Baptise and Bottle

I am so far behind on my posts.  As you know by now, I’ve been back from my trip to New York.  As usual, I’m exhausted by all of the running around I’ve been doing these past few weeks.  I’m not in the holiday spirit whatsoever and feel really down.  I hate that I still suffer from time to time the “holiday blues”.  I did the best I could in gifting (especially myself lol) and hope people enjoy what I got for them.  Sometimes you think you’re doing more harm than good in getting gifts to the people you care about, and then it backfires on you.  It happens.

I sent a gift to my friend in Paris for his birthday and he still hasn’t received it.  It was slated to arrive on the 4^th, but it seems someone else signed for it and it’s gone missing.  Because I opened a case with the store, they warned me it will take 14 business days to investigate.  Now it’s Christmas weekend and I’m sure I won’t be able to get any answers from them anytime soon because they will be swamped from the holiday.  This case will have to be resolved at a later time.  What can you do?

Back to recapping my NOVEMBER events, lol.  The following weekend from my trip I met up with my friend at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue.  They had already put up the tree!  It felt too soon for me, but now looking back, I haven’t felt the Christmas spirit yet and it’s almost here.  I reserved an appointment with one of their tech guys to look at my phone.  I was having problems keeping a charge when I was in New York and was advised to get a new battery, but like everything else, they needed to see it first.  Luckily it did not take too long, and I got my battery in time to get out of there. I was overwhelmed with how many people were there.

My friend heard of Baptise and Bottle and we decided to check it out.  Their drinks were phenomenal!  We loved our cocktails so much.  I ordered some brussel sprouts which were delish and she ordered some small plates herself.  It was a bit pricey in the end but I’m a sucker for a good cocktail.

I hope everyone out there have a great holiday!  I hate being a party pooper but for me, I want this to pass very quickly.  It’s hard being sociable when you just want to hibernate.  I’m so tired.

London/ Paris: Day 4 Part Two

I dozed off and on again during my train ride to Paris.  Unfortunately it was not vey scenic.  When the train pulled up I knew things were going to get chaotic.  I found my metro stop downstairs, but there were so many people.  Once the metro train pulled up people were shoving themselves on.  I was super nervous but I had to endure two more stops of this before I transferred over.  Paris metro system is a lot busier than London’s.  Maybe because London’s tube is much longer (?)  I got confused walking around the underground subway tunnels.  I couldn’t find my train stop to get on.  I had to find Metro 4 and I was lost.  I walked into an African man who asked if I was ok.  He spoke to me in English.  I asked for his help and we walked together.  He asked where I was from and I told him Chicago and that I just came from London.  He explained that he wanted to go to London to finish school.  Again, he applied for his visa and he got denied.  For the time being he is working in Paris, but his eyes were sad like the girl I had encountered at the mall earlier.  Once he showed me where to get on my train stop I gave him a hug.  He looked like he really needed it.

Two more stops later I got off the train.  Last time I was in Paris I got lost for over an hour once I stepped out of the metro station.  The rues in Paris run small and you are constantly looking for new street signs on the buildings.  I do not know how I managed to pull it off, but I found my hotel right away.  I lucked out big time!

Once I checked in I asked the concierge for help on directions leading me to the Apple store.  I couldn’t believe my luck again.  He told me there was a huge Apple store right down the street.  “But you need to hurry; they close an in hour!”

I literally ran out of there.  I wasn’t sure if they would be able to see me right away.  My anxiety shot back up again.  I was too excited when I spoke to the French associate.  I got some looks from the workers but I didn’t care.  I just really needed to know what was wrong with my phone.  I told the associate that I got it to charge in London but wasn’t sure what was wrong, the cord or the power adaptor connected to my cord.  It turned out to be both.  But then my luck ran out.  I realized I didn’t pack my European converter and needed to get that as well.  60 euros gone, just like that.

I decided to charge my iphone at the Apple store so I could finally calm down.  I messaged my friend and told her my status.  By this time, I was getting hungry.  Once I was fully charged I decided to venture around my hotel neighborhood.  I figured I would grab a sandwich to eat since I already spent my daily budget on the phone. 

I liked my hotel neighborhood.  I was surrounded by high end retail shops.  I knew I was in a shopping district although I felt I wasn’t around too many tourists with selfie sticks.  I felt safe.

Once I got back to the hotel I asked the concierge if I was far from the Louvre Museum.  I knew the train stop from the metro was around the corner but I wasn’t sure where I was from all of the tourist attractions.  I had to get on at another metro station down the street but he said I was two stops away.  I was curious if I could make it on time to go to their museum shop before they closed.  I really wanted to get the museum book of the Louvre.  I regretted not getting it back when I was in Paris 2 years ago.  It’s a huge book and at the time I figured I could order it online.  Unfortunately, the English version was sold out and it has haunted me ever since.  With limited time in Paris I wanted to knock this out the way.

