Day 8-Last Day!

Mom and I were really sad that this was our last day! I definitely could have stayed there for a couple more weeks.  But I guess all good things come to an end.

We wanted a low-key last day and we wanted to be able to shop a bit.  It was kind of perfect then that I had planned for us to go to Montmartre for our last day.  Right when we got off the metro there was a small French band playing music.  Montmartre is still part of Paris but it is far from the center and has more of a village feel.  It was so cute and quaint and had lots of not-too-expensive shopping.  The Sacre-Coeur and the Moulin Rouge are in this area but we didn't go to either.  We bought scarves and purses and some chocolate.  We window shopped for pies and cupcakes also.  Mom said this was her favorite part of Paris by far.

cheese shop

We got back to our hotel in the early afternoon and decided to split up.  Mom wanted to do more shopping of course so she went to the St. Germain area.  I first went to the Middle Ages museum which was just a few blocks away.

"Hey what's up?"

Me holding a medieval sword

I still had some time so I walked to the Luxembourg Gardens.  The Gardens are so close to our hotel but we hadn't had time to visit. I bought a soda from a French guy who wanted to chat about America.  When I told him I was american, he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled out a DVD of a movie with Elvis and Nancy Sinatra.  He asked if I knew who Elvis was.  Um...yes I do.  He told me I spoke good French which was nice, especially since I didn't feel like I was speaking very well.  We spoke for a few minutes and then I walked into the gardens with the Fanta I had bought.

Some of my favorite things in Paris are the gardens.  The Jardin des Tuileries, the Luxembourg Gardens, and the gardens in Versailles are all so breathtakingly beautiful.  There is such a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and the greenery is so well taken care of.  There are statues everywhere and people sit at a table below it with a drink.  If I could have stayed longer, I would have bought a book and garden-hopped.

For our last meal we took the metro out to the Trocadero area.  As our metro crossed the Seine a guy got on the train with his accordion and began to play for tips.  We were only a block from the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.  It had been hot all day but at dinner it began to pour!  It stopped when we left though, and we gazed at the Eiffel Tower and the park down below.

our first view of Paris after getting out of the metro

Our last activity in Paris was to take a Seine River cruise.  It was beautiful to see everything all lit up.  It was a little cold, but it was fun to see all the teenagers drinking on the riverbank.

on the boat cruise

We got home last night, so writing this blog right now makes me want to go back right now!  Oh well.  One day soon I'll go again.  Thanks for reading my blog!

Day 7-Versailles

Today we went to Versailles, which was probably the thing I was most looking forward to.  We woke up and went to a cafe down our street that we'd already been to once.  The waiter remembered us and he is super funny.  He pretended to steal my purse to tell me to watch out for thieves.

Actually getting to Versailles took a little longer than we planned because we got on the wrong train, and then had to get on a train to go back, and then had to get on the right train.  About an hour into our ride we arrived.  We followed the wave of our tourists from the metro to the Chateau and voila: It was beautiful!  We got inside and toured the rooms that the Kings of France slept in, planned wars in, ate in, etc.  The Chateau is huge but there are obviously many rooms that are not open to the public.  The rooms were so ornate, with some of the furnishings covered in plastic to protect them.  It seemed to me like there might have been a lot of modern refurbishments, as there are with other tourists attractions, but you had to concentrate on what was original.  For example, most rooms had vents for air conditioning, some of the doors were wood that were painted to look like marble, and some of the curtains looked artificially vibrant. There were so many crowds--we were herded like cattle into each room.  But each room had so much to look at.  The ceilings especially were covered in gold and paintings.  It was also interesting to see the rooms that were decorated in the style of Marie-Antoinette and Napoleon.

I like the different colored wallpapers from this view

The Hall of Mirrors

in the Hall of Mirrors

the King's bed

We ate lunch in a cafeteria-like place on the grounds.  We toured the gardens which are gorgeous.  I think the gardens at Versailles are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  The hedges were molded into perfect shapes and there were dozens of statues throughout.  People were riding bikes and I would love to picnic there someday.

Oops...sideways

I spent nearly an hour in the sun trying to find Marie-Antoinette's estate.  I finally found it on a map--and it was a 30 minute walk.  I was exhausted and couldn't decide whether or not to go to it.  Finally we decided to walk through the hot sun.  You get there by walking through the gardens so that was really nice, but the sun was beating down on us and people were getting cranky.  We arrived at a smaller palace first that we walked through but which was not nearly as grand as the Chateau.  We decided not to make the rest of the trek to Marie-Antoinette's Estate.

