THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!

I woke up at 8 just in time to get to work. I left Mom and Dad sleeping and stepped out just as the repairman was coming in. When I got to work, I realized I was the only one in my section of the office! Tallie and Mark left the day before, Anita was leaving that morning, and there was never any one in the 5th office! So for 2 weeks I'll have no one. :-( 2 weeks...le sigh. I worked on the PowerPoint Florence gave me to update but I was pretty tired from the night before, so not much got done. My parents called when they work up and asked what I wanted to do for lunch. Thankfully, I had decided that and we made plans to meet up at Cafe Les Deux Magots (probably one of the most famous ones in Paris) at 1pm. Finally it was 12h30 and I left to try to figure out some things with the bank. The insurance money is supposed to have been put in my account but it hadn't been and I was getting anxious to pay the repairman. The whole bank episode was quite an experience- for the first time in a long time I had absolutely no idea what was going on! I didn't understand the simplest French and made a complete fool of myself. I'll tell you though, because you'll enjoy it as much as I did. You see, when I looked at my bank accounct, I thought I was looking at a balance that said the insurance had paid me 800E and will pay me 300E in a few days. Ironically, this is how much the insurance was to have paid me: 1100E. It also said somethign about "plafond," which means ceiling in French- which I had redone. I took this to mean that for the repair of my ceiling, there would be 2 dispersements
of 800E and 300E. So when I went to the counter at the bank and did my whole explaining thing, the lady looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently, I was all mixed up. The "account" I'd been looking at was not an account at all. And I hadn't been dispersed any money. The sheet I'd glanced at said the maximum- or ceiling- I could withdraw from the ATM per day was 800E and the most I could take out per transaction was 300E. How silly of me! When I realized my blunder I tried to explain my faux ps to the teller, but she was not amused. At all. So, I chuckled to myself and went on my merry way. I needed that money, but I was just going to have to wait a bit longer. I got to the restaurant and didn't see my parents so I went inside the St. Germain des Pres church like I'd been meaning to for a while. It was beautiful and old and lovely. It was built during the Moorish times, making it the oldest church in Paris. Of course, it's been remodeled quite a bit. I called my parents after I was done thanking God I'd made it to my 21st year and found them and sat down at the restaurant. We looked over the menu and I was able to order in French, no matter how badly the waiter wanted to practice his English. I chose the house salad. In Paris (maybe France) this is more like the Club Salad in the States- egg, cheese, ham or chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, and carrots. The house dressing is usually a creamy mustard vinagrette of which I've become fond. When in doubt at a resto, I order this salad. You can't go wrong. So, I got my salad, my mom got a tomato/mozzarella/basil salad (I've found places that do tomato/mozzarella/proscuitto ham- it's so good! But I don't like basil, anyway.) and my dad got a Quiche Lorraine (ham and cheese). They were all delicious- and very French. We also got a bottle of Chardonnay and split that. At that moment I became useless to the Embassy for the rest of the day. Not that I was even buzzed, it was just the perfect amount to put me in that real sleepy disposition. And I'm prone to sleepiness as it is. The wine was certainly a treat, though! And it was good- perfect with a salad. Fresh and cold. We had an excellent lunch- well, except when the woman next to us got wine spilled on her white capris, then suddenly my mom was much more interested in her than the Birthday Girl. ;-) I'm kidding, but this lady was pretty sad. The waiter poured salt all over her, because that's what the French believe takes out red wine the best. He said the "salt drinks the wine." That day, the salt was not thirsty and the woman did her best at getting her meal comped... compt?...for free. But that's why you gotta think about those things! I know I do, but that's because I'm prone to as much clumsiness as sleepiness...probably because I'm sleepy. Aaaanyway, sitting at the cafe just a few blocks from my school brought back a lot of memories and made me realize I didn't have much time left. I was getting sad. After my internship, I didn't have any more excuses as to why I needed to stay in Paris. I do think, honestly, that