Paul, Party and Pay Phones in Provence

Aix en Provence -- Located in the South of France. Absolutely beautiful, small town, quiet... (except for Paul's birthday)

So... one sad night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (our last night) Nina and I met some really awesome guys in line at a samba bar. Surprisingly enough, two years later, we're still somewhat in touch...at least via Facebook. One of the guys that we met is French by blood even though he's Brazilian by choice :) and is from Provence. His brother, the sweetheart that he is, invited me to his 25th birthday madness since he knows I'm currently only living a few short hours away.

I pretty much knew no one but the guy I met one night two years ago, the birthday boy, through silly Facebook messages, and hoped that that would be enough for me to enjoy a weekend with a bunch of people I didn't know. Thankfully, that is all I needed. Paul was a great host. His friends were lots of fun, and the time spent there was relaxing, and chaotic all at once...and I loved it.

In addition to having a good time, I realized a few key things:

• Maybe French isn't such a bad language (you know I'm a Spanish lover) and I might want to learn more than voulez vou que she avec moi and je t'aime...because they can bring nothing but trouble and will not help you if you need to find the bathroom or order a beer.
  

• I also learned that you can learn so much about a person without even having the same language + that good people are just good people no matter where they come from

• Boys will be boys no matter what country you're in
  
  
• French rap is Fresh!! and I will have to find some to listen to with urgency
  
  
• Beer and Allison do not mix -- at least when trying to keep up with the big boys. Going back to my Shirley Temples
  
  
• I created a new word -- YUMPS and I'm going to have to incorporate it into my daily vocab
  
  
• Turning of your cell phone in Europe when you get on a plane means you need to have a code in order to turn it back on (don't forget, or lose the code because it's probably not 0000)
  
  
• Most importantly -- DO NOT USE A PUBLIC PHONE TO CALL ANYONE EVER AGAIN USING YOUR CREDIT CARD!!!!!! I learned when I returned home from my lovely trip that when you get connected to a phone number by an international operator you pay $15.99 for the connection, and $5.35 per minute after. I made two phone calls that lasted under 5 minutes and I paid $80. I will send out an S.O.S. next time...
  
  
• Last but not least... la vie est belle et les amis sont précieux....bisous
  
  

This is the view from the road in front of maison du Costey (excuse my French...or lack thereof). You would never suspect that a place so tranquil and beautiful could handle the chaos of September 5,6,7th.

This is my favorite lady of the weekend, Lala. Yes, her name is Lala. Super sweet English chick that was gracious enough (along with her boy friend Jamie) to meet me at the airport and take me with them to the place we'd be destroying for the weekend. Because her name is so unique and Paul was quickly trying to tell me who to look out for in the airport I thought her name was Laura...so I waited for an hour in front of arrivals with a sign that said Jamie and Laura.

Here you have the birthday boy, Paul (far right) who is a really amazing almost 25 year old along with his lovely friends who were clearly starting the night off right, with some shots designed by Lala...vodka with strawberry framboise. Rob (far left) and in the middle the amazing Jamie (Lala's boy friend).