Parc Asterix! ... (and today too!)

Well today was the day of the Foyer's Trip to Parc Asterix... only we had to be in front of the Catho at 7:15 am! So I get up, get ready,... and drag myself over there and meet up with everyone one else going on the trip. I saw a lot of faces I recognized but only knew a small bunch - mainly those that I hung out with throughout the day: Kyle, Alex, Erika, Helen, Even, (a girl I don't remember her name!), and Danielle...

So we all get on the bus... and start off on the 2 hr bus ride down to the amusement park which is down near Paris. I got stuck sitting next to Danielle and as most of us were tired still, some took naps or just listened to music and relax... only Danielle had to keep talking even after it was obvious none of us were paying attention to her. I had pulled out a book and started reading - a clear sign that I didn't want to be bothered... and what does she do? She starts asking me a million questions about the book to which I finally just kept muttering simple answers and didn't bother paying attention... and I pulled out my iPod too which shut her up! It was a long bus ride but we did stop at a truck stop, and I got a coffee from the vending machine to help wake me up! Then it was back on the bus for a bit till we got to the park.

We finally got there and it was cool! Though we ended up waiting in line to get in for a good 15-20 minutes but once we were in, and given a map of the park - our group of 8 was off! We were told that the best bet would go wait in the line for "Tonnerre de Zeus" (The Thunder of Zeus) which is the parks only wooden roller coaster but also the third longest in Europe too! So we got there... and the line was already out of the queue! But we still waited in it, which went right under this huge statue of Zeus (which included some flowery underwear too! Haha!) We had a good time waiting in line though, talked about a bunch of things and unlike most queue lines that just weave back and forth in a huge open grid, all the queue lines at Parc Asterix wove through the trees and the ride. Finally we got to the station, which was built like a Greek Temple, and got in line for the trains. We had to split up naturally and couldn't all get on the same car either but that happens with large groups! The interesting thing though was that we had to take our bags and purses and stuff with us on the ride! The ride itself was really fun, had a nice steep hill that went down into a tunnel and many banks and small hills. It was a little rough though but that's common with wooden roller coasters! Overall we really enjoyed it!

What was funny though, was when we went to look at the pictures! Some of the girls in our group (which was mostly girls save for me and Kyle) had worn strapless dresses... and during the ride some of them had slipped down! I think it was Erika's dress happened to be too low when they snapped the picture! So we got a good laugh out of that one!

After that, we decided that we should go and ride the other cool looking roller coaster, as well as we were told it normally gets a long line too! However, to get there, we had to go all the way around the lake, backtracking our steps untill we could go in the right direction. But we made it there and of course saw some cool things along the way too. We were walking along this one place and I recognized the music... but was a bit confused because it was the opening number from Riverdance! Then I looked at the map and there was some Druid thing for kids in that area which kinda explained it then.

We got to the next coaster, called Goudurix - this one was a steel roller coaster that had 7 inversions where you were upside down! It looked really cool while we were waiting in line. Right as we got to the line, Danielle said she needed to find a bathroom... but the rest of us were fine so she told us to go on ahead and she'll catch up to us. We all were thinking "Finally, we got rid of here" thinking that they wouldn't let her cut all the people behind us in line... unfortunately somehow she weasled here way to us after we had gone through a good 3/4 of the line - but the time without her was amazing! (None of us really like her and unfortunately I am the one who can at least look like I put up with here so I ended up being her ride partner for most things.)

The nice thing though was that this time, the line was only about a half hour wait and it moved fairly quickly too. We finally get to the station which was a Viking Boat, and again had to split up to get on the ride. We had figured that since you go upside down, there would be a place to leave your bags and stuff... nope! You were again expected to just wrap the straps around your legs and take it with you! Thankfully I had my knapsack with me so I could just put the strap around my waist and the bag between my legs. While this coaster looked like a blast - it was not. It was very rough and tossed us around along to the point it hurt a little, and it was actually very slow for a coaster too. Overall, we were disappointed.

