Day #6: Brugge-Brussels-Paris or "Friends who are family and Family who are enemies :)"

June 22: Paris, France

SunRISE in Brugge

Wow. What a beautiful sunrise. SUNRISE??
Why am I awake at 4:30am? Jet lag be gone! I did enjoy our last few hours in Brugge with (several) cappuccinos and the view.

We took off without incident or complaint from our Brugge home and made it to Paris in just a few hours thanks to the high speed train and the free wine!

Hello complimentary beverage!

And this is where the charm ends.... for now at least.

We have not been in Paris 24 hours and we have seen the entire city.... from the subway tunnels. WHY is there 14 different exits from each metro station??? And how many floors down does the darn thing go? Last night, no lie, we were on our way home from having dinner and we backtracked the EXACT same way we got there... but where was our exit? It inexplicably was NOT where it was supposed to be when we got off the train! We literally ended up in a horrifyingly large UNDERGROUND shopping mall at 11:30 at night! Of course the maps don't show the gazillion warrens of tunnels under Paris but I am pretty sure we saw most of them.

The Boys (Paul is up in the room:)

Bailey finally took pity on us (and was RAGING PISSED too!) and said, "I am done following you. I am going back to our place", and started walking. Well okay then! Why the heck did you not say anything to us? He literally made a beeline right to our place, marched up the stairs and told us he was going to bed. He hates walking, and, by that point I am pretty sure he hated us too. Sigh. Back to normal in McDonell teen world.

The fun part of the evening was meeting up with the Faurots and the Reinkings, our friends that we spend most weekends with in Los Altos. Why should Europe be any different?! We all arrived from three different places and converged for a great meal and lots of boys. Again, Nic (18) and Bailey (still 16!) ordered beer and drinks. Again, instead of carding them or even asking how old they were, the waiter just asked us "is it alright that they order drinks?" Ummmmm..... yes? At least someone checked... sort of.

Luxury closet: Floor Two

After navigating our way (who am I kidding? I did nothing to help!) out of the bowels of the metro, we returned home to what we fondly refer to as our "luxury closet". I am NOT exaggerating when I say that there is enough space for about 20 of your CLOSEST friends... to stand shoulder to shoulder.
Add to this coziness, 5 suitcases, 5 backpacks and 80 degree temps with no air and we are SUPER HAPPY AND POSITIVE with one another! And I mean that in the most Insincere way possible.:)

Tomorrow we have tickets for the Lourve where Jensen was excited to see "The Moaning Lisa". I shudder to think that perhaps he was thinking that this would be like a Harry Potter type experience and Moaning Lisa was cousin to Moaning Myrtle from the book series. I can smell disappointment in the air already but we are going to the museum dammit! Forced family fun here we come!