Y-M-C...Jesus?

Kathryn and I accepted an invitation to Paris to round out our vacation with a weekend in the La Ville-Lumière. Soon after we returned from our holiday trip to Chicago we had gotten the urge to revisit the city. At the suggestion of my friend Yann we planned this to be that weekend. The reason was a 25th birthday celebration in his honor had been planned for the 20th, and it was an offer we couldn't refuse. Our anticipation rose days later when we were informed the party guests we required to find celebrity déguisements, and seeing as we missed out on Halloween this year it felt like we had been given a second chance.



Our train arrived in Paris Friday afternoon, and since the meteorologists in France seem to be just as oblivious as those in Chicago (predicted thunderstorms, had sunny clear skies) we took advantage of the nice weather to marché around. We started at the Bastille and finished blocks away from Gare du Nord where we rested our weary feet on the terrace of a café to enjoy the espresso and people watching. As dusk rolled around we met up with Yann who had just finished working, and made our way back to his parent’s home for a quick bite to eat. The meal was speedy because we were in a rush to get back out the door and over to the local soccer pitch where Yann’s community team was playing a friendly match against another from the area.


The game went well until late in the second half when Yann’s team appeared to run out of gas, and let up two quick goals with only minutes left in regulation. However, we’ll have to qualify the game as “incomplete” because at 10:30pm – on the dot – the field flood lights went out and the game ended slightly premature. Even though a comeback seemed highly unlikely “it ain’t over till it’s over,” so in my book I won’t chalk this one up in the loss column.

The following day Yann was preoccupied with preparation for the evening’s soirée so Kathryn and I took the train in to the city to walk along Le Rive Gouche. We also took the opportunity to stop into the Musée d’Orsay, and thanks to our work visas we were entitled to the EU under-25 discount of free admission. The museum was under construction so the top couple floors were closed off, but they had moved the most well renowned paintings by Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and the sort to the main galleries on the first and second level. We spent a good couple hours walking around checking out the artwork, and dodging tourists (the place was packed and from what we heard in passing a majority were American).

When we got back the house had already been “party-proofed.” Chairs were set up along the walls on the veranda, tables had been moved out of the way, and anything breakable had been relocated to somewhere safe (an art perfected back on High School days). Yann was just putting the finishing touches on his Tommy Lee costume which included multiple press-on tattoos. His girlfriend Marion dressed as Pamela Anderson to complement the Motley Crue drummer. With only about an hour before things kicked off Kathryn and I quickly changed into our costumes as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

The party was a major success. Every one of the guests showed up dressed to impress and aside from two French “celebrities” that we had never heard of there was: The Joker, Charlie Chaplin, Mario and Luigi, Brittney Spears, Marilyn Monroe - just to name a few - and the whole group was rounded out by Jesus, Mary (who was actually pregnant) and Joseph (Mary’s baby’s daddy). As the night went on everyone mingled and it gave Kathryn and I a great opportunity to further practice our French skills. The highlight of the evening (for Kathryn and I) came after a few bottles of champagne had been laid to rest, the lights dimmed and Jesus got up to lead everyone – including Mary and Joseph – in an emphatic rendition of YMCA. In actuality the only part of the song that anyone knew the words to was the chorus, but when it came time to spell out Y-M-C-A they really put some force into it (probably to make up for the lack of vocals during the rest of the song). The party wound down close to 4am, and being out of the party scene for a little while now I’m not sure if we could have lasted much later anyway.

The next day we embraced the opportunity to faire la grasse matinée, and made it down in time for lunch. That afternoon Kathryn was pretty wiped out so she took a “nap” (for four hours) while Yann, his Dad, Marion and myself played nine holes of golf at their club. It’s always a treat to play golf with Yann because it brings back such great memories. The very first time we took him to play when he visited Chicago was an outing filled with golf-cart football, lots of mulligans, and a whole lot of swearing in French.


We got back home just as Kathryn was waking up from her – let’s call it a petite dormir – and Yann’s Mom had hors d’oeuvres set out. We enjoyed a bottle of white wine while watching les Jeux Olymiques (the only footage we saw of the games), and waited for dinner to be ready. Our train left Gare du Nord just after 11pm and we were whisked back to Lille with just enough time to catch the very last tram heading towards Wasquehal. It was definitely the perfect end to a very eventful deux semaines de vacances.


A bientôt,

- Jordan and Kathryn

P.S. – Kathryn thought it would be helpful to italicize the French words to make it easier to pick them out, and so you wouldn’t assume I just didn’t know how to spell.