By this point, some of the girls were getting hungry and had either eaten the food they had packed, or didnt pack a lunch like we were suggested to do. So we headed back towards the entrance trying to find a place they saw for pizza, but it was a sit down restaurant. Luckily there was a burger place right next door so we went there and waited forever in line to get food. Helen and I had brought a lunch and still had ours by then, so we waited outside at first eating our lunches... then we realized that we could use a cold drink so we joined the others in line and waited our turns for drinks - which took forever! Then my drink wasn't even filled up all the way to the top! But I just dealt with it as I did not feel like going back and cutting to the counter to have them fix it or dealing with them either.

While we were sitting down and they finished eating, we talked about what we wanted to do. As it was hot out, we all wanted to go on a water ride. Since there was still the whole other side of the park that we hadn't been to yet, we figured we'd head that way since there were two water rides. So we headed out that way and came into a different themed part of the park.

Quick note: There are five themed areas in the park - The Greeks, Romans, Gaul, Vikings, and Crossing the Times. The Roman part was what we walked through first (and we actually didn't go on the roller coaster in that region b/c we ran out of time) and the Greek part was with the Wooden roller coaster. We were now heading to the Gaul area (Gaul is the region from which modern-day France was founded.)

They had a huge boat splashdown ride - but it was closed! So we took the next best thing... the Menhir Express which was your old fashioned log ride! We got in the long line, but it moved fairly fast despite waiting a good half hour in it. The whole place was themed really well and we couldn't wait. Then we started noticing the people getting off - they were soaked! ... Then we realized what seemed to be common here - you took your bags with you! So we arranged ourselves into two boats of 4 and they of course put me in front figuring I'd take all the water and block it from the girls! They did the same thing with Kyle in the other group! We finally got down to the deck and got into our boats and started off on the ride.

It was a really cool ride, you went up a small hill and then slowly glided down along the path through the woods, getting a little splash here and there. Then we went inside a dark building and we heard the other group scream ... so we figured there was a hill.... and there was! It was a rather steep drop in complete darkness... but there was no water when we landed so we didn't get wet... this time! We then weaved around again like before until we came to another dark tunnel thing... this time when we came out we were going up the main lift hill! The other four were in the boat ahead of us so we got to see them go down the huge hill and get wet... then it was our turn! And yeah we got wet! I had covered my bag up and arranged it so it wouldn't get too much water - but as I was in the front of the boat I got most of the water (but the others still got wet too! hehe!) It was hot out, so being a bit wet actually felt good because the water was cold!

There were some of the Spanish kids who had come on the trip with us that had been in the line in front of us so they waited for us afterwards figuring we could all join together in a group. But we were a bit too big and they actually had gotten in line for the next ride before we did - so we kept apart! The next ride we went on was really really really fun! It was another roller coaster, and since weak, anorexic Danielle got "whiplash" on the last steel roller coaster, she sat this one out. Once we were in the line and out of her sight, we all kinda celebrated a bit because we had probably a good hour without her - and we all hoped that she'd get bored and go off to do something else! And no, we're not mean - it's just that is how annoying she is, and how much none of us can stand her.)

We had a good time again waiting in line, though this was definitely the longest wait we had all day. One interesting thing was that since we were all speaking to each other in English (why not since we all could and it was our native language!), there was a group of French guys ahead of us in line that kept making comments and talking about us. I didn't hear them say things personally but others did - however, after Kyle noticed it, he started talking to them ... in French! They obviously were quite shocked and embarressed because we all knew what they had been saying! (It's fun when you can do that!) Apparently, there were talking just general things about foreigners and why were Kyle and I so lucky to be the only guys in a group of girls, etc, etc....

