Illegal Valentine

So it was Valentine's day yesterday (like y'all didn't know that). Hope everyone did something fun.

I went out on a double date with my friend and the 2 guys who have been helping us get settled in this place. They both speak English and are students like us. One is Senegalese (tall and dark like Akon, that's where the similarities end!) and the other is Camerounian. (I called it an outing until I told another friend who insisted that since the guys paid, it was a date!)

They are both fab. We knew the Camerounian before we came over to France, he helped us get our flat. We shall call them S and C respectively.

They are quite brillant and make us laugh a lot and they are the go-to guys for anything we need and don't know where to get. They also say Nigerian girls are dangerous :D especially Lagos girls hahaha! When they talk they go, come on this girl is not just Nigerian she is comes from Lagos. That's me by the way.

They had nothing doing on Valentine's day, so we decided to go to Paris. I have no objection since I am not doing anything.

After getting primped and ready we set off, on getting to the train station, there was no one at the ticket stand and we wanted young people's day ticket (which is about half the price of the full ticket, sold only at weekends) and not available on the self ticketing machines. The guys had their Navigo cards so no problem on their side. They decided we could pass through in two's! That we did. You should have seen us (I held the guys jacket so we just go like one) (is that illegal by the way? got to check their rules here don't want to be in some Frnech jail)

We did that until we got to our first destination, Champs Elysees. After walking the length of the avenue with not a single free table at any restaurant on that stretch and people standing at every available space (it's Valentine's day and a Sunday!), we backtracked to the train station got a ticket for the metro and went to another place, this time Chatelet les Halles.

We bought tickets for a movie, had about 45 mins to kill, so we decided to get dinner. The food was horrible to say the least. I had something called Tagliani Saumon (some kind of flat spagheti with salmon and cheese. Salmon tasted like rubber and not like salmon at all and the cheese was just a milky concoction. Macdonalds an escalator down would have been far better). The guys' pizza wasn't much better, it looked like biscuit with congealed cheese and tomato! To cap it off their loo was locked and we were not allowed to use it.

So, after taking a leek (such a guy word) at the cinema loo, we went to see our movie. It was a good one, Brothers, very sad and poignant. I hated that feeling, it's Valentine's day afterall who needs to feel so sad. We should have seen George Clooney's In The Air. We came out and saw another movie was about to start in another screen room, someone said (I can't remember who) we could go in, so we went in and took seats. This time we saw Sherlock Holmes. An OK movie. I liked it though. Nothing like Jude Law to get me smiling :)

By the time the movie ended, it was 12.30. The guys had classes in the morning. We caught the last train home. We got to our Gare (station) only to find policemen on the platform and we were the only ones there. We made our way to the escalators. Remember we didn't have tickets. On getting to the exit, there the police were again we made as if we were going back downstairs- but there are no more trains for the day, it was 1.35 by the way and the policemen knew what was up so they called us, it was embarrassing.

I rooted in my handbag for a ticket, I have the one for buses, trams and the Metro but not the one for trains which was what I needed to exit. The guys in uniform let us through laughingly though and our friends said we were tourists in France for Valentine's day. How cheeky! but we got through.

My thoughts were, if they catch us, we are going to jail! I could literally see the headlines---- Nigerians attempt to get through the station without tickets! A la Mumutallab breaking News! And I saw my Dad's face. He called me when I was coming here not to go clubbing or anything like that 'cos exchange students are targets for robbery and worse. And I did the whole Yes Dad, of course not Dad thingy! Thank God there was no incident. We laughed about it all the way home. We walked again no buses or taxi in sight. Got home at 2.22am.

It was much fun. I can't remember ever breaking so many rules in a single day. Wouldn't be doing that again sha. I will wait for the ticket guy to show up and purchase mine like a good citizen before venturing anywhere. All that sleuth-like business is not my thing! Have a fab week people.

Guilty pleasures!

I have been away for too long. I feel guilty but I could not help it. Blame laziness! How is everyone? Hope the year is off to a great start. Things are good. Safely ensconced in France. Yet to visit the great city. Moved flats over the weekend so I am doing the big settling down. I love my room, I did it entirely in red with white walls!

Not much going on here, I prefer the UK Uni, much more engaging. Things are a bit slow here hence this free time. We are been taught in English so less books to read as they are mostly in French. I do not speak French and its been hilarious getting around. Picture a combination of sign languages punctuated with a few French words and fluent English. I sound like the idiot from grade 1.

It's sometimes amusing watching these people try to understand me but its equally frustrating. So I have signed up for the school French course which I have termed 'Learn French by force' because its a 6 hour class on Friday afternoons! Talk about losers who have nothing to do! How can I spend all my friday afternoon till early evening cooped up in a class learning a language? 2.30pm-8.30pm! I am still mad! There goes my plan to run away to London every chance I get for the weekend!

Things here are ridiculously expensive! I have been moaning about this since I got out of the plane. From the Travellex exchange service that charged me 27euros to change some money so I could get a bus to my town to the maxi pack of Maltesers I bought that cost 4 euros! I am still smarting form the injustice of it all. So I have resolved to get to London as much as possible and fit in copious amount of TESCO shoppings as I can manage. I will be on the Eurostar so it will be fine.

Getting here was another story entirely! FYI never book EasyJet unless you are going away ONLY for a weekend! They are hideous. I had to pay about £150 to carry 21kg extra luggage! That is more than double the amount I paid for the ticket itself plus I had to buy my own baggage space.

Anyway, all the gorgeous men I have been seeing all around have been compensating for my disappointment! They are crawling everywhere! So fine. I mean I have never seen so many beautiful guys in the same place. I know I am gushing but I just can't help it. Even in my flat. I have to touch my face often to make sure I am not gawking at someone!

Only downside is few speak any English but who cares when they look that good. I just want to stare at those faces! But the ones that do speak my language get extra points in the fuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiine department. Like the Ghanian that came to my flat yesterday. He could speak flawless English and perfect French and was switching effortlessly between the 2! He was so dreamy OMG. My friend & I couldn't wait for him to leave before we started screaming how gorg he is!

Excuse the typos, blame it on excitement and a decided laziness to proof read! I should go down some more water and a croissant (the pastry shops are divine!) and look at my French translation book to cram what I might say tomorrow if I do leave my apartment. I am free on Tuesdays so not obliged to go anywhere. After been relatively homeless for about a week, I am relishing the idea of staying put in my room.

I will do the rounds when I am done unpacking. Good to be back. I just wish it has a staying power. If anyone is coming to this part of the world anytime soon, kindly leave me a comment. I shall provide contact and maybe we can hook up. Strangely, there is a dearth of Nigerians here! Shocking but true. They ain't many. There are a lot of other African countries repping here though. Signing off. Be good people.