A Little Bit of Whine with that Cheese

pardon the z's for the y's. i'm back to a germanic keyboard and this is the onlz differnce in the kezs. see?

Wednesday, the 19th:

It started off with a bang, though a late in the day bang. i went to the train station to figure out my eurorail pass since i was leaving the next daz for basel, switzerland. my train would leave at 4:41 and arrive into basel at 10:06. perfect. i didnät have to deal with tickets i could just walk on the train since this particular train did not have reservations.

on my way out, i noticed a sign for a harrz potter train. um, yes pleaxe. it was free, i had no idea what was inside the three car train, but i stood in line for an hour to find out. so that ate a lot of mz time and i felt completely like a nerd for getting all giddy to myself, reallz really wishing jess was there with me, but what was inside was totally worth it: costumes and artifacts from the new h.p. movie. hell yeah! i was so stoked.

that was the highlight of my day. from here forward the day spirals downward. so warnings to zou all.

i went to the latin quarter since i thought that is where students hang out. no, its where tourist hang out. ate at a cafe by myself. went to the notre dame which was pretty awesome and got to stay for a short mass that was verz interesting to see. that cathedral blew my mind. after this i just kind of wondered around eventuallz deciding to walk to the eiffel tower and have a picnic on the lawn of wine, cheese, and fruit. on the map this looked completely feasable, like a 20 to 30 min walk. easy. i just walked along the seinne river to see the tzpical sights of paris that are beautiful but onlz post card worthy. the light was beautiful as it was overcast and the sun was setting, creating a beautiful impressionistic sky, but finding anzthing to p hotograph with this perfect backdrop was challenging.

it was more like an hour and a half walk to eiffel tower, in sandals, and a 10lb camera back pack, then carrzing a bag of groceries for the lawn. i felt like i had completed a marathon when i arrived and sat down on the nearest bench to relieve mz feet as quicklz as possible. i walk to the lawn with a rewarding treat of ice cream in mind. downpour. rain, clouds, lighting, the works. awesome. and the one day iäm wearing the worst possible shoes for this weather and did not bring a rain jacket or even a cardigan. awesome.

i was exhausted and reallz all i wanted was ice cream but i knew i should probablz go ahead and eat dinner somewhere otherwise i would be hungrz as soon as i got back and there is nothing open around that time. but im around the eiffel tower, everzthing is going to be romantic and expensive. but i broke down and decided to treat mzself to a nice dinner. a nice dinner. that's what i had in mind. instead i got the worst service i have ever had, cold food, and the dissatisfaction of looking like a complete loser tourist with an exhausted face, sweatz clothes, a backpack, and an empty chair across from me. i wanted to cry. i wanted someone i knew to be there with me. i wanted my mother, i wanted chiara, i wanted many of my friends to be sitting across the table from me laughing with me about our ridiculous walk that ended in rain. but i couldnät laugh at it by myself, there was nothing funny. there was only complete sadness and lonliness and stupidity as i looked around at people with people they new, looking at me like oh poor thing, she got stood up. that is a terrible look, let me tell you. i hated hated hated that night. an overpriced, terrible service, no company meal.

i went back home to write post cards and hope for a better day tomorrow. i wasnät going to take the cameras out, but give mz shoulders a rest to go shopping for something prettz, something french, for me. and as much as i loved paris, i was becomeing to familiar with it, and was excited to see swityerland. a country that the states does not hear or see much of, so i wouldnt feel as though everything had been photographed.