But while the others were starting to get impatient because it was such a long wait - I didn't mind! I actually enjoyed watching the coaster because it is a rather unique one. It's a bobsled coaster - which is a rather rare design. The trains are made up of 7 cars, each one holding up to two people who sit one in between the legs of the other and the bar comes down in front of you. The track however, is not typical of a coaster. Instead of the usual two rails the train follows, the track was actually a bobsled track, or similar to a body waterslide - there is no set path to follow as long as you stay in the track, and the track banks around the curves. So when we're on it, it's like you're in a bobsled! It really was cool, and since without Danielle there was only seven of us - I ended up going by myself. We all really enjoyed this ride the best, and it was definitely worth the long wait!

After this, we got off, and looked at our pictures - which all were great this time (no shirts slipping down!) Then we headed on off to figure what to do next. We didn't see Danielle at first so we thought that she just went on... then she found us again... erg. We kept on going around this side of the park and after realizing the other coaster over there was one more for kids, we opted to go on the L'Oxygenarium which is a huge water slide. So we headed up towards that which took us into the Through the Times part of the park. There were arcade games, and a restaturant complex set up like a street of Paris, and a huge circus tent restaurant. We got in the rather long line for this water slide thing and waited - but it moved really fast too. Danielle had gone off with one of the Spanish girls to smoke so again we got rid of here - and were all grateful! As the inflatable tubes you ride down on are huge, we figured we could fit all seven of us in one - but we soon realized that you only get six in one... so since there were two of the Spanish guys a little bit ahead of us, we invited them to come back and join us so we could split up - 4 and 5.

So we finally got to the deck, and since I was in the group of 4, they asked if there was a group of 2 - which there was, so they joined us as well... a little awkward! But the others were in the raft behind us. The ride was not too bad, though really short. You basically go up the lift, and then start going down the huge slide as the whole raft spins in circles. We got to the bottom and then just relaxed as we floated around and waited our turn to get off - till the guys in the other raft starting splashing us! We weren't too happy as the water was dyed some bluish color - and a lot of us were wearing white! But it didnt' stain thankfully!

We got off of that ride and since the huge swings were right there, we got in line for those. Like normal, we didnt see Danielle so we figured we had gotten rid of her for good. Well... what do you know, she spots us in line - she was ahead of us in line! Thankfully she didn't come back to us though so we still had some time without her! The swings were fun, like the usually are. Afterwards though, we looked at the time and only had about 45 min before we were told we had to be back at the bus at 5:30 pm to leave by 6 pm. So since it was gettting around dinner time, most of us started wanting ice cream or something - I actually wanted food! But after looking at one of the ice cream stands where we were, we quickly realized that it was a better deal to go back to where we ate lunch and get sundays there for the same price. I was happy b/c I could get a sandwhich too!

So we went back there, only to discover they didn't have chocolate left for the sundays - so most got caramel. I got strawberry and a chicken sandwhich - both of which were delicious. Danielle started her usual "Ooh... what's that taste like" routine but I did not give in at all and thankfully she never asked for a bite - which I would have refused her anyways. After the day trip to Bruges with her and then the whole day today with her... I was to the point if she had asked me that... I would've snapped and told her my real opinion! But that didn't happen ... who knows if it might in the days to come though!

Since I had still wanted to look in the shops for my playing cards and shotglasses I get for souvenirs, I first asked if anyone else wanted to join me... but after no one wanted to, I headed off to shop! (Well, I stopped at the bathrooms first!) And of course, I looked in all the shops along the main entrance, of which there were many... and each had cool things in it (even some Egyptian things but I forced myself to pass them up without even looking!) but I couldn't find any playing cards or shotglasses! inally, in the last store in the area and of course the last one I looked in - I found them! But the shotglasses came in a set of 2... so I got them anyways along with the playing cards and a couple postcards too.

