A "Pâques"-ed Picnic

I think I'm getting better at punny post titles. This weekend was Easter weekend, or Pâques (pahk) in French, and a group from my exchange program decided that instead of spending it cooped in our apartments alone, we should all get together for a picnic! So we packed up all sorts of food and fun, and headed over to Parc Monceau in the northwest of Paris to enjoy the holiday.

Norrell, eyeing some of the baguettes and cheese.

Chelsea, in the process of telling a story.

Of course, there was the usual spread of cheese and baguettes, salami, crackers, and humus. There was also plenty of buttered noodles, chocolate, and wine, and someone even had the grand idea of getting KFC, which was a nice touch of home for everyone.

Ashley, enjoying her KFC drumstick.

Deondra had some trouble with her buttered noodles.

After all the food was finished, Ashley, Chelsea, and Sharon broke out the fun. Bubbles were blown, Easter candy was hidden (and found), stories shared, and laughs abounded.

Chelsea was a master at hiding eggs.

And Sharon was a master at finding them!

We blew bubbles...

... LOTS of bubbles!

Later on we went to watch the Paris vs Marseilles football match at a sports bar, which was cool. The place was packed though, and I kept getting yelled at for being too tall. I went home around halftime, but it was still really fun. I don't think I could have hoped for a better way to spend Easter abroad.

In other news, there is another group of students from my university, on a country-hopping tour, passing through Paris this week. They're accompanied by the advisor for study abroad, and I've already met up with a few of them so far. It's been really awesome to see some familiar faces, catch up on news from home, and share some stories with them, especially my friend Paige, who has been blogging her adventures over at I Go To Seek A Great. Looking at my calendar, there are going to be a lot of my friends passing through here in the near future, and I'm excited to see everyone!

That's it for now, though I seem to have agitated my knees and feet yesterday, so I'm pretty much confined to my bed/couch for today. I also have a growing back log of pictures and post ideas, so maybe I'll get some more up by this evening...