le vingt-huit

after an awkward previous day and evening of should-i-talk or should-i-not antics, we have all already become very comfortable with each other. the morning was rough. we woke up pretty early because jet-lag is a grand ol' biznitch, but it did not ruin our day. drew and i got some breakfast at this quaint little boulangerie down the street from our citadine. it's right in front of this giant square with a fountain dans la rue des innocents. 

after some pain au chocolat we had to head to our api center for more orientation. anne-marie, our director, ran through the entirety of our orientation packet because let's face it, i was probably never going to read it anyway. it took forever, and all i wanted to do was fall back asleep. anne-marie brought us this almond paste pastry thing with little jesuses inside. the tradition in france remains the ones to find the miniatures must wear a crown on their head. i, unfortunately, did not win, which was somewhat disappointing because i like big, obvious, american bling. after some tea and a call from my uncle inviting me to my cousins wedding in two weeks (oh boy), we finally had some free time.

we all went back to the hotel to freshen up. gaby, kate, will, drew, and i met downstairs and decided we would walk to our next activity: a boat tour on the seine. i have done this many times before, but for some reason i was really excited for this time. the weather outside was mighty cold and cloudy, but that's paris in the spring. gaby was talking her mouth off, which broke many of the awkward silences. will was freezing his ass off. and drew was chilling with his giant nikon camera. we had a nice long walk to our meeting spot, the sculpture of henry IV. the most striking aspect was the shower of bird droppings it had accumulated on his head. that's what he gets for hunting them back in the day... karma's a biznitch too.

the boat tour was at dusk, just as the sparkling lights engulfed the eiffel tower. but it was so freaking cold that none of us could spend more than five minutes on the top level of the boat. so the majority was spent marveling at the apartments along the seine. i want to live there someday. 

after, drew, will, robin, and i broke off from the large group and went to dinner at this adorable restaurant. the new york times rated it five stars and gave it a one $. it was perfect. i ordered this penne and crab pasta thing. delicious. conversation and debauchery ensured, but i don't really remember about what. it seems like it could have been a seinfeld show.

later that night as drew, will, and i we lying in bed getting ready to fall asleep, gaby and a few girls knock on our door to go out. we quickly get dressed and attack an irish pub where there are russian mafia men and some bunch of scottish hooligans getting their drink on. we stayed there for a little bit only to see a man come out of the bathroom in a gorilla suit and a guy in a bunny suit passed out on a chair at the entrance to the pub. all in all a good night.

cheers, jhabra