I went back to Yann's and blogged for the rest of the morning. He had a heavy night of drinking and got home late in the morning so he was in bed until 13h00. I left the shutters closed until then so there was no light to wake him. After Yann got out of bed, I showered and got ready to meet Lauren. She was having second thoughts about this french guy she was dating so we decided to do the girlfriend thing for the afternoon. We met on Bar Street and walked to Paul's to get a snack. We ate on the fountain in the plaza and talked about girl stuff.
There was a lot going on in the plaza. There were your usual diners and then there was a huge group of high school-aged guys with foil wigs and ridiculous costumes. I'm really not sure what this was but it looked like hazing. It kind of reminded me of Dazed and Confused..."Air Strike!!!" There's a military school close-by and those are the guys that are usually chanting in the street while we're out bar-hopping, so it's a possibility that the guys were just hazing each other. It's not illegal here ;-)
After the parade of guys left, Lauren and I took a walk around the center of Aix until we reached the Cours Mirabeau. We ran into a few of my friends at the famous King fountain--the Americans were Mark, Oskar, and Joelle, there was a German guy whose name I don't remember, and there's Kyle who's from the northern end of Great Britain. They began drinking at noon and kindly offered Lauren and I a red wine from Cotes du Rhones and an absolutely awful white rum that made me sick for hours. Thanks Mark!!! You're a great friend :-P
Lauren and I continued to walk past the Cours Mirabeau so she could show me a discount grocery store. We ended up at H&M where I talked her into buying a spectacular plaid blazer. I'm not much of a shopper but the style here is so chic--it just speaks to me. I love the preppy look. I'm still buying pieces that I see on the street online though, so I can get them at a fraction of the price. If I don't save at least half off of the original price, I'm not happy.
I went back to Yann's afterward and Lauren headed to the Augustins apartment where Danielle was waiting. A few hours later all of the girls and I reconvened at the Augustins apartment. We pre-gamed for a few hours as usual--opening up about 6 bottles of wine.
A little before midnight, Gaultier and his friend William from Paris came to collect us for his party. Yes, he left his own party to make sure we came. We made the short walk to Gaultier's which is just around the corner from Yann's. During this time Lauren became extremely inebriated and could barely walk. We somehow got her up the stairs and she passed out in Gaultier's bed. We decided to let her rest for awhile and went out and socialized with the frenchies. There were about 15 guys there and only 2 girls so we added a bit of dynamic to the crowd. We got to practice our french which all of the girls were excited about, but we often came across people who wanted to practice their english. When this would happen we would cut them off and say "En français!" and with their sad faces, they would resume speaking in french :-)
While we're partying, we're also regularly checking on Lauren to make sure she's breathing. Somehow, everytime we go in to see her, a bunch of french guys follow us in and stare at her--as if they'd never seen a drunk person before. They explained that most of them go through this when they're in high school, which makes sense since their legal drinking age is younger, but still! It's NOT a show!!! We eventually kicked the randoms out and got back to partying. A french house party is not much like an american house party. There is no dance music, definitely no dancing to accompany the music being played, and people are just sitting around and socializing. It's kind of refreshing sometimes to be at a get-together like that, but honestly, I was just bored. The girls ended up feeling the same way. Everyone but Danielle, Kendra, and I left and went to a dance club. Danielle felt obligated to stay because it was her boy's place, and I stayed so that she wouldn't have to keep an eye on Lauren alone. Kendra stayed so she could continue to practice her french, ha haha, but she eventually left as well.
Around 3h00 I walk into Gaultier's room to check on Lauren and there's a couple making out beside her and a guy CUDDLING on her while she's passed out. I looked at him and firmly said "No!" with my mean little finger pointed at him. I immediately grabbed Danielle, woke Lauren up, and we walked out. When we got outside, we saw Gaultier smoking with some of his pals--he looked pissed. Danielle left us to go see what was wrong. It turns out he's pissed that she was "flirting" with William. French guys are so possessive, honestly. Whether you're officially dating or not (not, being the case with Dani and Gaultier), they strongly dislike it when you enjoy speaking to another guy. Jealousy is the norm. A little jealousy is healthy, but I feel like people here take it way too far.
While Danielle was consoling Gaultier, Lauren and I continued to walk down the street. I could hear footsteps behind us but didn't want to look back. About 20 feet down the road a guy asks me if I need help to walk Lauren back. I turn around and it's the guy that was cuddling on her! All I said to him was "No, Go back to the party."--This was my attempt at being nice. He asked again and I said "Yes! We live right here!" I completely lied to his face but it worked.
Danielle and Gaultier meet us halfway back to the Augustins apartment. When we reach the building, Danielle bid farewell to Gaultier and he sadly turned around. I kind of felt bad for him, but he needs to get his emotions under control.
Danielle and I walk Lauren up about 6 flights of stairs. When we got into the apartment, Lauren made her way up to Danielle's room while I made a bit of food because I always get drunken munchies. Danielle immediately freaks out because she already has sleeping problems and encourages me to kick Lauren out of her bed. We go upstairs and try but Lauren is back to not moving or communicating. Though we didn't try too hard, we decided it was a lost cause and Danielle came to terms with having to share the bed for the night.
Don't worry, she slept well :-)
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