Kate hearts Paris
Trip Start
May 23, 2008
1
37
54
Trip End
Ongoing
Paris,
Île-de-France,
France
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Oooooooooh m y gosh. I love Paris.
I ♥ PARIS.
LOVE IT!!!
Its so gorgeous and old and magical and amazing. Its whimsical and mind-blowing and crazy and sweet and beautiful and inspiring and I cant think of anything more because my mind turns to mush when I try to find the right words. Its more than I ever thought it would be.
Though it did try and give me the runaround
fountain at St Michaels
. Paris is to hopefully be my final stop in the battle to replace my stuff that was indeed stolen now 2 months ago. As I pass through here on my way to Switzerland, then loop back up through on my way up north, this was the perfect place to apply for my full passport, as they need 2 weeks to process it and there is no way I am hanging around in a city for 2 weeks when there is a world out there to explore. So yesterday morning I was up bright and early, the sky was bright blue but it was freezing so I pulled on my new boots, dusted the cobwebs off my coat, wrapped a scarf around my neck and headed off into the city. Walking down the street I couldn't help smiling at everything, I still couldn't get over the fact that I was there! And all rugged up, I almost felt like I was a Parisian myself. It was such a cool feeling. My first stop was at the main post office where I had to pick up a parcel from my parents back home with signed paperwork and photos etc, along with my music collection on usb sticks so I could finally go out and get a new ipod and rejoice in the music which I have longed for the last however many weeks. Though my issues began here, when the guy said he couldn't find the parcel and said it must not have arrived. After running around the streets trying to get a phone card so I could call mum, I got the registered number for the parcel and went back with my fingers crossed
Seine river and Notre Dame
. Luckily, the guy was just being a typical lazy Parisian and didn't turn the light on when he went out to look, as he came back apologetic with the parcel in his hand. I didn't care though, I was just happy that it was there! I got to the embassy after changing trains about 3 times, only to find that I had misplaced the photos that I needed, and that apparently the paperwork from Melbourne hadn't arrived through and without that they couldn't start the application. By this time it was 10.30am and I had to go meet a walking tour at 11am so I gave up and rushed off.
The tour was really great, although weird as it was hosted by an Aussie from Melbourne called Peiter. But he was a crackup and spent half the time making digs at the Sydneysiders and the New Zealanders which I loved. And he definitely knew his stuff when it came to Paris. We took in some incredible sights such as the Notre Dame, Pont Neuf (which means new bridge, even though it's the oldest bridge in Paris), and the Louvre, where we found out some interesting information about the orange reflectors that are placed on some of the windows of the building. Its so if there is a fire, the firefighters know which windows don't have expensive items behind them, and therefore can break through and use as an access point
Pont Neuf
. Very interesting! We also wandered through the royal palace and gardens and the most expensive designer label st in Paris - where we stopped to have a French baguette for lunch, then over to the Jardin du Tuileries, Avenue des Champs Elysees, the Grand and the Petit Palaces, Hotel des Invalides, Napoleons tomb and finishing up near the river with a superb view of the Eiffel tower. Our heads were jam-packed full of information and culture by the end. Plus the group got approached by some producer guy who was filming an interview that afternoon with Eva Longoria and Tony Parker and needed some people to sit in the audience. It sounded pretty cool but there were other things that we wanted to do and to be honest, we came to Paris to see Paris, not to see some TV star. Its not always about the razzle dazzle of Hollywood now is it?!
