Paris

NOTE: pictures are warped, but you can click on them for full effect, I think


Day 1: 

We, that is to say, Hyuen and I arrived in Paris around 2:30 p.m. on Friday the.... 6th. And we got there via autobus after a smooth flight from Madrid (where we slept on the floor of the airport, on chairs of the airport, and on the plane, and on the bus.... probably a total of 5 hours of sleep.. not awful.)

Anyway, after going to our Hostel and unpacking and taking a quick shower we headed off to the Louvre. Hyuen's camera actually worked.. in that.. she could switch her settings and actually SEE what she was taking a picture of.

My camera, on the other hand, is broken and I cannot do any of the above. These things considered, I took a few pretty photos of the Louvre.

Oh, before the Louvre, however, we went down the Opera Boulevard and saw the Opera de Garnier... the phantom of the opera opera. And.... apparently there are actual sewage system passageways underneath it so that reclusive people, like phantoms, can hide.

[Until Hyuen gives me some of her pictures, I won't be able to illustrate all of this. nor do I have pictures of myself. Ah well.]

LOUVRE:

I saw the Mona Lisa, of course. And..... she was beautiful. And I just wanted to stare at the portrait for awhile, but while I was taking it in two girls approached me and asked me to take a photo of them in front of it. Sighhhhhhh.

And what else. We walked a lot that night afterwards.... to our Hostel which took about an hour. We walked along the Seins... past Notre Dame and other pretty churches.

Day 2:

Huyen and I split up in the morning: She went to Versaille Palace and I explored the city on my own. I got caught up in the Latin Quarter.. just walking around impulsively. I also forgot my camera that day. But I took notes in a notebook of what I did, trying to keep track of streets I went down and such. I went into St. Paul's Cathedral- I noticed the chairs were different in French churches.. compared to in Spanish ones. They were individual wicker seats, connected by a plank of wood.. and the chadeliers were super low from the ceiling, very touchable if you were to stand on one of the wicker chairs. There were also two organs.

I found myself wandering in the St. Paul Village which had a secluded sort of Antique Market Place that was hidden in an alleyway. There sort of old and quirky looking French people were selling old letter presses (For typing, I imagine... you know.. metal alphabets?) and old post cards.. thousands of old post cards... I was going to by one for each of you, but I couldn't decide and I got stressed out trying to pick the perfect one so I just left.... and  lots of table cloths and lace and glass figurines. One of the vendors was playing cool jazz music and it was quite picturesque.

Afterwards I walked along the Seins.. over the Seins to the other side and saw people doing Yoga in a park. I found another church, listened to someone tune an organ.. I walked past a University that looked rather old and saw that they were giving tours of it. I didn't want a tour, and when I went inside i tried to figure out if the entrance was free. The inside was surprisingly modern... black retro sort of front desk.. chic lighting. I'll find a picture for you.. aha! it's called "College des Bernardins"...

well.. this is the inside of it anyway. I can't find a picture of the modernish classrooms that clash with this. but know they exist. Anyway, it was interesting because the old-lady-French-woman at the desk took pity on my inability to speak French, and gave me a an unofficial look-around at the University Classrooms for free. She seemed sheepish as she tried to explain things in broken Frenglish. She sort of pointed, and tried to say something, and I'd  try to reply in French, and I'd nod to pretend I understood so she wouldn't feel bad. And it was very awkward, but still very nice of her to personally show me around and point. "Class" "Study" "No class.. umm..... porquoi.. umm" and I'd finish "Oui, samedi je comprende" .

Interesting and nice.

I'm consulting my notebook. Ah! I walked past the University of Paris, was disappointed in its locked and fenced campus, so I went to a sculpture garden along the Seine. And then I found an entrance to the Jardin de Plantes and... saw a Wallaby and Ostrich and was very surprised. They were in a fenced in area. There were lots of Wallabies, actually. I don't know why I'm capitalizing Wallaby. Proper Wallabies.

OH! And I walked up and down many streets with lovely and tres cher cafes, but it was beautiful and lovely. And I saw a farmer's market where they were actually preparing raw meat. There was a Turkish booth where they were selling pita with all sorts of spread, including Hummus. I was sorely tempted. There was a booth with brightly colored table cloths that I almost bought also, but remembered the dining room table in Chico is too big. There was also a honey booth with 40 types of honey in little glass jars with a pretty piece of cloth underneath the lid. It also had beeswax candles. All of this plus the normal fruits and vegitables and bakeries.