By this time, I had to head back to the bus as it was almost 5:30. I got there and the others were there waiting... Danielle had come back off the bus to chill in the sun with two of the other girls... and she told me that she had saved us a seat. So I got on the bus... asked the others on board which seat Danielle was in... and promptly took my seat a few rows back! I was in no mood to deal with her for the whole 2 hr bus ride back! Thankfully, even after everyone was on the bus, she stayed where she put her stuff and I actually had the seat next to me free! So, I pulled out my iPod and my book and settled down for the trip back. Then the bus driver put on some French dubbed movie that was really loud... and that no one seemed to watch... so i just turned up my iPod a little and tuned it out. Others slept the way back and this time we didn't stop.

Soon enough, we were back in Lille, and the driver actually parked only a block from the residence so we didn't have to walk very far. Some of us though went to Marche Plus (a local supermarket) up the street to get something to drink and some food, which I went along with. The Spanish guys were all going out later that night - while the rest of us were way too tired from having to get up at the crack of dawn and the long hot day to even think of going out! So we came back to Foyer and split our separate ways. I came back to my room... talked to people online, called Mom and talked with her for a bit... and ended up putting a movie in my computer but actually fell asleep before I even started it!

So since this is a day late in getting online, here's what happened today too! I woke up around 9 am when my alarms went off... and went back to sleep! I finally got up around 10:30 - 11ish and got ready as I had to get to the post office before they closed at noon. So I grab my heavy box of souvenirs I'm mailing home, and head on over there. I finally get to the counter and first pick up money that was sent to me - of which it seemed like the woman at the desk didn't know what she was doing cause it took forever! Then, I asked about some Colissomo International boxes they had displayed, wondering if it might be cheaper to buy two of those and repack my box to mail home on Monday. It ended up being only like 10 euros cheaper and since I had already brought the box there, I figured I'd pay the extra and mail it... then she tells me that it's too late as by now it was quarter after noon - even though she started helping me before noon! Thankfully though, the manager said the post office on Rue Gambetta was still open today till 5 pm! So I picked up the heavy box and headed out that way!

After a couple stops, and switching positions of carring it, I finally got to the Gambetta Post Office and went inside to wait in line. Since my box hadn't been officially weighed anywhere yet, the guy took it back and asked me how I wanted to send it. Then I asked him if it was cheaper to send it in Colissimo International boxes, or as is... and after finally speaking a mix of French and English, we realized that like before it was not much cheaper at all. So, i just filed out the paperwork and paid for the package which was only 89 euros (a lot just to mail a package internationally but definitely not the 150 euros I was originally told when I tried to get an estimation!)

After that was done, being much lighter now!, I headed out towards the Grande Place since it was a beautiful day out and everyone was also out. After stopping at the Tourist Office to pick up some souvenirs from Lille, as well as looking at some other shops on my way, I headed off to Carrefour to do some small shopping. There, I picked up a few more things that I wanted to bring back as souvenirs, mainly a bottle of Pastis and one of the local beers. I also picked up a Mosquito repeller that you plug in the wall. I have been eaten alive by mosquiteos the past few days to the point my arms and hands are covered all over in spotches from their bites! It's been really hot, and since there is no air conditioning in the residence, I have had my window open even at night... So hopefully this repellant thing that you plug in will do it's job and I can be mosquito free!

I then headed to the train station to see if they had a few souvenirs that the Tourist office didnt' have... which they did thankfully! I also printed out the ticket I had already bought for my train from Lille to the Charles de Gaulle Airport for the day I leave France. I need my French bank account card to get it, and since I will be turning the card in a few days before I leave in order to close my account, I had to get this ahead of time! Then, even though it was a long walk, I walked back to my residence since it was still nice out. I did stop and pick up my French and Belguim flags that I had found at a small store. So now, aside from one or two things, my souvenirs are done! Now, it's time to keep working on getting pictures uploaded, studying every now and then, and packing things up...

It's hard to think that in 12 days I will be leaving here going home... they're coming very quickly! But they will also go very fast because starting on Tuesday, I have about one final exam each day to not only study for but that will take up my time too. Well, I shouldn't keep talking and actually do some of those things I need to get done! So till next time!