After the tour me and Liz wandered along the river to the Eiffel tower and to the embassy as it was practially right next door. I managed to fix up my photos and got the application done, so fingers crossed it all works out! We then went back and lay out on the grass underneath Eiffel and watched the clouds and airplanes go by. The weather was absolutely perfect and I think that I could have laid there forever, but we decided that it was starting to get late and should probably go stand in line to actually climb the damn thing
Seine river
. The amount of people on the tower and waiting to go up was amazing. We stood in line at the base for around half an hour, then another half and hour at the 3rd level waiting for the lift to take us up to the top. It probably wasn't that bad, and it didn't bother me as when we got up there it was just too cool. The city is huge and definitely looks it from up there. We got to share a romantic moment as the sun set, squished up against the barriers as people fought to take photos and get a good view. We headed down just as dusk set in and the tower was lit up, firstly by huge blue spotlights, and then the lightglobes which are positioned all over the tower began to light up and flashed, causing the tower to look like a huge Christmas tree glittering and twinkling for about 10 minutes. We met up with 2 other busabout girls down the bottom and watched the show for a couple of minutes before the lights started hurting our eyes and our heads and we walked back to the train station to head back to the hostel. By the time we returned home it was 11pm and we hadn't had any dinner, so we ate a burger in the restaurant bar and then I tried to go to bed. Though I still cant get to sleep before midnight, no matter how tired I am. This morning I made sure I utilized the free breakfast that the hostel offers, having 2 bowls of cereal and stealing some baguettes, butter and jam to use for sandwiches later on in the day
Louvre
. Then me and Liz set off for our second day of exploring, with our first stop at the Arc de Triomphe and Place de l'Étoile (or star square, where the famous roundabout circles the Arc) which features the 12 avenues running off it, which happens to be an incredible sight to see. Apparently statistic-wise, there is an accident on the roundabout every 4 minutes, and no insurance companies will offer cover if you happen to have an accident there. Unfortunately we lucked out and didn't get to see any accidents, which was a little disappointing. It was still incredibly interesting and thrilling to watch though. We cringed every time a cyclist or motorbike entered the intersection, as that would definitely be the most scary position to be in. When we tired of the Arc we wandered past a baguette shop, then back down to the Eiffel tower to feast on our lunch underneath its magnificent shadow. The weather wasn't as good as the day before, a little bit chilly and it looked like it was going to rain, but we didn't care, we were lying under the Eiffel Tower!!! Me and Liz sat there for ages bonding and chatting, every time we got onto the topic of something that we missed from home or so on we would just roll over and go..."oh my god look - it's the Eiffel Tower! Wow we're in Paris right now!" and it would promptly be forgotten. We also watched some boys kick around a soccer ball, and were entertained by a hilarious homeless man who seemed to by highly angered by their use of public parkland, yelling out what we assume were obscenities in French and sucking on a big bottle of some alcoholic liquid
Louvre - see the orange dots on the windows?
. We were waiting for a confrontation (it would have been about 15 guys onto this one homeless man) which seemed inevitable until the ball happened to roll over to him and miraculously, he kicked it back to them which resulted in a big cheer and a clap, and suddenly the man seemed very proud of himself and walked off with the biggest grin on his face. It was at this time that the rain set in, and so we took off back into the city Our next place to visit was the Notre Dame cathedral, which was beautiful but sadly there were no Disney hunchbacks wandering around and so I feel the experience was slightly lacking in that fairytale appeal. Im just kidding, the cathedral was spectacular, and with the dreary weather felt even more dark and mysterious. When we got our Notre Dame fix, we came back to the hostel to rug up and then caught a train out to the Montmartre district for another walking tour with the same guide from yesterday. Montmartre is home to the redlight district, namely the famous Moulin Rouge (some of the people on the bus bought tickets to go and see a show, prices start at 90 euro...) and the area was used to film the French film Amelie, and it is a gorgeous old area, possibly my favourite part of Paris. Yet again Peiter was making digs at Sydney and NZ. Did you know that 1 in 4 New Zealanders live outside the country? Compare that to 1 in 23 Aussies. I wonder what they are running away from?? Just kidding, I love NZ
Louvre
. But I love the rivalry even more! Our tour took us up the hill, past cafes, shops full of cheese and meats, patisseries and quaint little pubs. We walked up one of the most beautiful streets in the city, Rue de L'Abrevoir, cobblestones with gorgeous stone houses covered in vines and flowers, saw the oldest vineyard in Paris, and a cute little restaurant called the Lapin Agile (the agile rabbit) where Picasso used to trade drawings on napkins, and then followed by paintings for food. Before he was famous of course. The owner turned out to be one very lucky - and rich - man in the end. We also walked up to the stunning Sacre Coeur, which looks out from the top of the district over Paris. Its actually a very new cathedral compared to the history of the area, only being completed in 1914 in dedication to the 58 thousand people who lost their lives when Prussia tried to invade, and was built entirely out of donations. The stone used is called Travertine, which is unusual in that when it gets wet, it draws out the calcite in the stone, which means that it self-cleans and the more rain it gets, the whiter the stone gets. For all the tofs people playing along, theres something to spiel to the customers when your trying to sell those travertine tables. I recon Tony owes me some payout for that handy piece of information.