I messaged my friend and off I ran.  Sure enough, there was a metro stop that landed you underneath at the Place du Carrousel at the Louvre.  I ran inside and tried to find the museum shop.  I was getting confused because there are other shops underneath, but none were the official museum shop.  It was nearly 8:40pm and I was worried they were about to kick people out since it closed at 9pm.

I got inside and ran to a shop.  I was in the middle of buying the book when I noticed another book in the background that looked similar.  I asked the sales rep if I could see the other book.  “Is that the official Louvre book?” and she quickly snapped back at me, “No!  THIS is the official book.  Can’t you see that THIS is the official book?  That is what is here!”  She motioned to my book on display.  I was fed up by now.  “I was ONLY ASKING!” I snapped back.  I was done with sales associates today.    I don’t think this lady knows what I went through.  Geeze!

Since the museum was now officially closed, apparently so was the metro station I tried to get back on to go to the hotel.  Great.  I had to walk outside to find another metro station.  Looking back at it now, I’m glad I got a chance to see the museum at night.  It is truly breathtaking.

I finally made my way back to the hotel and messaged my friend.  I was exhausted.  She joked if I was going to go out.  I forgot it was Friday night.  I told her I wanted to, but I needed to rest first.  I knocked out for an hour.  Once I woke up I messaged my friend again that I was still exhausted.  I wasn’t up for it, but I knew I would regret staying in on a Friday night, especially being in a beautiful city.  My friend asked again, what was I going to do?  I didn’t reply back because I FELL BACK ASLEEP.  Hahahaha!  Once I woke up again, it was now 11pm!  It kept getting later and later by the minute.  My friend thought it was hilarious, but I was perplexed.  I told her if I did go out somewhere, I would have to go to a club so I could stay awake.  I needed some good music to keep me up.  

I jumped out of bed and quickly got ready.  I looked for an uber but the rates were ridiculous!  70 euros for a 10 minute ride???  What a rip off!!  I told my friend I was stuck.  Now what?

I made up my mind.  I messaged her that I was going to go back to where the apple store was.  Out there were a bunch of bistros and bars surrounding the store.  I’ll go and walk down there and have a glass of champagne.  I just had to.

She told me to be careful and off I went.  There were people on the streets so I wasn’t worried about my safety.  Plus my hotel had a 24 hour concierge which I liked.  I looked for a busy bar and quickly found Le Germain.  From the outside window I could see people dancing and enjoying themselves.  My kind of place!

I went inside and made my way to the bar.  I waited and waited.  The bartender did glance at me but he continued to talk to a group in front of him.  Another woman walked up beside me and was waiting as well.  He looked over and again continued to talk to the group.  I felt shunned but wasn’t going to walk out of there.  The music was too good.  Lol.  Finally he walked over and asked if I needed something.  I ordered my drink but waived to him to take care of the lady next to me before he got back to his group.  I joked to that lady about the bartender but she replied back in French.  I told her I didn’t understand and she spoke to me in broken English.  We were getting along well.  She told me she got into a fight with her boyfriend and that’s why she was alone.  

After our drink she asked if I wanted to go somewhere else.  I said sure.  “It’s around the corner”, she said.  We walked around onto a busy side street.  There were a bunch of pubs and people were all over the street.  We walked into a pub and headed downstairs.  I’ve never seen so many happy-go-lucky French people singing along.  I was surprised but I loved it!  I like seeing people having a blast.  I bought a drink for my new friend and we walked in the other rooms.  At one point we headed to another area downstairs where they had dance music.  I really liked it in there!  One thing about Parisians is their love of dance music!  I ended up meeting more people and we were all dancing and having fun.  My new friend went upstairs to talk to some friends she knew.  My new group wanted to go to another club.  They asked if I wanted to go and I said yes.  We went to look for my new friend and we exchanged Facebook information to keep in touch.  I was excited to see where the night would take me.

We took a cab to the other club.  It was at the riverwalk by the Seine river.  We walked into Faust nightclub and I was blown away!  Disco led lights filled the ceiling.  People were going crazy for the music.  I felt I was at a rave but filled with beautiful people.  Lol.  I got what I came for; good dance music and a night out in Paris!  I’m so glad I met such wonderful people.  They made my night!

London/ Paris: Day 4 Part One

I sprung out of bed to check on my phone.  Nothing.  No charge whatsoever.  It stayed at 20 percent.  I was panicking.  I quickly got ready and made my way downstairs to have breakfast.  I was puzzled because I wasn’t sure if it was my phone that was the problem or my chord.  I had difficulty charging my blue tooth as well.  I was praying it was the chord.  I called my friend up to see if she had any suggestions.  She advised that if I did run out to get a chord, to buy an Apple chord and not a cheaper version since they may not work with my iphone.  That’s it!!  I needed to find an Apple store!

