(If you haven’t read part 1, it’s below and you should check that out first.)
So, as Gretchen said we were split up this morning. I had major separation anxiety. Just kidding, I was fine. While she was living it up at the vet school, I was living it up at the mall. After an hour of tram hopping, we ended up in Atlantis. First stop… FOOD. (If I come back with like 155 extra pounds, you’ll also know why, haha.) We found a café with a student discount, meaning we got a sandwich, a pastry, and a drink for 4€. SCORE. It was so yummy… and this is coming from someone who always forgets that sandwiches are a thing and are sometimes good.
We then shopped around a little bit. Can I just say… French clothes fit so weirdly. And I had no idea what sizes I wore in the European sizing. This led to the discovery that I am really bad at looking at something and knowing if it would be even close to fitting. (Or maybe I really have gained 155 pounds from all the nutella, crepes, and other various foods and just haven’t looked in a mirror lately, haha. I’m kidding. I think.)
After our shopping ventures, I had my first Ikea experience.
It was pretty awesome, not going to lie. It’s unfortunate that it took a transatlantic flight for me to get to a store that is a mere 3 hour drive from my home, ha.
This was also Brendon and Luke’s first Ikea experience, so we documented it.
When Gretchen said we had an epic afternoon after being reunited, she was lying to you. We had a very short lecture on Normandy in preparation for our visit there tomorrow, and then we watched a movie on the ‘Machines of D-Day.’ Let’s just say that was a struggle for me to remain conscious for. Then we watched the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Let’s just say that was a struggle for me to remain composed for. I want to bawl every time I see that. And I NEVER cry (unless it’s of laughter) so that’s saying something.
Anyway, we had a spaghetti dinner at the study center and then cleaned the houses since we’re leaving tomorrow for the next part of our trip. Gretchen and I were put on 3rd floor bathroom cleaning duty. Let me tell you… cleaning with French cleaning products is difficult because you have no idea what product is for what surface. We may have mopped with toilet bowl cleaner… I really have no idea. This also may have happened:
If you’re wondering, “is Mary Grace wearing a… toga?” The answer is yes. Here’s why… I had to use bleach and I really didn’t want to ruin any of the clothes that I brought here because none of them are crappy cleaning clothes. I looked around my room and tried to decide what would be the best course of action to avoid a bleach disaster. My decision was to use my sheet like a toga. This decision was working out great, and would have been fine, except that as I was cleaning the toilet in my toga, one of our professors walked up the stairs to check on the cleaning. The only thing I could think to say was, “Um… when you have me in class next semester… please just don’t remember this moment.” So embarrassing.
You can’t really see Gretchen’s awesome cleaning outfit in either of these pictures, but I assure you it was a sight to be seen, haha.
Welp… tomorrow is another early morning so we can get on the bus to head out to Normandy. I’m wondering how close to 6:45 I can wake up and still make it to the bus in time. 6:42 is sounding pretty good right now. I’ll let you know how that plan shakes out next time I post, haha. Au revoir!
we overcame the jetlag and moved on with life. The most exciting thing that’s happened has probably been the time I accidentally knocked the shower curtain down and it took everyone in our suite to get the darn thing up again. 
BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER 