26 septembre 2009 (Day 26)
Well today has been quite the ride! I slept and checked my email. That was a mistake. I found out that some of my friends broke up which made me really sad, especially since I couldn’t be there for them. I went for a run to vent my emotions (mile repeats). I then took a quick shower and headed off to the market, still in a somber mood. I bought a baguette from my baguette lady. I splurged and got myself a galette (buckwheat crepe) with sugar for breakfast. My favorite fruit vendor made me smile yet again. I bought a whole bunch of pears and then they gave me a strawberry to try. Needless to say, I spent 2,50E getting the best strawberries I’ve ever tasted in my life. They really are just so delicious. One of the guys there really likes me since I am American, so he gave me about 7 plums as a “cadeau” or present. They really are my favorite, they have me hooked. I also bought some carrots and bananas at two other vendors. On the way to the market I looked up from my intensely distracted reading of Harry Potter in French and noticed a giant community yard sale going on along the banks of the river. I stopped there on my way home. It was well worth it. It was fun to see all the things people were selling. I ended up buying four scarves for only 6 euros (quite the deal). One is a dark raspberry color and another is green. One is an “old lady” scarf with flowers (it even smells like an old lady) that I bought for a euro. The last scarf is multicolored that I got along with a new shirt.
I came home and ate one of my leftover hot dog/sausages and some pear cake. They really are such good hot dogs! I cleaned up my room and by this time my throat was hurting a lot. It was bothering me a little when I was out on the town, but I thought that was because I didn’t have my water bottle. I did some homework, but my palentine tonsils were quite red and my throat hurt so I took a quick nap.
I was doing more homework after dinner when Brooke started chatting to me online. She is a friend from Utah State who is also in France studying. We ended up planning our fall break. We are going to meet up in Geneva, Switzerland and then fly off together to Stockholm Sweden with her friend who lives there. We are going to spend about a week in Sweden (possibly hopping over to Norway) and then flying back to Paris (this ticket only cost $33). I am really really really really excited that I will get to go on this big adventure with a good friend and a tour guide! It will be so nice to not have to pay for a hostel and have a local who knows where what is. So this has just been a roller coaster day of ups and downs: sad news from home, friendly people, great deals, feeling sick, and going to Sweden!
