Mercredi, 19 Decembre 2012: My Second Visitor

I had spent the entire morning cleaning and catching up on my blog. By the time noon had rolled around, I was at the Gare Routiere waiting for Danny. Danny is a friend of mine from college. We were both in the pre-med and bio programs together at Ball State. Though we had had Botany together in the spring of 2009, we didn't become friends until the next semester when we had Genetics together. From then on, we became study buddies, and from there, we became good friends. He's now like a little brother to me. After I graduated, I made sure to visit with him whenever I was in Indiana. He's in the must-see category. And now, he's visiting me in France!

His bus arrived a bit late so I got some hot wine and sat on a bench to wait for him. During this time, I met multiple people randomly. It wasn't the usual passerby asking for directions. These people actually sat with me for a few minutes and spoke to me about...well, nothing important, but it was nice to not sit by myself. One man in particular stopped to ask for directions to the train station in french, when I accidentally replied in english he started asking questions about my origins, what I'm doing here, and whether I prefer Aix over Marseille. He was obviously in no rush to get to the train station, and of course he spoke in english. I find that when people find out you're an American, they either want to practice their english with you or are just mezmerized by your accent--which I totally hate by the way. All of the french people say that the American accent is sexy,  but I think it's just awful!

Danny finally arrived in Aix but at an earlier bus stop just a minute away. I didn't know that area well so it took me a few minutes to find him, plus, nearly every street in Aix is a one-way street so if you don't know exactly where you're going, you have to turn around a million times and take a million different routes. I finally found him and we took off toward Meyreuil since he couldn't get into his apartment until 16h30. Danny had rented an apartment on airbnb.com because he couldn't find a couchsurfing host. I was asking my friends if they could host him and when he said that he would pay them 30 euro a day to stay with them, I decided to send him to this site instead. Not only is it cheaper but he would get his own space. 

We stopped at a Paul's on the outskirts of Aix for lunch. We ate our sandwiches at an outside table. The sky was a bit cloudy but I love being outside regardless. I took Danny back to my host parents' home after I got their permission and he relaxed while I ironed some clothes. Danny had gotten food poisoning the night before he left, lol. Talk about a crazy start. He had spent time in the E.R. before having to fly out. That shows you to never eat sushi from a buffet. He tried to change his flight for a later date but it was deemed impossible or extremely expensive so he left as previously planned. Poor guy. He was given Lortabs for the flight. 

Danny met my host dad and they seemed to get along well. I think everyone is skeptical of Danny because he looks like a lumberjack, yet he and I are such good friends. He looks very intimidating, but he's a total teddy bear. You should see him with my rabbit at home, lol. 

The girls arrived home around 15h30 and they came with me while I dropped Danny off at his apartment. We then picked up Gregoire from the creche and Baptiste from soccer practice together. Once Céline got home, I left for centre ville to have dinner with Danny. Tonight, we got a pizza from Pizza Capri which totally lived up to its reputation. We ate the pizza at the famous King fountain on the Cours Mirabeau. I walked Danny back to his apartment and he slept his first night in France...