A new No. 1

Vacation is over and “work” starts again tomorrow morning, but I’m not sure that I could have dreamed up a better past two weeks. Sightseeing in Madrid, swimming in Grand Canaria and skiing in the French Alps, I mean really?

The trip didn’t start out on the most positive of notes, which was partly my fault and partly the fault of a connard airport security employee. I’d left a bottle of juice in my bag by accident, but the thing is after taking everything out of the main compartment of my backpack and searching through my toiletries, he still hadn’t found the juice. After about 10 minutes of searching in vain, he told me I had to throw out some of my “liquids.” There were certain essentials that I couldn’t throw away (i.e. sunscreen, contact solution, etc.), and then after ogling my deodorant, he decided that that should go in my “liquid” bag as well. Already annoyed that he was going through everything, I got into an argument with him about why he put that in with the liquids. His response: “c’est un liquide dur” or “it’s a hard liquid.” At this point I was so frustrated that what he said didn’t exactly sink in, but after I sacrificed shampoo for the sake of smelling fresh, I was mad at myself for letting that one get by me. A hard liquid…aka a solid.

Madrid has the coolest airport.

After some serious thought, I’ve decided that Madrid might just be my new favorite city. It reminded me of a cleaner, less smelly New York, and probably the strangest thing was that literally everyone, even the old people, was at least a 6 or better. I don’t understand how there can be so many good-looking people in one place, but it was crazy. Unlike France, stores were open past 8, so that was a nice change, and everyone goes out night. The streets were packed with people even at 2.00 AM, which is something you don’t even see in Paris.

We got in around 4.00 AM and spent the next day at two incredible museums, the Reina Sofia Museum and the Prado Museum. It was raining and both were free so it was an all-around win. Usually after walking around for a while, I get museum-ed out, but every room had at least one or two pieces that were genuinely interesting. For our last day in Madrid we walked around the city to see all the touristy sites, and I got to wear sunglasses for the first time this year!

Perfect.

I want this in my house one day.

The next morning we moved on to Grand Canaria, where sun, sand, and so many naked old people awaited. The temperature hovered between 70 and 80, and even though the ocean was still chilly, it was too hot on the beach not to go in.

Three days flew by, and before I knew it I had to head back to Paris to meet my brother. Greeted by cloudy skies and rain, after meeting up, Ned and I headed down to Lyon to spend the afternoon/night with our cousin Katie before continuing on to La Plagne. We saw some Roman ruins that I hadn’t seen the last time I was in Lyon in addition to all the standard favorites. After a few too many beers at this really cool pub, we went to an interesting tartiflette restaurant for dinner.

We left early the next morning, and were greeted by some more speed bumps once we got off the train, but things worked themselves out and in the end I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. With the gondola to the top of the mountain five minutes away and a nightclub downstairs, Caoimhlin’s chalet had an unbeatable location. Prices for rentals and lift tickets were ridiculously cheap compared to what you pay at home. It’s ridiculous to think that you pay 2x as much for a lift ticket in the Poconos than you do for the Alps. Highway robbery. Plus, we were treated to two days of fresh powder - the first they'd seen seen before Christmas!

Last night was spent out in Rouen with some of the assistants and their friends visiting from home. After dinner at an “American” restaurant we went out for drinks and then went to the outdoor market this morning. Even though these past two weeks were an “official” vacation, for the past several months I’ve been on vacation. I’m in the process of trying to extend my visa to take part in this English summer camp in June, during which I could make $2,000 for 7 days of work. Not too shabby huh? Only problem is I have to deal with French immigration officers…let’s hope my name can help me out again.