Why didn't we stay here the first time?

Good Morning.

I am sitting in my hotel room near Roissy Charles de Gaulle, paying an unfathomable hourly rate to use the Internet. This will perhaps be the most expensive post of this entire year. On a related note, Comfort Hotel's "WiFi Access" is bollocks.

But enough about that.

I have just ended a hugely successful and highly enjoyable weekend with my friends in Voisins-le-Bretonneux. Arriving Saturday evening, I met with my best friend Jérôme for a nice, relaxing evening of catching up. Apparently not much catching up to do, as it was just like old times. Unsurprisingly, he hasn't changed much, and apparently, apart from my height and hair, neither have I. We haven't skipped a beat.

Saturday night he brought me and my excessive luggage to his apartment, showed me the room where I'd be staying, and reminded his parents that I'm actually that little short kid he used to hang out with. After helping his father get his lower jaw off the floor, we continued with the re-introductions, seeing his mother, who has changed as little as father and son, and of course, Amélie, the sister, who is an entirely different story. But let's move on.

Jérôme and I went out for dinner to a local restaurant (read: McDonald's) where we were joined by our friend Benoit, with whom I used to play Pokémon. After McD's, we went back to Jérôme's place for a bit of Xbox while waiting for a 4th man to go play pool. The billiard hall in Montigny is quite modern, and fulfills several purposes quite efficiently. Not only is there a large billiard hall, but also a bar, a dance floor with a DJ, and a sitting area with huge flat-screen TV. I mean, I guess when you have about 50,000 people to draw from in a huge area, you have to provide all the entertainment. Anyway, pool was fun (I lost 1 of 6 matches and somehow managed to learn the rules of Snooker while not playing Snooker) and on a very positive note, I said goodbye to Benoit and Cédric for the night.

Sunday was sleep-in day. Unfortunately, the Luquain household considers 11 am "sleeping in". I reminded them that I went to bed at 9 am after a party once, to the laughter of Jérôme and his parents, and a look of envy from Amélie (gotta get out of Voisins for the real party I guess). Not so unfortunately, breakfast and lunch followed each other very closely, and I was able to eat brioche and drink hot chocolate for the first time in a week or so, and then follow it up with some roast duck, a very good dish which I could not identify (I believe there was corn meal, cheese, zucchini and tomato involved), and a nice Currant wine.

That afternoon, Jérôme had to go vote, so he went to pick up his girlfriend Céline while I tried my hand at Prototype for the 360 (note: Frankie, you would like this game). With Céline and Benoit back at the apartment, we all walked to my old elementary school where the nearest polling stating was set up (I will post some pictures after my Turkey trip). After this, Benoit went home for dinner, and I went back to the apartment for some homemade crêpes (Amélie can cook - Frankie: take notes :P ), filled with either ham/emmenthal, or smoked salmon/asparagus/cream sauce. They were delicious! The dessert was, well, the unused crêpes, which I filed with jam. Yum!

After dinner, we picked up Benoit again and we all went to the local behemoth cinema (read: half the size of AMC Kanata) to take in a somewhat-romantic somewhat-comedy (which was, in fact, the best movie with seats still available) called "Pièce Montée". I hadn't seen a French film since the depressing Mélanie Laurent movie I watched a few weeks back, so I guess this was a nice treat. Of course, seeing as it was Sunday, we all had to get home early so some people could get to class this morning.

I woke up at 6:30 today, having slept little, but having greatly enjoyed my weekend. I bid farewell to Jérôme's father (his mom was sleeping and his sister ran out of the apartment while I was packing) and left to take the train at St-Quentin, direction Paris Montparnasse. At this point, I said goodbye to my friend, suggesting he come visit in Reims so he can see how 20-some-year-old business students party (I'm thinking WallStreet). I then took the metro to the RER station which brought me to the airport so I could take a bus to get to my hotel. I have to go back and redo all that when I eventually decide to go sightseeing, before heading to my concert tonight! Reminder: Peter Gabriel in Paris! It's going to be awesome!

Then, tomorrow, off to Istanbul, for what just might be the most amazing shopping spree, er, I mean, vacation, so far this year (I brought the big suitcase, I think I might just try to fill it).

Hope you all have a great week. I'll be back in Reims Sunday night so hopefully I'll post something then. If not, I will probably do so Monday night, after my first "Wine Marketing" class.

Cheers!