Partying in Paris

For my 21st Birthday my mother very generously took me to Europe for two weeks and then sent me off on a European Adventure with Contiki. I made some of the most amazing friends and had some spectacular experiences. After seeing the Red Light District in Amsterdam, bicycling around Germany, and seeing snow for the first time (even if it was just a puddle) our last night was spent at dinner and a show at the Moulin Rouge.

OMG snow!

Now, throughout this trip I have consumed more than a few alcoholic beverages. It was a pretty boozy trip. So that night, as I knew we would be going out later, I only had two glasses of wine during the show. I couldn’t shake this uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. At the end of the show, just as everyone was leaving, I made a bee-line for the bathroom. As the show had just finished all of the cubicles were occupied but I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I ended up completely embarrassing myself and throwing up in the sink in the women’s bathroom in the Moulin Rouge. That’s when things get blurry.

All dressed up before the bathroom incident

 I remember losing my group and finding a taxi. I remember getting in and being amazed that I had managed to keep my eyes open and my mouth shut for the whole ride. After arriving at the hotel we were staying at I promptly fell over myself, and threw up in a shrub in the front of the hotel. Not only did I throw up, I managed to throw up so aggressively that I lost my false eyelashes!

Sam and the Unfortunate Shrub

Up I went to my hotel room where my room-mate was waiting patiently (thank god!). Sam was my guardian angel. After spending half an hour running from bed to bathroom Sam brought me my pillow and blanket so that I could set up camp in the bathroom for the entire night.The next morning I woke up on the bathroom floor feeling just as awful. My stomach had calmed down though which was a relief. The rest of this day was just travelling to the airport and then flying back to pert. I sat near the front with my travel buddy Andrea (while holding on to a teddy bear and clutching a travel sickness bag) and may have shed a tear. I was so grateful that mum had splashed out and put me on Emirates business class for the trip home. I got to lay down and sleep for the entire flight and put up a sticker that said “wake me up for meals”. Because by that point my stomach was well and truly empty.

The lesson I learnt from this trip: Don’t order the prawns.

Holly xx