Last weekend was one I'd been looking forward to for a loooooooooong time. This was the weekend of the 6 Nations match between France+Wales, which could mean just one thing... The Edinburgh Uni Welsh Society's trip to Paris! Despite the fact I'm obviously not in Edinburgh this year I'd spoken to my friends in 'the Soc' over the summer and decided I'd travel up to meet them in Paris anyway. So while they were clambering onto the bus in George Sq on thursday night, I was with friends in Milan, getting ready for my early morning TGV on friday. My trip up was very simple, and I arrived at the Gare du Lyon with minimal stress on friday afternoon. I managed to navigate the metro and got myself to the hostel, assuming I'd run into the Edinburgh crowd as I arrived. When I arrived it turned out this was definately not the case. After a few slightly panicked phonecalls I managed to establish they were stuck in traffic in Paris, although they had no idea where. Nevertheless I befriended a group from Cardiff Uni who were also staying at our hostel, and the Edinburgh crowd arrived an hour later. It was so great to see them, especially as I hadn't seen many of them since the exams last year. We all changed into our rugby tops, and all brandishing all manner of tacky rugby paraphernalia, headed towards the Latin Quarter. After a quick break for a very overpriced pizza (I'm getting wayyyy to used to cheap Bologna prices!) we all reconvened at a wee irish pub, and settled down to watch the match. As anyone who has ever experienced a welsh rugby match will know, this involves a lot of singing. By the end of the first half we had sung ourselves hoarse, but as Wales were leading at this point we didn't care. Unfortunately the game took a turn for the worse in the second half, and France ended up winning, but despite this dampner we didn't let it spoil our fun. A wee bar crawl followed, then more stops for crepes, and then it all went a bit haywire as we managed to lose first our way, then each other. After what felt like centuries, we eventually made it back to the hostel!
The next morning I had to be up early to meet a friend from Bologna who was also passing through Paris. He and I had to get a hostel together that night, so met outside the Louvre and jumped back on the metro. Luckily the hostel hunt was quick and easy, and soon we were zooming across the city towards the Eiffel Tower. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunshine and sightseeing. A friend and I went up the Arc de Triomphe, which was very cool and gave you great views of the city. (you can see the Eiffel Tower in the background, it's not just us!)
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After a brilliant afternoon of relaxing in the sun I had to say goodbye to the Edinburgh crowd as they started on the Long Drive Home. I headed off to meet my Bologna friends, eventually finding them at the Musée D'Orsay. Again we were a pretty international group - a Belgian guy, a Brazilian guy, a Norwegian girl and me. First we went up to Montmartre, and saw a hilarious gig outside Sacre Coeur, then ended up heading for a curry on the other side of town. Sadly we were all too shattered to go out and party, but it was fun, and good to catch up nonetheless.
The following morning Maarten and I were up bright and early to go to the Louvre. As it was the first sunday of the month, all the museums were free, so we dashed around the Louvre, as always, getting very lost. We managed to lose Fabrizio and Pia early on, luckily though we found them as I was leaving to get my train back to Milan. Definately not an emotional drawn out farewell - I was literally shouting goodbye at them while dashing to the metro, constantly thinking "I really hope that's not the last time we ever see each other!" Fingers crossed it won't be :)