traveling throughout Europe has made me love Paris more. If that's possible. Okay, no more talking about Paris. Lunch was good. Then we went to my favorite creperie and got Crepes aux nutella- which made my mother decide she needed crepe pan. From Paris. So we went to the Monoprix across the street and got her one. I also got some cheap sparkling juice for later that evening and my dad found some killer...placemats that he just had to have. We all left satisfied with our purchases. I went back to work and Mom and Dad went home. This trip has been nice for them because they just go home when they're tired and go out when they want. It's been very relaxing which is good because they don't do that very often. I went home after leaving work (early!) and was greeted by a clean apartment, escargots, baguettes, wine, and PURPLE FLOWERS!! My favorite. My parents are sooo sweet. We sat down and watched an episode of the Office while we enjoyed our snack. We also got to talk to Liz- cuz it was her birthday, too! Then, we showered up and went to our restaurant. Y'all, this place was amazing. It's at the top of the Pompidou Museum...well, just- here, look at the link:
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Communication.nsf/0/C802434866E91C8CC1256D9800513026?OpenDocument&sessionM=3.8&L=2
That was where we went. I'd been to the museum part before and taken pictures from the restaurant terrace, but never did I dream that I would eat there! I thought, oh museum food, gross. But no, this restaurant is quite highly acclaimed among the Parisiens and the chef is very good. It was recommended to me by a Parisienne and so I took her word for it. It has a great view, and it's probably one of the more reasonable places, all things considered. When we arrived the sun was down but it was still light out. We were were going to be able to see the lights of Paris come on. Ahhh. We got a bottle of wine and I did my best translating the menu. I got the duck, my mom got risotto and langoustines and my daddy got the Chateaubriand (steak). They were all excellent- especially my duck! I was really hankering for some, so of course it tasted delish. The lights of Paris slowly switched on and I continued to enjoy my meal. I know I drove my parents crazy with how slow I ate, but I can't help it! I'm trying harder to eat slower in hopes
that one day, I will need less food! Haha. But I do love savoring every little bite. Well, it doesn't help that I talk a lot. Dinner ended and we got coffee and dessert. I got a fraise feuilletee (basically strawberries in between the crispy part of French croissants with a little creme between to make it stick together like a sandwich), and an espresso. My parents each got a boule of ice cream (which I'm pretty sure my dad ate both of) and cafe cremes. That was their favorite. It's different than a cafe latte- made with creme instead of milk. The way they presented it though was neat- 2 little pitchers- one with coffee and one with creme so they could make it as strong as they wanted. We enjoyed our last bits of dessert, walked around the restaurant inside (which was actually really cool, but I'm glad we sat outside. I think my mom would have rathered indoors, but she was sweet to let me choose.) The inside of the restaurant was eccentric (As you can see in the pictures if you click on the link) and matched the uniqueness (?) of the museum. We stood outside on the terrace a bit longer and watched the Eiffel Tower light up and took some pictures. It was so beautiful. I'm so proud I'm able to name the buildings at night just as easily as when they're lit up, too. I loooove Paris. It was the perfect meal and everything. But the night wasn't over! Ohhh no. I dragged my parents to the end of Ile de la Cite and we opened that bottle of sparkling wine and sat on the Seine and drank it. It was the only thing I wanted to do for my birthday since I'd arrived. Sure, everything else was stupendous, but that was the thing I said I would do in 2007. So, to have remembered that and actually fulfilled it- with my parents, no less- was really cool for me. It really was the best 21st birthday I could have ever imagined- with the exception of the absence of my other half. I really did miss Liz a lot that day, even though *somehow* I was able to have some fun. I think she managed without, me, too. And now I've had my 13th, 16th, and 21st birthdays in Paris (among others, I'm sure, but those are the Big Ones). I wonder how many people can say that! At midnight we went home because we had a long day to get ready for- Mom was going back to the States and Daddy and I were on our way to Prague! Not to mention, none of us had packed for it and I had to pack a bag for my mom to take home to the States.