Instead we jumped on a "petit train" that takes you back to the Chateau for a small fee.  The train ride allowed to see what happens when people of different languages and countries get hot and tired.    An Italian man on crutches wanted a ride to the top for free.  No go says the French train driver.  The Italian man, who looked like John Turturro, made his eyes really big and he and his friend got in the guy's face and started cursing at him in Italian.  The train driver started cursing in French.  "Animale!!!!" they shouted and then gave an inappropriate hand gesture to the train.  Then we got on the train and the Russian guys in our compartment said, "This seat is occupied.  Stalin says you cannot sit here." They didn't say the Stalin part but that was the tone.  We sat there anyway.

We took the metro back to Paris and tried not to burst into flames from the heat.  We rested and decided not to do any walking that night.  So much for that.  On the way to dinner we stopped and did some shoe shopping.  We both got shoes and then went to dinner at a cafe across from the Luxembourg Gardens. That was the end of the day though because Versailles wiped us out.  The end!

Delay

Hello everyone!

Wifi in the hotel has been spotty so I will try to update the blog once I get to an airport tomorrow.  Last night in Paris!  See you soon.

Day 6-Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower

We've been so on the go this whole trip that today we decided to relax a little.  We slept in and then decided to spend most of the day looking around instead of hitting every sight.  The metro took us to the Jardin des Tuileries where we ate some lunch.  

So much for not too much walking.  We walked up the Champs-Elysees from the Jardin Tuileries all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.  Looking at our map, it doesn't seem that far.  That may be because our map makes all big monuments and sights disproportionately big.  The Champs-Elysees was very busy and it was very hot.  I finally found the one souvenir I want, but I don't think paying 35 euros for a 6 inch statue is worth it.

Arc de Triomphe

line to get into Abercrombie and Fitch on the Champs-Elysees

We got to the Arc de Triomphe, admired it for a bit, and then turned around to walk back down the Champs Elysees.  It was very hot and we figured seeing it was enough.  On the way back though, we stopped at Laduree, a sort of dessert cafe with locations all over Paris.  We got some of their famous macaroons while sitting at the bar that was decorated to look like a mermaid's grotto.  I got some hot chocolate as well.  The consistency of the hot chocolate was similar to mud.  It was delicious pure chocolate, but I was unable to gulp down more than a few sips of the melted chocolate.

macaroons, eclair, hot chocolate, cappuchino

We managed to make it into the Musee D'Orsay before heading back home.  We saw the Impressionist paintings of Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Matisse, Degas, and some Rodin sculptures.  It's a lot smaller than the Louvre and it was nice how we were able to get in and out so quickly, especially since I didn't dig it as much as the Louvre.

After cruising the booksellers on the Seine, we found our way to Les Deux Magots.  Les Deux Magots was the favorite cafe of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre and was visited by Picasso and Ernest Hemingway.  The prices were high and the people were very fashionable--clearly wanting to be seen.  I ordered hot chocolate and was brought what I learned is called "chocolat a l'ancienne" which I think translates to thick mud chocolate liquid.  i don't understand how anyone could possibly have more than a few sips.  I began to question whether you are supposed to mix in water, but I did it out of sight of the waiter who struck me as very traditional (he had already notified me that you don't order croissants in the afternoon--well excuse me!)

Continuing our restaurant-hopping day, we strolled through the alleys of St. Germain to find some dinner.  There are so many small places all crammed together but you can find pretty much the same thing at any one: a baguette, a sandwich, couscous, crepes, or ice cream, and standard cafe fare.  

There are lots of little streets in our area that look like this but are even narrower. I'll try to post more of these pictures.

Our last activity of the night was to go to the Eiffel Tower.  We sat looking at it for a few minutes when it began to sparkle, as it does every hour on the hour for 5 minutes.  It was really spectacular and everyone oohed and aahed.  Once again I was struck by how many French tourists there seemed to be.

I have some more pictures for today but they are taking way too long to download so I will try again tonight.  Anyhow, that's all for today!  Versailles tomorrow!