So anyway, we got to have some time inside the basilica, and although I am not religious I have definitely developed an appreciation and respect for places like this
funny poles in the Royal Palace
. And it was beautiful and calming and so quiet inside. We also saw Van Goughs house and Piccassos studio, walked past some of the sites of the Amelie film, and learnt about one of the most curious people that I have heard about on my trip so far, the 'space invader guy'. This guy is pretty famous in Paris, he does little mosaics of the space invaders from the old old old game from like 20 years ago, and puts them up all around the world. Apparently he has been to Melbourne and Perth. But he loves Montmartre, and has laid out so many of these space invader tiles, that if you got a map of the area and stuck a pin where each invader is, it makes out the shape of another space invader. Pretty damn cool.
After the tour we decided to go hunt down some crepes, and Peiter pointed us in the direction of what he said were the best in Paris. They did end up being pretty damn tasty, Liz and I got 2 and then shared them, one was chocolate and banana, and the second was apple. We then wandered down to the train station and caught the train back to the hostel, where I am now buggered beyond belief but so excited as tomorrow I head onto Switzerland, where I will be staying with a very good friend called Desiree and her family for a week or more
Royal Gardens
. They are going to show me the real Switzerland and I am so excited as there is nothing like seeing things from a local point of view. And it will be so great to see her again! Replies.
Mum - yeah I felt like an Eskimo on the top half... though the bottom half was shorts and thongs so it didn't really apply to the whole of my body! If you have questions then just ask! If I cant be bothered then I just wont reply silly. I like answering the questions as it reminds me about things that I might have forgotten to mention, and I write this blog to let you know what my experience is like, and so it all just means that more of the experience gets noted down!
Elly - yeah as I said above, I was definitely in thongs! You cant go wrong with them! Especially on the long busrides, I think my feet would swell up if I wore shoes. Its so worth it, even if you are cold for a little while. And yes, now that you mention it, those pics do remind me of Lorne too! Nice pickup.
Donna - you will be sad to hear that I did not indulge in the disgusting consumption of snails and frogs legs. Uuuugh it makes me shudder just thinking about it. And speaking of disgusting, some of Liz's stories that I have heard are pretty sick. She works in an area which has to do with the bowels. So you can only imagine what they could have been about. Haha. EWWWW.
But I have to go and pack my bag! Ciao.
Comments
Luvin Luvly Paris
Well Kate I don't know if it is the increasing magnifience of what you are experiencing (it just seems to get better) or your amazing ability to find new ways of describing your new surroundings that make it all sound so wonderful. I thought you might be getting a little weary of new places and more travel but you seem to revel in it all. Paris obviously hasn't let you down, but what have you left for your return visit??? Perhaps more of the same would be more than ok. Did you meet any of those romantic French guys? If not perhaps you need to look harder next week and flash that smile you talk about in your blog. (Don't know about you sharing a romantic moment with Liz at the Eiffel tower!!!!!) Please explain!!!!! Well you said to ask questions. So, is there something you need to tell me??? And can Switzerland overtake Paris as the flavour of the moment? On to the next exciting installment. Luv from your puzzled Mumxox