And now, PARIS!

Man o man, where did I leave of? So, Amsterdam was amazing. It's pretty much winning the "Anamica's favourite European City" contest. My last full day by the Amstel was QUEEN'S DAY! Which means everyone has the day off and wears orange. Holly, Tomek and I got all dolled up then rode our bikes into town. The parks were packed full of people selling their old junk, pitching weird games and eating junky junky food. The weather could not have been more perfect. As Holly said, "Queen Beatrix has ordained it so." In that case, a big thank you to the queen for being so very awesome. The rest of the day was spent riding around Amsterdam, listening to music and drinking wine. After a dinner of yummy falafel, we ended the night at a familiar bar and having some drinks by the bonfire. Home and in bed by midnight, not a shabby night. The next morning Holly and Tomek saw me off at the bus station. Holly even bought me a sandwich and some juice to enjoy on the bus ride to Paris. It feels good to be taken care of. The bus ride was supposed to take eight hours, but it ended up being nine and a half. Iman had promised to meet me at the bus station but since I don't have a phone in Europe to warn her about the delay, she headed back home to charge her dead cell phone and fret a little about how she would find her friend. Eventually, I figured out how to use a French pay phone and I told her I would meet her at her local subway station. Two seconds into sitting on the subway three drunk Parisians harass me. Seriously? I got up and walked away, but it didn't give me much of a good impression of the city. I've heard too many stories about the men in this town acting less then gentlemen-like. Fortunately, I found Iman and we talked far past her bedtime. We woke up this morning and she took me to some of the most beautiful sites ever. There was Sacre-Coeur, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, the Latin Quarter and some other places of importance with French names I can't remember. Also, I had the best pan au chocolat I've had in my life. Oh, and a ridiculously delicious falafel sandwich that was stuffed with grilled aubergine, cole slaw with tahini and beets. Why is life so good? Iman had to got to work at five and she sent me home to the apartment. I got in to the building just fine, but I then proceeded to try to open the wrong apartment door. When I thought the key didn't work, I sat on the steps outside the apartment for nearly two hours, pouting. I would have gone outside and seen some sites, but it was raining pretty hard. Finally, a nice man came up to the landing and asked me what I was doing. "Well, I have a key, but it's just not working." "This is my apartment." "What?! Where do the three girls live?" "Downstairs, on the fifth floor." Oh. Anyway, more adventures tomorrow. Today's mission: Read some Sartre. Extra points if you do it at a coffee shop.