Paris

So my trip to Paris started out to a rough start.  The first thing that went wrong is that I had to pay for my ticket from Amsterdam to Brussels.  I have already paid for an EU rail pass, that cost about 1000 USD, so to say the least I was not happy.  The ticket checker on the train saw that I had not filled in one little box on my EU rail pass, which the ticket checkers have always filled in, and that I now had to pay.  So that’s a lesson learned, fill in the little box at the bottom of the ticket, and don’t wait for an official person to do so.

Upon arriving in Paris I discovered that my phone did not work.  So I needed to find a new SIM card.  That  was easy, and the guy at the store was very nice.  So after this bit of hub bub I was off on my first day in Paris.  My bags were locked away and I could walk for hours.  So I did.  I found the canals and just walk along them and enjoyed the view.  People where walking their dogs and playing bocce ball; smoking cigarettes and drinking wine on the park benches.  It was fabulous.

That night I had to get on the metro to make it over to my couch surfer’s house.  I would like to make a slight side note before the tales of my Paris adventures ensues.  Paris is dirty, It smells like piss in the subway stations and on the subway you are overwhelmed by the smells of pungent perfumes and body odors.  This is was even true of the high class train I took from Brussels. But the rail lines are quite efficient.  I ended up in a suburb of Paris, about 20 minutes outside the city.  It was quiet and quite nice.  Unfortunately I got off one stop too soon.  Darn you Miriah and inability to keep French names straight in your head.   

When I met up with my couch surfing host, I had a surprise.  Ana, from Switzerland, had came to stay as well, and I was a surprise to him, because I had given him the wrong dates on the couch surfing site.  Luckily he said it was fine.

The next day was an adventure day.  Ana had been to Paris many times.  So she told me how to get to the Eiffel Tower.  When I got there I just walked and walked and walked along the river.  Along the way I found the palaces, the Notre Dom and the Louvre.  I was going to enter the Louvre, but the line was too long.  In the end, I’m glad I didn’t.  That place I think would take me a week to absorb.  I wonder if I can get a week pass? 

After all of this excitement I worked my way back to Eiffel tower to see it at night.  It’s supposed to be beautiful.  On my way there I encountered a French man who wanted me to sit down with him. We struck up a conversation about travel and interests, then he said we should go to the park and hang out there the atmosphere is better.  The walk down was full of people, but once we got to the park it was people just sitting down and enjoying the view.  So we plopped down and enjoyed the view as well.  We continued talking and he had to go.  So I sat in the Park a little while longer and then found a café and got a glass of wine before I headed back to my couch.

That night Ana and I encountered another surprise.  Our host had invited two more girls to stay, from Brazil.  These ladies had been studying in Portugal and in between semesters decided to take a two month trip around Europe.  Paris was their last stop.   The next day they went to Versailles with Ana and Me.

What a beautiful waste of money Versailles is.  I am not saying my waste of money, I’m thinking of France during Louie the 14^th’s rule.  It’s absolutely beautiful and huge.  Ana and I waited in line for over an hour to get in and it was worth it.  It’s the type of building that you want to have a historical party in and just have a good time drinking wine and eating little appetizers off of trays while you parooz around the immaculate gardens in your corseted dresses.  Well maybe that’s just me, but a girl can dream. 

This lovely slice of heaven was also full to the max with people.  I really should learn to visit places not on weekends.  I always hate crowds.  The gardens were immense.  Like the size of Fair Haven (my home town) immense.  I just could not believe it.  I guess France was just about the center of the world at this point in time, and they made sure everyone knew it.  Gold embroidery, gold gates, gold gilded ceilings and picture frames.  Louie the 14^th and the 15^th had famous painters come in and paint the ceilings in many of the rooms.  The gardens had huge lakes, tons of fountains and perfectly laid out flowers and bushes.  I am so glad I decided to go. 

Because Versailles is outside the city, it shot down the rest of the tourism plans for the day.  So Ana and I headed over to lovely part of town that had the Moulin Rough and Basilica of the Sacred heart of Paris.  Both were full of people.  The Basilica had people hanging out one the steps drinking and looking at the view of the city.  If I was taller I would have been able to see the Eiffel Tower from there, but I’m short and there was a tree.  Usually people are dancing and playing instruments there, but not on Sunday night for some reason.  After the Basilica we headed down those windy streets of Paris with tons of cafes and beautiful restaurants. 
We had dinner at one of these before heading down to the Moulin Rough.  Wine, crepes, salmon; what more can you ask for?  A smoky romantic atmosphere with people selling roses to the love struck on street corners or in cafes?  We had that too, with soft lighting and candles as well.  

The Moulin Rough was spilling well dressed people out of the doors onto the streets by the time we came by.  A show and dinner goes for about 200 USD, nothing Ana or I could afford, although it would be nice to see the 1920’s style dancing and the theater.

The next and last day was relaxed.  Bags locked up in the train terminal I headed out to the catacombs.  “Closed on Mondays and Holidays.”  I guess I just have to come back to Paris someday, not a on a Monday.  Then to the Notre Dom, where I was mildly surprised that the entrance was free and the line was fairly short.  Churches are all the same.  Cool and distant but beautiful.  The stained glass windows and the golden icons painted on the walls scattered around the interiors of churches only give a slight warmth that can never overcome the fact that they are made entirely out of stone, beautifully carved stone, but stone none the less.  

My last meal in Paris was a cheese platter with plenty of bread and wine to accent the tastes.  The Food in Paris was good, but expensive.  I only let myself buy things on occasion, opting for a baguette and cheese for lunch, costing 2 Euros, rather than spending 12 Euros on soup and a coffee.  I did find some spectacular sweets though.  Paris is known for it’s macaroons.  Or so it seemed.  Every café and bakery was selling them.  Even McDonald's’ had a special with an espresso and a macaroon or a tart.  Good job world marketing!  I also had flan, and crème bruelle, and just gawked at all the expensive chocolate.  In the end I liked Paris, but it’s defiantly not in my top ten.  I rate cities by whether or not I could live there.  Paris just doesn’t make that list for me.  It was too busy.  I’ll have to come back and give it a second chance and not on a weekend.