Monday
26 May-Wednesday 28 May 2014
We returned to Paris and were terribly jetlagged when
we arrived. It was a total nightmare arriving right when people were leaving to
go to work. Trying to cram ourselves in the crowded metro with our huge bags
was no easy feat. We found our Air Bnb apartment easily enough. This time we
are staying in the 15th Arrondissement. Since it was only 9am, the
apartment was not yet ready for us…so we walked around a bit and got a drink in
a small café. We were SO tired. Paris is chilly and rainy.
Our host, Laurent, was kind enough to turn the
apartment over to us early. The place is cute and modern with a (relatively)
large bathroom and huge bathtub, a dining room/living room combo with a pull
out bed, a separate room for a toilet (which is, apparently, quite common in
Paris) and a small kitchen. Have I mentioned the kitchens before? I have no
idea how Parisians can cook in these teeny spaces. We’ve yet to visit a
Parisian kitchen with an oven. Most kitchens are (maybe) 4x3ft spaces with a
hot plate or maybe a stove top, a toaster oven, a small fridge, and minimal
counter space. It’s nuts!! I respect anyone’s ability to prepare any sort of
meal in these small spaces!!
The best thing about this apartment is the balcony,
which is a rare treat :D This balcony housed a small baby pigeon, which I
compulsively checked on every few hours.
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| Ok there little one? |
We've spent much of the last two days lying around and
having trouble sleeping. Preston has been especially affected by jet lag. He’s
not really experienced it before and it hit him really hard. I’d read once that
jetlag is easier traveling west…and I’d have to agree. When you travel east…your
body feels like it has had the bones removed or something :P We’ve spent this
entire trip traveling west…until now, and boy are we feelin it!!
We discovered the show “True Detective”. It’s excellent
if you’ve not seen it. Not much else to report…we have rarely ventured out.
Preston went over to Mara’s one night while I stayed in with a terrid headache.
The time alone was nice and I got to bed early :D
Thursday 29 May 2014
We actually got moving today. We walked from our place
over to the Eiffel Tower and through the park underneath the tower. There
was a big screen playing the French Tennis Open. There were also clay courts
set up with young girls playing in a tennis tournament. We stopped and watched
a while, impressed with the athletic ability of these young kids.
Continuing across the river, we enjoyed the opposite vantage
point of the beautiful landmark. It’s not raining, but it is still a bit chilly
today. We took in the views and snapped some pics before venturing up into the
streets.
We walked towards the Arc de Triomphe and got nutella
crepes from a nearby vendor. We ran into a street scheme that we’d see repeated
time and time again: a man bends down next to you while you are waiting to the
cross the street and he picks up a gold ring and asks if it’s yours. When you
say, “no”, he’ll tell you to keep it for luck. When you decline or take
it…he’ll then ask you for money for the ring. I don’t even understand the point
of this or why it’s successful…but we saw it happening a lot. Weird.
We walked down the busy Champs Elysees with its modern
stores and movie theaters. This wide boulevard is a popular tourist destination
in Paris.
From the Champs ;), we headed back towards the river
and walked along the water before heading to the Tuileries garden and ending up
back at the Louvre.
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| I guess this is how they trim the grass? :D |
We crossed the river near the Musee d’Orsay and caught the metro home from St.Germain.
Stopping first back at the apartment, we hopped again
on the nearby metro and headed to Mara’s.
Mara had invited us to go with her to a festival on the
bank of the Seine.
We arrived at Mara’s cozy place and had some wine and
tarmara (my favorite-PINK STUFF) before heading down the street to a busy area
full of restaurants.
The three of us ordered huge and delicious salads for
dinner and, of course, more wine :D Afterwards, we walked over to the river to
enjoy the festivities.
It was about 11pm by this time. The river bank was full
of people sitting and drinking. There was a big bar set up in a tent, but we
had brought our own wine and so plopped down on the river to enjoy it.
Not long after sitting, a friendly French guy came and
sat with us and immediately started drinking my wine :P
I’d had enough already at this point (though, so
seemingly had he :D), so I didn’t mind too much, but I did insist he find me
some water as payment.
He dutifully agreed and went off to find me a glass of
water.
Making good on his effort, he returned with water for
me and introduced himself as Remi.
Remi was hysterical…aided by the fact that he was QUITE
drunk. When we told him that we were Americans, he kept bursting into songs
from different showtunes. It was a riot.
Remi also kept pointing to Preston and saying “American
Beefsteak!!”. Haha!! He said we were the only non-fat Americans he’d ever met.
Dissed!!
When he asked our names, Preston (of course) said,
“Preston” and Remi screamed…”OH MY GOD!! THAT IS SOOOOO AMERICAN!! BRANDON
WALSH!!” lol :)
Remi was SUCH a character. We were soon introduced to
some of his friends and were joined by a much more sober Benjamin.
We had such a great evening talking and laughing
(mostly AT Remi).
