Paris, France

PARIS:

Saturday: 2:30pm we arrived in Paris. Both of us tired as hell. Having no plan, we planned to catch a café for wifi but saw the McDo sign from a mile away!  We went to get wifi, and lunch because I saw the huge advertisement for Magnum McFlurries… I know, terrible American I am.  We eventually got a taxi and got to Paul’s house (my couchsurfing buddy).  He gave me his apartment code, address, and phone number, but I haven’t quite figured out how to call regular phones via skype.  Liv and I made it to the 5^th floor after taking two [tiny] elevator trips. There we were, standing in front of Paul’s door. Do we just knock? What if it’s the wrong floor? We both started laughing, contemplating how to go about this… maybe listen in to see if they’re speaking French or English?  I knocked and Paul answered- all 6’7” of him.  He invited us in and his sister-in-law’s sister had been visiting for a few weeks.  Christine was from San Francisco and just awesome!  We just sat and chatted about where we grew up, where we’d been, etc.  Dinner was an assortment of 7 cheeses, sausage, chicken, stuffed peppers, olives, and, of course, great red wine a French baguette!  Christine, Paul and I went through 2 bottles that night and then we all did a midnight run to the Proxi for some Magnum bars!

                  Sunday brought the Palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived there and what a property that was!  They had mentioned all of the interior designers and gardeners that were hired to make the garden itself. They had to remove hills and trees and plant thousands more.  In the back of the palace there is the main green and 2 huge fountains, as well as awater pool that goes back as far as the eye can see.  In addition, the side gardens were like mazes and if you went through, you’d find even more fountains and sculptures.  And finally, in the way back corner of the garden property, there was another residence…well, “Domain”.  It was the “domain of Marie Antoinette.”  I couldn’t help but wonder, do you think Marie Antoinette knew she was a big deal?  I mean, what would she say? ‘Would you like to accompany me to my Domain ce soir?’  She had her own gardens and gazeboes, etc.  Anyway, after the gardens, Livi and I got in line for the palace… longest line I have ever stood in; luckily it went quickly.  The palace was something else! I loved all of the paintings on the walls and ceilings. And the MARBLE everywhere! WOW!  I’d rather not explain any more specifics, check out the photos and captions.  All and all, it was still great, despite the fact that it rained and was windy all day.

                  About 5 hours later, we headed back but on the way outside of the gate, we were in the middle of a ‘run-for-your-life’ moment.  Wherever you go in Paris, there are always crazy vendors, usually selling Eiffel Towers or other random stuff.  Outside Versailles the number of vendors per 5 square meters were about 2.  Evidently an ambulance pulled up to the palace and they thought it was the police, so they all went running!  It was nuts but hysterical!  

Anyway, on to Paris and we checked out St. Michel and it’s shops.  We came along a British restaurant for lunch but they had already stopped serving so we just had wine, coke and fries while watching la Tour de France…and our cute waiter.  We had ice cream, and then got a table at an Italian restaurant for pizza for dinner.  Afterward, we walked around a bit and stumbled upon Notre Dame. Too bad it was already closed by the time I got there.  We came across three different music groups that were all really good; we both agreed that those moments were some of our favorites of Paris.  Needless to say, we were beat when we got home about 9pm, with our Magnums. That was almost a 12-hour day out!  Our original plan was to explore Paris’ night life but instead, we just showerd and hung out in the apartment with Paul and Christine.

Monday:  We started our day sleeping in and hanging out.  We took the metro towards Le Champs-Elysées and had lunch at a great brasserie and our waitress- what a hoot! Liv had a great cheese, tomato, chicken baguette sandwich and I had my Croque Poulet Madam! (yuummm!!) We made our way to Le Champs, and I got pictures of l”Arc de Triomphe. We shopped around for about 4 hours or so and made our way to Le Tour Eiffel where we were suppose to meet up with Emily’s friend, Sophie.  Even just sitting in the lawn of the park nextdoor, the vendors wouldn’t leave you alone!  One demanded my attention by calling me “Lady Gaga”.  I laughed in his face, HAH I’ve never heard that one before!

                  There was a point that I was standing directly in the center underneath the Eiffel Tower and I did a panoramic around, a full 360.  It was quite a moment because, besides the crazy long lines to go up the Eiffel Tower, I saw 5 couples kissing.  It was the typical scene from a movie, they’d look at each other, look up, then at each other again, then embrace.  I usually cringe at most PDA moments, but that time I didn’t. I’m for sure going back to Paris with my hubby one day.

                  Anyway, we missed Sophie so we went back and grabbed a late dinner, just the two of us at a café brasserie by Paul’s place. (I still have a problem with calling the waiter when we need him/her!  Plus, you have to specifically ask for the bill!)  Of course, we ended our night as we do every night, we stop at the Proxi and get a Magnum bar.

                  Tuesday morning came fast after I had stayed up late on skype and such. I took Livi to the airport via Metro-T and RER.  We had bought 10 passes the day before, thinking I could use the rest and give more to Christine.  Turns out, those 10 passes are only good for the day you bought them…merde. So, we had to buy more tickets for the Metro-t and then still buy two more expensive tickets for when we were getting on the RER to the airport.

                  Christine and I headed to Montmartre district of Paris, the artist quarter.  We visited le Moulin Rouge and made our way to the MontMarte museum: a little art museum in an old, stone residence that had a cute little garden courtyard and vineyard for the backyard hill.  It turns out that Montmarte was known for their cabarets and night life, as well as famous artists would visit here for extended stays because of the views of Paris. [All of Montmarte is on a giant Butte  (hill)]. This is also where many of the special advertisements started- poster style.  For example, Le Chat Noir, Lapin, etc. were cabarets and famous posters we have today. (see pictures). It was the city of partying and they say that the women aren’t as shy here as they are elsewhere in Paris.  That makes sense because le Moulin Rouge is still one of the best one that remains in the world.  Evidentially, there used to be several Moulins (windmills), but only two remain.  We got to see the oldest one in Paris.

                  Christine and I both share an appreciation for cemeteries, so we checked out an old one in Montmarte.  We found an adorable café for a late lunch, and got out of the rain for a bit before we made it to Sacré Coeur.  This cathedral was built after a couple of terrible years where their city was destroyed and nearly went bankrupt.  It took 40 years to build the cathedral, and what a bummer that there was no photography inside… it was beautiful!  On a clear day, I’d like to go back and climb to the top in the dome because it’s suppose to be one of the best views of Paris and it’s sunset.  I felt that I got a great view just outside at the foot of the church, I can’t imagine what it would be like at the top.

                  We took the Metro-t and visited the little shops between Bastille, St. Sebastien, and St. Paul.  I was loving the little shops! I bought some olive-oil soaked goat cheese and a French baguette as well as a little glass jar of yogurt.  We used the cheese for our appetizer before we went to one of top 30 bistros in all of Paris for dinner: Restaurant “Aux Lyonnais”. Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot even explain how good this food was. I just let Christine and Paul order for me because they’re foodies.  (check out the photos of the restaurant and the bill!). YUM!  On the way home, Paul took us to one of his favorite neighborhood bars (it was sweet!), then we ended our night with me treating them to the Proxi and Magnum bars!

                  Thursday’s 9:09am train came quick; I got about 2.5 hours of sleep.  I slept the whole way to Frankfurt, in first class.