Bienvenue a Paris

Getting ready to rock to the sweet sounds of the 80's.
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Chris and I left for Paris friday morning around 9ish. Most of our travel time was spent listening to an awesome custom 80's mix in preparation for the evening's activities. We proudly sang to classics from the Cure, Journey and Queen. The trip was much shorter than we thought it would be- we were in Paris by 3 that very same afternoon! From the moment we spotted the breathtaking Eiffel Tower we were certain Paris would be everything we had hoped for. Our beliefs were confirmed as we stepped foot on the cobblestone streets lined with cafes and boutiques. Even though most of the signs were in french, Chris and I were able to find our hotel registration area. We checked in and were pleasantly suprised at how well everyone spoke english. They had even managed to get the American accent down! As we opened the door to our non-smoking accomodation, we were greeted with the offensive smell of old musty cigarette smoke. I immediately called the front desk and requested a real non-smoking room. We went to exchange our keys and were given a new room just across the hall. This room was much better than the previous one, mostly due to the fact it did not smell like someone had hotboxed it with cigarettes. But we discovered what really made this room amazing when we opened the curtains. We had a perfect unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower! Most people don't know this, but there is also a pool right at the base of the tower. We had a great view of the pool, and it's cool clear waters were incredibly alluring. We quickly put on our super cute bathing suits and spent the next few hours swimming and tanning with the Eiffel Tower just a few yards away. It was surreal.

Our awsome VIP group- Christina, me, Niba, part of Cory's head and Sari.
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When the shadow of tower began to block our sun, we decided to go back to our room and get ready for the infamous nightlife in Paris' vicinity. We were planning on seeing The Spazmatics at The House of Blues just a few blocks form our hotel. The Spazmatics are a cover band whose performance includes nerdy costumes and a contagious enthusiasm for everything 80's.

Bum shaking is apparently quite exhausting!

Chris and I started walking towards The House of Blues around 9:30. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and hoped we'd find something tempting along the way that didn't include escargot. Luckily, we stumbled upon a Wendy's. How bad could any night be when you start it off with fries and a frosty? It was a sign of good things to come.

Sunbathing at the base of the Eiffel Tower!
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When we reached the venue, there were 2 lines to get in. Shrugging off the question of which was which, we stood in the closer line and mingled with the other partygoers around us. We begin chatting with a group of girls in town for the weekend to celebrate two of their birthdays. They meet every single year in the same place for this occasion. Fancy! After awhile of waiting, I overhead someone mention that we were waiting in the VIP line. We were not VIP, at least not in th eyes of The House of Blues. We said goodbye to our newfound friends explaining that we did not have any VIP passes. "We do!" they exclaimed, "Why don't you just join us?". So we did. We joined Niba, Sari, Cory and Amanda at their VIP table. The table came with a gigantic bottle of Smirnoff vodka and all the coordinating mix-ins: orange juice, cranberry juice and soda water. Since neither Chris nor I are too fond of vodka I headed to the bar to order Chris a Malibu pineapple and myself my new favorite drink, a Red-Headed Slut (jaeger and cranberry juice- delicious!). While I was at the bar I met John and Annie, two teachers who looked way too young to be in a club. They were with a large group of teachers in town for awhile. It was easy to tell the rest of their group as they had all dressed in obvious 80's couture. John sported a bleached denim cutoff vest with matching jeans, a red bandana headband, and pilot sunglasses. His outfit was accented with comically cheesy hand drawn tattoos down both his arms. I complimented him on his artistic talent. Annie was wearing a bright magenta t-shirt with the neck line cut to show her shoulder and the yellow tank she wore underneath. She had matching hoop earrings and pink headband with her hair teased and pulled into a high ponytail. Needless to say, I was quite jealous of their fashion sense.

Christina, me and our new friend Sari.
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The band started as soon as I brought over our drinks. We quickly drank up and boogied onto the dance floor. It was especially nice to have a table to go to throughout the night. Our table was actually more of a series of chairs set up at a bar in a section of the club enclosed by a velvet rope. It overlooked the entire dance floor. We spent the next few hours singing and dancing. We had an absolute ball!

After The Spazmatics had played their last song, we said goodbye to our friends and started our walk back to our hotel. We finally arrived at 4 am, the latest eithe of us had been out in a long long time. Chris and I fell asleep quickly- bum shaking is apparently quite exhausting!