By 2 am, we were ready to go home. Since the metro was
closed, Mara kindly called us an Uber (a popular car service that we’ve used a
few times in America too) and we returned back to our place.
Friday
30 May 2014
After being out so late last night, we slept till noon.
I don’t know how the Parisians can keep up with this lifestyle of late dinners
and late nights and still manage to make it to work the next day :D
We walked in the afternoon from the 15th through
the 14th and 13th arrondissements. We passed a huge, old
cemetery, but the gates were closed. We stumbled upon a charming street fair,
so it made up for missing the cemetery.
We met Mara in Montparnasse-near Ernest Hemingway’s old
haunts (which is cool because I’m currently reading “The Paris Wife” about
Ernest’s first wife Hadley. It’s quite a good book and I’d recommend it). We
had a glass of wine and went to see “Maleficent”.
We were made to line up and enter the theater as a
group, which Mara said was typical in France.
Also…sidenote. MY FAVORITE movie theater go-to snack
is: popcorn (more recently with jalapenos sprinkled on top. It’s something they
do in California and let me tell you…don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. I
don’t even really like jalapenos, but this combination is MAGICAL), and PLAIN
M&Ms. The world over…plain M&Ms are being phased out. I like peanut
M&Ms as much as the next person, but it’s the PLAIN that must be mixed with
popcorn…and these M&Ms exist NOWHERE in theaters anymore. Disappointing, I
tell ya.
The theater was old and cramped, but the movie was in
English, so I can’t complain :D The movie, itself, was OK, but I’m too much of
a “Sleeping Beauty” loyalist to have really enjoyed it. Both Mara and Preston
liked it a lot.
After the movie, we walked up to St. Germain for
dinner. We passed groups of people on rollerblades and Mara told us that on
Friday nights-hundreds of rollerbladers take to the streets of Paris. Their
numbers are so great that it even stops traffic a while.
Even though rollerblading has lost its popularity at
home in America, it looked like a fun way to spend a Friday night.
We had dinner outside in a packed café. It’s funny how
close the tables are here. You literally sit elbows touching with the people next
to you. Understandably, you can really get to know your neighbors at dinner.
The couple to my left was hardcore making out, while to
our right we helped to console a teary eyed French girl over her recent break
up.
We actually had a (HUGE) platter of cheese for dinner
with bread and wine. Life in Paris is gooooooooooood. (I accidentally typed that: Life is Paris is good...which I sort of like better).
Saturday
31 May 2014
We got up today and took the train to the 20th
to see the Cimetière du Pere Lachaise -where famous people such as Chopin,
Proust, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison are buried.
It is apparently the world’s most visited cemetery.
In case you can’t tell-I find cemeteries extremely
interesting. I just love the history to be found there.
It was easy to find the cemetery from the metro, since
it was right across the street from the stop with the same name.
The cemetery was started in the early 1800s and has
over 800,000 graves. It was pretty impressive and had handy maps to help
visitors navigate the thousands of gravesites.
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| Quoth the Raven, Nevermore |
Many of the graves are housed in tombs built like
little rooms with an altar inside.
We found Jim Morrison’s grave. Neither of us are very
big “Doors” fans, but it was cool to see all the same. There was a small crowd
gathered around and lots of offerings of candles, flowers, notes, etc.
From the cemetery, we rushed south towards central
Paris to meet Mara at an apartment she may buy in the Marais-a trendy area of
Paris. (where we had falafel last time :D)
On the way, we wandered through a rambunctious crowd of
soccer fans near the Bastille. It was easy to get caught up in their
excitement, but we hurried on to meet Mara.
After checking my phone, I saw that Mara had texted me
that the tenant had canceled, so we slowed our pace and meandered through the Marais
and down to the river.
We crossed in front of Notre Dame and got some croque
monsieur from a street vendor. Preston really enjoyed these hot ham and cheese
sandwiches.
Near St. Germain, we again caught the metro home to
rest up a bit before heading over to Mara’s again. (We’ve had SUCH a fun time
hanging out so much with Mara…she is such a fun and genuine person :D)
We took our small, orange suitcase (that started as my
original suitcase) to leave with her, since we are traveling south tomorrow. Rather
stupidly, we repacked NOTHING in Chicago. For one, we were too lazy I guess?
And for two, we’ve just gotten so comfortable with the clothes we have…that it
was hard to imagine losing anything. Since we are headed to Scotland at the end
of our trip, we were also reluctant to get rid of some of the warmer clothes
that we have. It would be a big regret
that we didn’t leave more of these clothes with Mara…but we weren’t sure what
we’d need in the next month of our travels.
We spent the evening with Mara talking and laughing
with wine, snacks, and more sushi from the restaurant downstairs. It’s been our
favorite way to spend time in Paris.
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| Hanging at Mara's |
We said goodbye to Mara, since we won’t see her for 3
weeks. We are headed to the South of France and into Spain and Mara is headed to
China!!
Tomorrow morning we catch a train to Nice :D
