Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated in France, but I didn't let that ruin this holiday for me by any means!
I woke up late, close to 10:30 I think. That's definitely later than I like to sleep, but I think I needed it. I didn't let myself rest hardly at all over the weekend!
I didn't do much in the morning, and I was perfectly content with that. At some point, Katie left to go pick up her mom from the airport (her mom is here to spend Thanksgiving break with her), and then I finally decided to get dressed and get moving. I ate the rest of my baguette and hummus from the day before, and then met up with Shavonne, Shaq, and Gemma (one of the Paris semester students) to go explore the Latin Quarter.
It was actually a "nice" day; temps in the upper 40s, very sunny, and not that windy. I couldn't let it go to waste! It's been much too rainy here, and it'll undoubtedly rain in London this weekend (although I'll suffer through that and still do everything I want to do).
On the way, we went to Starbucks. I was just DYING for a chai tea latte, and Gemma really wanted some coffee. I tried to tell the barista my name in the French way, but all he heard was "Emma." So our cups ended up saying "Gemma" and "Emma," which was kind of cute.
We first stopped at Shakespeare and Company, which was once a popular cafe frequented by Hemingway and Fitzgerald and all them. Now, it's, well, also a cafe, but mainly a really cool bookstore. The first thing I did was find a pretty copy of Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book--I'm trying to develop a collection of different editions of it), and then I did some browsing. I loved it in there! I may have also got a couple more surprise books...but we'll just have to wait and see!
Next, we went to Notre Dame because we were running away from Frolo and needed to find sanctuary (jokes). Seriously, though, I was shocked at how short the line was to get in! I mean, it was still a line, but the last time I went there the line was at least three times as long. The inside was still just as beautiful as I remembered, but now, after seeing Seville Cathedral, I'm a little less impressed with it.
Picture didn't turn out that great, but this was the coolest, fanciest nativity scene I've ever seen!
Not the greatest selfie ever taken
So after that, as you can maybe see in the picture above, we visited the lover's lock bridge. Last summer, I had taken this really cute picture with my cousin, Laura, and two of our EF tour friends, and I was just dying to recreate it with my new study abroad friends. I think it turned out cute!
We then went back to Shakespeare and Company because Shavonne couldn't decide on a book earlier, and then we headed to McDonald's because they were all hungry. On the way, though, Shaq decided to get Chinese food instead, and then we continued on to McDonald's. I got talked into buying a medium fry (I'm weak). It seemed fitting, though, that I would have Starbucks and McDonald's considering it was an American holiday.
We headed back to campus so that we could see Katie and her mom for a little bit. It was so great seeing her! I'm excited for them in all the exploring of Paris they're going to be doing this weekend.
Later, after many struggles trying to decide what to do for Thanksgiving dinner, I ended up going to a nice little restaurant close by with Anissa, Michelle, Vinny, La Shay, Shavonne, and Shaq. We splurged a little, but MAN was it worth it. I had good rosé wine, good bread, good cod, good vegetables and potatoes, and good chocolate cake-type dessert. Honestly, calling all of those things "good" is a gross understatement. It was easily the best meal I've had all semester! Just amazing. Our waitress was extremely sweet and helpful, too. She translated the entire menu for us! What a trooper.
Didn't get a picture of the dessert because I started eating it the second it was set down in front of me! But here's my fish!
So it was very different than any Thanksgiving I'd ever had before, but it was absolutely wonderful. I wouldn't have had it any other way!
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