Day 5-The Louvre and cafes

Paris is a lot smaller than London and the sites are so much more closer together so it is not hard to walk from one place to another.  This morning we stopped at a cafe on the way to the Louvre and the waiter was much more friendly than I would have expected.  We ordered a breakfast to share and with coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, a croissant, buttered baguette, jam, and a ham omelette.  It was delish.

picture of our breakfast, and me unaware

We walked to the Louvre and got to enter in a different way because we had Paris museum passes.  We passed a lot of people waiting in line.  It was a little overwhelming at first because the museum is so large and there are so many people.  Our first noteworthy stop was Napoleon’s apartments.  They were ornately decorated and I took a lot of pictures because it was like stepping back into a fancy pantsy time.

Napoleon's Appartements

bus to Disneyland Paris at the Louvre

The Louvre

By this time we could easily find our way to other big pieces like the Venus De Milo, Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa.  We figured out the map but even if we hadn’t, we could have followed the throngs of people heading towards them.  The crowd in front of the Mona Lisa was an overzealous one.  Museum staff were shouting at tourists trying to jump the barrier and tourists were throwing jabs with their elbows.  I feel bad for the other 30 or so paintings that are in the same room as the Mona Lisa because they probably aren’t noticed very often—which is a shame because some of them are more interesting.  I wanted to spend more time in the Louvre but we were getting hungry and tired so we decided to go to lunch.

Winged Victory

Venus de Milo

At lunch I had a croque madame, which is a piece of bread with fried cheese and a fried egg on top.  Mom had an Italian salad which she says she will remember for a long time. 

lunch

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Sainte-Chapelle which is a 13^th century Gothic chapel with some of the most complete stained glass window from that period.  It was a quick trip, and luckily we can do that with our museum pass (no waiting in line or deciding whether or not something is worth the entrance fee.)  The stained class was so colorful and bright.  I’m glad we saw it.

Sainte Chappelle

After resting at the hotel we decided to see the 3^rd arrodissement which is known for being the gay and artsy district, as well as any remaining Jewish Quarter area.  It was a lively bar area but we didn’t spend too much time there.

Instead of spending more time in the 3^rd, we went back to the Louvre which is open late on Wednesday and Friday nights.  There were very few people which was so nice.  It was so much more pleasant to see everything without all the people there.  Without all of the crowds, some things seemed less special—like the Mona Lisa.  If crowds aren’t fighting over their view of the Mona Lisa, is it still the most famous painting in the world?  Some things still looked magnificent like Winged Victory. 

big painting by Veronese at the Louvre

Our last stop for the night was dinner at a café on the edge of the Latin Quarter and St. Germain.  We had a misunderstanding with the waiter when after we ordered he kept saying in French “One or two menus?”  I had no idea what he was talking about because we already ordered and didn’t need menus anymore.  We learned later that he was asking us if we really wanted 2 full meals or just one.  Not knowing that’s what he was saying, I said one.  That was probably good because we couldn’t even finish the three courses intended for one person.  We joked that the waiter probably thought we were dumbasses ordering so much food.  Oh well.

at dinner

That's all for today!

Day 4-Going to Paris

Yesterday was our travel day from London and Paris, and I spent a good few hours with my head in a toilet after what may have been a bad hamburger.  When we finally made it to Paris it took us FOREVER to figure out how to use the ticket machine.  It seemed even French people were confused by it.  We made it to Paris though and I slept until dinnertime.  The good news is that our hotel room is very cute and has a nice view of the deaf-mute school across the street.  Not so nice are the actual deaf mutes who accost you on the street and pout when you don't give them money.

train station in London

ordering croissants at Paris train station

our hotel room

Last night we decided to walk around a little but we were too tired for anything else.  We saw the Seine and Notre Dame and the University of Paris in a short walk.  We also ate crepes for dinner--more like dessert for dinner since I got banana and nutella and mom got sugar and cinnamon.  We found some really tiny alleyways with tons of restaurants and cafes.

mom eating her crepe

This might sound silly, but there are tons of French people here.  Even lots of French tourists who I assume aren't from Paris.  I think we may have even seen more British people here than in London.  Also, many Parisians don't speak English.  Our TV also doesn't speak English which is sort of a problem but oh well.

The Seine

City Hall, and the site of the beheadings by the guillotine in the French Revolution

I'll probably write another post soon about our 2nd day in Paris.  Yay!