Words of wisdom

On Sunday, some of us had a picnic on top of the Corum.

If you can see past the awkward goons sitting on a roof,
there's some very nice scenery

It was pretty fantastic. Afterwards, we tried to go to the public library to do some homework. It was a miserable failure of an excursion, as there were absolutely no chairs open and you need a library card to access the wifi. I have spent a good portion of my life avoiding libraries, and now I remember why.

We did not immediately give up on the idea of studying together in a location with central heating, but since nothing is open here on Sundays, our only feasible option was McDonald's. I quickly decided that McDonald's is far superior to any library: there's free wifi, 1 euro espressos, and being around that specific clientele while my computer is open alone makes me feel like a productive member of society.

I honestly don't remember what happened on Monday, so I assume it was nothing interesting. Last night, however, we went to trivia night and it was a blast. I was about to stay in and sleep instead, but then Jean F shamed me into leaving the house by asking me if I came all the way to France just to sleep. It is quickly becoming evident that everything he says should be cross-stitched, framed, and hung over kitchen sinks.

The questions at trivia mostly had to do with American movies, music, and pop culture, so in theory there was no way that our group of 8 American college students could lose. I think we actually had a decent chance, until there were 15 questions that had to do with sports. It was my turn to write down the answers, but none of us are athletes or know anything about the subject, so I listed different types of cheeses in lieu of team names. We didn't stick around for the final results, but I think it's safe to say we were not walking away with a free bottle of whiskey.

After trivia, we went to a place called Cheese Nan, where Madison was determined to get cheesy frites. We have all been haunted by the idea of cheesy frites for the past few weeks, since that doesn't really exist here. The concept alone had become almost mythical and magical in our minds, so when the waiter at Cheese Nan said that he could make it happen, everyone was a little more than excited.

What we anticipated

The sad, sad reality

And so the quest continues.

Percent of this post that had to do with important things that I'm learning/doing in France: 13%
Percent that had to do with cheese: ~87%