Well, I didn't finish my paper, or get much else done today...but I took a taxi!

The title of this post basically sums up my day. I woke up early, wrote a few pages of my paper (just two left, and I'm going to finish it tomorrow morning no doubt, considering it's due on Tuesday...), then met Lu at Belleville where we walked around, got some crepes, then went to Buttes Chaumont and walked around. It's so cool having a friend who speaks Chinese and French, but no English (well, she speaks a little, but not enough to bother trying to speak English with her). She and I communicate with our second languages - it's neat.

After that, I came back, got my stuff, and left for our CUPA picnic with Marie at Versailles. It was really nice (but I definitely wasn't hungry after everything I ate with Lu) and we had conversations about just about everything. It was strange - Marie had no idea how much we paid to study in Paris with CUPA. She couldn't understand where all the money goes. Apparently, MaryAnn and Nathalie aren't paid super well, the computers in the basement certainly don't cost that much, and the universities are practically free. Some of the students were complaining about the constant "cautions" where we have to pay thirty euros to assure that we'll go to the spectacles. If it's our money that bought the tickets, why should we have to give them more? The cautions were stupid - luckily, I got all mine back.

Finally, we left Versailles and headed back to Paris, got some drinks, and were chatting at a bar too late so I missed the last metro (I didn't actually miss it, but I would have had to change, so I wouldn't have been able to get back home) and had to take a cab. It was really easy - the guy didn't notice I was American, wasn't rude, and didn't drive me around in circles. To me, the route he took seemed the most direct route I could think of. I don't know why CUPA tried to make me so nervous about the cabs here - I could have stayed out really late every night (it was also surprisingly cheap - 10 euros to get back to Bibliotheque from Saint-Michel - it would be more expensive in Baltimore).