success!

Successfully picked up Catherine at the airport. She was tired and not feeling well--drank 2 small bottles of wine on the plane ("Why not? It was free. It was like happy hour on a plane!" --C.) and completely regretted it. Airplane food did not help either. So she took a later flight and rested at Heathrow.

Right off the metro, she took out her SLR camera and took pics. Back to my place, I made her tea while she plopped on my bed and took a breather. Lucia dropped by for some GREAT news about Italy.

Basically, we're going to spend 2 weeks in Italy--WOW! And the best thing is that almost half of our lodging will be FREE. AAAAHHH!!! Keisha knows some people there with vacation homes, and a lot of them won't be around, as well as her boyfriend's fam is willing to host us. We're hitting up Sicily, Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice. You have no idea how excited I am about all this. Getting to spend time in the countryside in a house with an Italian family will be really cool and interesting. And the food, dear God, the food! Will try and learn some Italian basics.

Catherine people watched at my window, commenting on how lovely the boys are with their "coats and scarves and speaking French to each other". She is absolutely a doll to be with and it's interesting seeing Paris through her eyes. The three of us got dinner across the street. I had the tartiflette which is pretty much cheese, potatoes, and ham. Really good, but never again unless I want to die in 5 years. C. had roast chicken and fries and loved it. She also likes the Coke and how it came with a slice of lemon and a spoon.

Said bye to Lucia, then we sat at my window and talked till 2am about boys, philosophy (that's her major), and just did a running commentary on whoever was walking down our street. And then watched Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier to get in a Parisien mood. We also looked at prices on the internet for a room at where they filmed it. They were outrageous! 400 euros for a standard room. Insane. Good times.

Itinerary (things C. wants to do):
1. Versailles
2. Graves of Sartre and Beauvoir
3. Shopping
4. Opera
5. Sit in a cafe and work on her thesis (while I'm in class)
6. Bar/lounge
7. the outside of the Louvre
8. Tour Eiffel

I'm gonna do my best to be a good host so wish me luck! I'm really glad though she doesn't want to be a total tourist and see absolutely everything ("I'm being realistic."--C). By the way, she's sleeping still, dead tired, that's why I gots time to blog.