Day 25 - A BIG Surprise in Paris

Jim and I woke up at 9 this morning in order to get packed and ready to check out of our houseboat. We were able to get everything packed and ready to go. I will admit I felt awful this morning, my head was all clogged up and I feel like I could stay in bed all day with this cold, but we had to get back to Paris. I did have two Chocolate crossiants to help make myself feel better and they were delicious! So we did dishes and cleaned our part of the houseboat. Once everything was packed and we were ready to catch our train, we checked out of the houseboat with David and said our goodbyes. I did sign the guestbook with my name and Lincoln, NE just in case any of you go there someday, you will know I stayed there too!

We left for the train station and made it in plenty of time! We stopped at a cafe upstairs and Jim was able to order and omlete and coffee while I treated myself to Hot Chocolate. We finsihed up and headed to our platform to wait for our train. Once the train pulled up Jim and I boarded on our seperate coaches and the train pulled out of the station less than 10 minutes later. I enjoyed the long train ride with the book I had taken from Jim's book shelf and it really wasn't too bad of a ride. I struggled breathing the whole time through my nose, but I was very entertained by my book.

Once we pulled in to Gaud de Nord I got my things together and walked onto the Platform to find Jim. I didn't see him anywhere, so I waited a few minutes until he emerged from the train. We began our long walk down the platorm without really saying much to eachother. Jim had his two large bags and I had my heavy backpack on. As we were walking suddenly a very excited girl in a hat came rushing towards me waving her arms in excitment. It took me about 2 minutes to realize who it was, it was Nicole DeWald! Nicole from Lincoln...I couldn't believe it, I was stunned. I had no idea what in the world Nicole would be doing here and her and Jim said hello. I went to introduce them still in shock, and they said they already knew each other. I asked Nicole what she was doing here and she said she flew to Paris for the week to surprise me! I honestly was frozen in shock and my face was glued with a look of puzzlement the entire time. I couldn't believe Nicole was actually here in Paris. She said she decided to come to Paris last week and made all the plans contacting my parents and my uncle to make all her reservations. She wanted it to be a surprise, so she did it all behind my back. She will be here during my stay and we will leave together on Friday to go back to Lincoln. We paused for a brief conversation and Nicole told me about how she planned everything, I just couldn't believe it! Jim needed to go to the bookstore to get the keys to the apartment, so we sent him on his way while we looked for a Pharmacy for me to get medicine and have a coffee. Sadly Nicole had arrived in Paris at 10:30 this morning and had to wait until our train pulled in at 4:30 this afternoon. We stopped for a coffee and she told me everything, I am still just so shocked she pulled everything together. It will be really fun to have a friend here this week while Jim is working and we will be able to see all the touristy sights! We were able to catch up about everything over our coffee, but sadly we didn't find an Pharmacy that was open.

After our coffee we got onto the Metro and I lead Nicole to Jim's apartment. Nicole forgot pajama's, so we stopped in a few places to find something for her to wear. It was more difficult than you would expect, but we found her some pants. We met Jim at the apartment and he let us in. I gave Nicole the tour and I showed her all the goodies I have collected so far on my trip. Jim went to the store and upon his return handed us bowls of snack food and wine while we relaxed and used the computer. Including the Marshmallow's mom sent to uncle Jim through Nicole. Thanks Mom! Nicole would like me to mention to Kimmy that we are enjoying wine and cheese together. :) Wish you all could be here. The apartment is freezing after a weekend with no heat, so we are all cuddled around the heater.

After our relaxation time, we left the apartment to get some dinner. We got onto the Metro and stopped near the Modern Art Museum, which looks like a very industrial building. We walked around the neighborhood a little, which is very pretty. Jim pointed out the stand where I had my very first crepe EVER, 4 years ago. I was tempted to stop, but dinner sounded a little more filling. We all agreed on Italian and made our way to a cute little restaurant off of Place des Enfants square. Jim told us a story about the square from a book called Perfume about a famous perfume maker. He also informed us the Rat Store from the Ratatouille movie, the scene where the father shows the son the Rat killing store, is right around the corner from the restaurant. Jim knows how to speak to me with Pixar film relations.

Nicole and I shared a salad and pizza while Jim had a salad. It was a very nice meal and the restaurant was really warm. I was in heaven until my medicine decided to stop working and I felt horrible. All I wanted was to go home to bed, and so we did. Thankfully. I started to feel better on the walk home, but I was anxious to pop another pill and hit the hay. And so I did, with my vapor rub to help me breathe. Nicole and I shared the air mattress which was a very cozy fit, but it helped us stay warm. Well I can only really speak for myself, but I slept great. Although it was a little tough moving around because the bed would make these awful noises and the whole thing would shake, so you couldn't help waking the other person up. Either way it was great having Nicole here, and I really still can't believe she planned the whole thing and everyone was able to keep it secret from me. As Jace said in her card, "What's better than Paris?...A best friend in Paris!" On that note, thanks for the cards girls!