Never a dull moment

Things are always an adventure around here…

The week after Italy, it was back to reality. We had classes and work and the usual. On Thursday afternoon, I took the Thalys train to Paris to meet Ben! It was soooo good to see him after two months apart. That train ride was the longest hour and a half of my life! We stayed at the Hilton next to le Tour Eiffel which was a fantastic location. On Thursday night, we went up to the top of the tower for the amaaaaazing view. You can see all of Paris from up there. Ben was feeling pretty jet lagged, so after the tower, we found some dinner close to the hotel and then headed to bed.

Friday was the only full day we had, so I made Ben walk a looong way. We started the morning with crepes in the San Michel area and then checked out Notre Dame. The church is absolutely beautiful. From there we walked to the Louvre, through the Tuileries Gardins, to le Place de la Concord, up the Champs-Elysees, to le Arc de Triomphe. From there, we went back to the hotel for a bit, and then headed to the Louvre for the free entrance on Friday night for students. The museum is sooooo huge. The Mona Lisa is not nearly as impressive as the hype leads you to believe, but the museum was good. After that, we headed out to dinner in San Michel, which was quite tasty. And then it was time for bed.

Saturday morning, we headed out to Musee d’Orsay. It was better than the Louvre. The Impressionists were really neat to see in person: Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and all the others. After that, we took a train from Paris to Brussels.

It was about that time when Ben really started to feel crappy. By the time we got to our hotel in Brussels, he was pretty done. So we spent the rest of the day at the hotel, and I got to play nurse. Sunday, he was still not feeling good, although we did go out for a little while and see Grand Place and Manneken Pis. Monday morning came, and Ben wasn’t well enough to fly. So after some wrangling, he changed his flight to Saturday and I was able to get a room for him at the Institute. I had to go meet my class at the Turkish Mission to the EU, so Ben was on his own to get from Brussels to Leuven, but he made it alright.

So Ben spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in bed in Leuven, while I had class and work. On Wednesday he went to see a doctor who wouldn’t prescribe him antibiotics at first, but finally did on Thursday when he was feeling worse. So Friday he finally started to feel better…just in time to head out today.

So it’s been a long two weeks, but good in the end. Now its time to buckle down and write my 3 papers and study for finals! About that…