I asked the concierge if she knew where the closest Apple store was.  She told me there was one at the Westfield shopping mall, not far from the hotel.  I was starting to panic.  My train was scheduled to leave for Paris at 1:30pm.  I figured I should to the station by 12pm just in case.  Although I printed out my tickets beforehand, it stated to check in at least 30 minutes prior to departing.  I was weary and considered getting there much earlier. 

I had to catch a bus to the mall.  I rushed back upstairs and grabbed my suitcase.  The concierge insisted I could leave my bag behind.  She thought I had plenty of time to go to the mall and come back for it  in order to leave for Paris.  Luckily, there was a metro Underground station at the mall.  I told her I will checkout and take my bag.  I’ll just take it from there.

I was SUPER NERVOUS.  I just wanted to know what was wrong with my phone.  After a 10 minute wait, the bus finally arrived.  Sure enough, just like the concierge said, the mall was a 15 minute bus ride away.  I rushed into a gigantic mall and asked around for the Apple store.  I came across a young lady working at a spa kiosk.  She told me the directions to the Apple store, but insisted I try her samples spa treatment.  I was hesitant because I was in a hurry, but then I said why not.  I was finally at the mall and needed to calm down a bit.  She lathered up my hands and then followed up with a exfoliator.  I have to admit, it was working.  Once we started small talking, she asked me where I was from.  I told her Chicago and she got excited.  She was a singer and had applied for a visa to come to Chicago to go to school.  Unfortunately her visa was denied.  I didn’t know what to say.  She seemed sad about the denial.  I apologized but her eyes said it all.  She was crushed.  For the time being, she will stay in the UK but my heart felt for her.

I rushed upstairs to the Apple store.  By now it was 11am.  I ran up to one of the associates, but the staff was getting bombarded.  I had to wait my turn before she got my information for an appointment.  Currently the wait was for an hour for them to look at my phone.  I was going into panic mode.  I knew no matter what, I had to leave the mall at 12pm.  I got desperate and asked the associate if I could use her phone cord to see if my iphone would take the charge.  She seemed skeptical about handing hers over to me, but I told her if it works, then I knew that was the issue and could get out of her hair.  Unfortunately my stomach dropped.  I plugged her cord to my adaptor with the UK converter plug and nothing happened.  UGH!

I waited for my turn.  What made it worse was that the associate told me they would text me when my turn was up.  I told her I had to keep my phone off because it was not fully charged.  This lady was driving me crazy.  “Well then, check up with me every 20 minutes,” she said.  I went and sat down to mope.

I moped until I noticed a display of ipads.  Again, I was desperate.  I unplugged one of the cords and plugged it up to my phone.  To my surprise it was charging.  I was so excited.  I waited for it to charge up a bit before I turned my phone on.  All of the sudden, I got a flood of texts.  My mom, my friend in Italy, my co-workers.  People kept asking me if I was ok.  I didn’t know what was happening but I messaged my friend in Italy that I was fine.  “Be careful!  There was a terrorist attack on the tube!”  I didn’t think too much about it.  I told her I was fine and turned my phone back off so it would charge faster.  Whenever I turned my phone back on to see if I received my appointment text, my phone would blow up again with messages.  I finally swiped over to an ipad next to me to see what was the commotion about.  Sure enough, the tube was in lock down due to the explosion this morning.  It was all over the internet.  I was in shock.  When did this happen??

I decided to message back everyone that was concerned about me.  I then posted on Facebook that I was fine and en route to Paris.  I didn’t want to think about what was going on.  I was worried about catching the train out of Westfield to get to St. Pancras International station.  

After an hour my phone was fully charged.  I went up to another associate since the one I talked to earlier was nowhere in sight.  “Um, we texted you 4x this past hour.”  WHAT??  I explained to him that I was 10 feet away from them and that the other associate knew what was wrong with my phone.  I couldn’t leave it on since it wasn’t fully charged.  I was beyond frustrated at this point.  Unfortunately, he explained there was nothing he could do but to put my name back on the waiting list.  I was livid.  “Where is there an Apple store in Paris??  I have to catch a train!”  He wrote down the address and off I ran.  I had to get out of there and find my way to St. Pancras.

Luckily, I found the metro station at the mall.  By the time I got to St. Pancras station, I had to go through passport control.  I knew there was more to this.  Luckily I gave myself enough time or I would have misjudged this altogether.  My anxiety was in full swing that I had a glass of wine at the station to calm down.   I messaged my friend that I was off to Paris when I had Wi-Fi.  Once I boarded on, I tried to relax.  Paris here I come!