I think the bakeries were the best part. I never bought anything from one, but whenever i'd pass one I'd go inside to get out of the 3 degree C weather and to get a whiff of the lovely and comforting aroma. mm.

I got lost a bit in the Latin Quarter, stopped at a cafe and had a Quiche Lorrain (expensive and unexpectedly full of ham, but still good) and I sat and watched people out of the window. I then met up with Huyen after trying to find her for 20 minutes in the designated meeting spot- failing because she misunderstood me- and ended up calling her cell phone on a payphone. Everything worked out.

We, together, went on a 3.5 hour FREE walking tour where we learned about Henry IV, Napoleon, the Louies, the Siene, the start of Paris the Isle-of-Paris (I love Paris), the Louvre, etc. We walked all over the main sights and listened to a hilarious man from Liverpool make awkward and witty bantering about French History and it was very enjoyable.

After the tour, Huyen and I walked down Champ de'Elysees  and climped the Arc de Triomphe which has more than 250 spiraling stairs which I sprinted up. I will eventually post pictures from this. But the view was amazing and although it was entirely freezing up top we stayed there for awhile watching the Eifel Tower's celebratory-Laser-show as well as the traffic of Paris.

We next went to the Red Light District to see the Moulin Rouge and it was pretty epic looking. We FINALLY ate dinner, consisting of a crepe a piece and then went back to our hostel very tired from our 13 hour walking day.

Day 3

In which I was completely alone in Paris. Huyen had a 10:30 am flight (mine was to be at 7:10 pm) and so she left at 7:00 am and I wandered around Paris by myself.

I had an agenda for the day, and started the morning off at 8:30 by going to see Notre Dame up close. While meandering from the Metro Stop walking towards the Cathedral, a man approached me and asked me something in French, to which I replied "je ne parle pas francaise"

Man: What time is it?

Me: oh! Neuf.

Man: no no no.. Nueseur (trying to do this phonetically)

Me: oh

Man: Anglais?

Me: No.. de.. Etats....... unis...........

Man: *looks entirely shocked*

and then he asked if i was going to Notre Dame, to which I replied yes (all in French) and he took me over there and started telling me that he was a mime in a spectacle that was going to happen later on in the day... and someone was going to climb up the tower. we had a nice conversation that consisted of him saying things, and me saying 'oui' and then we parted ways.

It was cool because this makes 3 mimes that I've "conversed" with in Europe so far.

Anyway, I went into Notre Dame while mass was going on. I listened to the Cantor- she had perfect pitch it seemed... very enchanting and lulling and eerie. And the Organ piece during communion was entirely creepy and cool. It was very epic, the whole thing.

hmm hmm. After Mass I METROD very very far away to where the tiny statue of liberty was, behind the Eifel tower. It was tiny and I didn't get a good picture of it. But I made quite the pilgramage towards the Eiffel Tower along the Seine, past boats and boat cafes, past running-french-people and lots of business buildings and trees... and watched the Eiffel Tower get larger and larger and taller and taller. So epic to look up at. I tried to get a picture in front of it, and failed.. but here is my attempt as well as some neato photos of it.

Um... and then I tried to see Napoleon's tomb- too expensive.. but I went around the museum of war or wheaponry or something that he is buried in. Cool photos that might be posted later.. but here is one

And lots more walking ensued. I didn't make it to the Musee d'orsay because the line was about an hour long and I didn't have time. I had to be at my Hostel at 3 so i could properly Metro to the bus stop by 4 and I still wanted to visit the Amelie village. (Montmartre). Getting to Montmartre .. i can't spell it..? It was difficult. I walked the wrong way out of the Metro station for about 20 minutes before figuring it out, and ended up taking the Metro back to save time.

I was practically running up the 100 or so stairs to the big church on top of the hill.... so much exercise that day..... and wheezing I finally made it... and it was so beautiful. Here's a favorite picture...

And the little town of Montmatre was easily my favorite thing.. it was too bad I only could pass through it. But there were lots of art displays.. cobble stoned pathways... adorable cafes, colorful everything. People kept asking if they could paint my portrait..there was a park and lovely art shops and ivy covered cottages... and I wanted to stay longer but couldn't.

I instead went back to the Hostel, feeling so pressed for time, and ran to the Metro with my luggage and barely made it to my bus. This event forshadowed the rest of my voyage to Salamanca, but that will be for tomorrow's post. I don't want to taint this one with stress.

This was long, but necessary.

J'aime Paris