscles and tight t-shirt had he been American. It was hard to believe he was twenty nine but he seems to be a freak of nature anyways. He claims himself to get younger every year and I had to agree once I saw his passport picture from a few years ago. I'm telling you, this "Mark" in the picture looked like a dorky teacher I had in seventh grade with glasses, combed hair and looked to be in his late thirties. Craziest thing I've ever seen and now I wish I had a copy of it or something. In our drunken state we got to talking about my devastating fallout with my best friend after witnessing two "BFFs" make out in the corner. Nice. But he did protect me from the actual creepy, late thirties, dorky guys with bad teeth so I was happy.

Day 108

Today I met, well, again this is going to be rough one so I'll call him Bob. Not very original but it's early and that's all I could come up with on my tired mind. So I met Bob at breakfast, another Australian of course and after talking for a few I realised he was looking for something to do. He had just gotten in from Australia and was frankly too tired to plan anything himself. So, being the hospitable person that I am, I invited him along so that he didn't have to sit there until he passed out from exhaustion. After we had talked on the train we realised we had a lot in common. Both of us are a quarter Polish, have one younger sibling, other rather trivial things but he seemed to find the similarities fascinating. I started noticing things getting weird when he mentioned that he "loves" a polish girl and that I had all the typical features. I had to disagree considering my cheekbones are almost nonexistent under my baby fat cheeks. Anyways, Bob was very enthusiastic about travel and at 25 years old had traveled most of Europe and Asia. His curly hair peeking out of his obnoxious Russian fur hat and his need to take pictures of himself jumping in front of monuments (you know, like High School Musical or something?) proved him to be a tourist for the rest of his days. Despite this, he was a good companion for an afternoon, however I did not know that he must have saw that afternoon as something magical. The days following I have been chased, interrupted and tracked down in order for Bob to speak to me again. His puppy dog eyes make me feel bad for not spending every waking moment with him but, quite simply, I don't want to sit for another hour listening to his love for Poland and his other travels. I don't mean to be mean but I feel a bit sorry for him. Traveling is a wonderful thing and I envy him for all the places he has been but at what point do you isolate yourself completely? It was as if he hadn't seen another pretty girl in ages and to me, what's the point in traveling if you never are able to build a relationship with someone enough to share it with them? I wish him all the best but for right now I'm creeped out and hope I can sneak out today without another awkward encounter.

Day 107

Today I met Matt from Maryland. A relatively quiet guy but he decided to join our group on a trip to Versailles. He was a little reserved on the half hour train ride there but once he joined the conversation he was a cool guy to talk to. Nothing odd whatsoever. Boy, were we wrong. It all started to get weird when Matt wasn't sure if he wanted to pay for a ticket to the palace. Very strange considering we just spent a large chunk of the day and five euro getting out there. He ended up buying one after a few complaints and we continued on. After getting inside it was pee time before we embarked on our tour of room after room after room. When Shannon and I came back out of the bathroom, Matt was gone. I had just told him that we would meet him right back where we were in the courtyard but he was nowhere in sight. We waited. We waited some more. No Matt. I'm not sure if he didn't like us, if he was abducted by aliens momentarily or if he tried to refund his ticket but that kid was long gone. I'm really not a scary person. At least me and a few other people don't think so.

Day 106

Today I met Kat and Shayne, two of the many many Australians I would meet on, what else but a trip to Paris? Seriously. Anyways the girls and I spent most of the trip with the small hostel room to ourselves with which became strewn with clothes from the three of us. It was a great hostel experience probably because it felt like our own little flat. The girls are both nurses living in Oxford and have spent years traveling around the world to places I only wish I had the chance to see. They honestly spend all the money they earn on traveling and the experiences they have in each country. Shayne, god love her, lived in Galway for six months, a new dream of mine since I was there a few months ago. She even used to work at the club I ended up at the end of my one crazy night in Galway. Such a small world. Their easy morning routine and quick pace walking through the streets of Paris just goes to show how comfortable they are in a life of travel and waking up on another bottom bunk. I know my neck sure can't handle it.