I am in Paris!
Here are the first 3 posts from the my trip in Paris. More to come as...I keep doing stuff here.
PARIS DAY 1: Hello, the French?
Well, I arrived safely and soundly and pretty much right on time. The overseas flight was really nice; I got to choose my own movies to watch (I picked "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 2") which was quite nice. Then--arrival! It's so good to see and be with Jason again, but I'll try to avoid saying much more about that to save you all the cheesiness. Suffice it to say, I am very much in love, in the city of love. =)
The metro station is right outside the dormitory, which is nice, and the trains run really well, meaning the longest we ever had to wait was ten minutes and usually it more like 0 to 2 minutes. Having been awake for almost 24 hours (I don't sleep well on planes) I meant to take a nap after arriving but found out much to my disappointment that I was allergice to something (we assumed) in the sheet. So, we ended up going out early than I had expected.
One stop away from Jason's abode is Denfert-Rochereau, a really neat little part of town with a bunch of cafes, pharmacies, meat martkets, a honeyshop, and the like. We went to the grocery store (Metroprix) to buy some hypoallergenic detergent (despite the fact that hypoallergenic in French is "Hypoallergenique," this took us some time. I ended up buying a brand called "Le Chat"). We also bought a bottle of wine (still have yet to open it) some mulberry yogurt, a dark chocolate bar with ginger, and some delicious, delicious cheese. All the produce looked amazing, and there are so many different kinds of champange...
Next: the laundromat. Gotta wash the sheets. We brought out yogurt and chocolate bar and sat down to wait. The place was run by a little, French-speaking (duh?) aisian woman who tried to give Jason advice about teh wash cycle he had chosen, but that never really got through... Anyway, a while later we headed back with our freshly-washed and dried sheets so that I could take a nap before we headed out for the evening's fun: the Eiffel Tower.
Slept until 10pm; got up; eventually made our way out and to the right stop (it had been nice all day earlier, but by the time we headed out it had rained and was still drizzling). We arrived right around 11 and the tower was, as Ramya put it, going crazy: all light up but also twinkling with bright little white lights. It was pretty gorgeous. Sadly, the last tram goes up the tower at 11, so we didn't get to make the ascent, but was still quite gorgeous. Pretty huge, too, which I can only tell after standing under the base.
We took a walk down the Seine after this, trying to find some not so expensive places to eat. We passed some people doing fire poi in the plaza of some old, graffitied building with columns and statues of large, grecian, reclining women. We found an intersection with lots of restaurants, but they were all quite expensive, so we decided to head back to Denfert-Rochereau. We checked out three open cafes and ended up going to the the Indiana Grill (yes, it was as Americana as it sounds, though more Mexican, because Mexicans and Indians are the same, right? Right.). I had a fajita salad, with marinated chicken, zucchini, lettuce, red cabbage, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and vinagrette for 10 euro and Jay had ribs, steak kabob, and french fries. Man, they make our food better than we do. Oh, and our negra modelos (Mexican beer) were served in pint glasses that said "Bud: King of Beers." Heehee.
It was pretty late at this point; the metro had stopped running and so we walked back to the dorm (one stop away, so wasn't too bad, and the rain had stopped). It was a nice walk; all the residential buildings are so...exactly what I expected them to be, with little intricate metal fenced balconies and pretty white walls and tall windows. We got back in and at was time for sleep.
Today is a day on the town. Time to get ready for that day. =) I am taking pictures but cannot upload them until I get back home, so you will have to wait.
Oh, and in the metro station a French man with a baby stroller asked me for directions (which I was clearly unable to give him), but Jason said it meant that he'd assumed I was French and I was very flattered. =)
Loves,
A
PARIS DAY 2: L'as du falafel
We head out around noon (first we stop at...McDo's...to eat Royales with cheese and to see if we can't win Jason a moped--apparently we can't) to go find a place for me to cash my traveler's cheques and end up in the middle of the Champs Elysee, Paris' own Million Dollar Mile, except more gorgeous. The weather was superb, chilly but sunny, and so we decided to stroll.
From the train stop at Rue Franklin D. Roosevelt (yep) we walk west to the Arc D'triomphe, which was quite nice, then we cross the street and head back south. As it was Sunday most of the stores are closed but they all have huge windows with elaborate displays, and I recognize almost all the brand names. The big car dealers were open, though, as was this...brewery? beer and beer accessories? store that I will have to go back to because they had such stylish looking stuff. They were half a dozen movie theatres as well, each with a different selection (Pan's Labyrinth is already out here and we may go see it!).
We pass out of the general shopping area and continue down a promenade, entering what can be described as an open-air transportation museum (but with no sense of chronology and with automobiles, boats, and flying machines).
After this, Place de la Concorde, giant plaza with a couple fountains and giant obelisk convered in hieroglyphics. Across the concorde some young men were playing music on trumpet, sax, tuba, and portable drum kit; they played the Bond theme and then another jazzy piece, and Jason and I bought and shared a cherry-ginger-flavored Perrier.
Next came the Jardins des Tuileries, though as it is winterish the gardens weren't much. Just past this, the halls and tell-tale pyramid of the Louvre loomed before us; I will probably go there tomorrow while Jay is in classes. We continued past, down Avenue de Rivoli (another shopping district, most shops closed and all bars open) back to a train station. I just noticed, this walk covered three folds on my map. It was a perfect day for a long walk.
We went back to the Fondation so that Jason could get some homework done for tomorrow and so I could take a little nap. After these things we go to what Jason says is the Jewish and Gay district (they are side by side) for some falafel. The place is called L'As du Falafel which means "Ace of Falafel," and a guy outside gave us a bill, we gave him money, and then stood at a window watching the cooks stuff pitas full of falafel, cabbage, eggplant, tomato, and sauce. We then ate standing on the street, along with everybody else. By the way, these falafel were recommended by Lenny Kravitz himself (I have photographic evidence!). The stores in this part of town were still open when we arrived, some higher end and some that seemed a little more interesting (I already own a black down coat, but if I make it back there, I saw one in a store that I might have to get...only 39 euro).
On the way back, Jason and I took a photo in a booth in the train station a la Amelie.
We're now back in the room and Jay is doing more reading for class. Tomorrow I think I'm going to head to the Paris center with him, just to see where it is, and then go back to the Louvre.
I took lots of pictures today. =)
Loves,
A
PARIS DAY 3.1: Day D'enfer
Heh, my title is overly dramatic, but all will be explained.
Got up at 8:15 to take a shower. Showering here is like a little battle because there are no faucet turns, just a button that you press. No temperature choice, and the water stays on for about 1 minute at a time. So when I felt the water was about the cut off, I'd have to press the button again. Sometimes the water would keep coming, sometimes I'd have to wait for it work again. Mini conflict, to wake you up in the morning.
So, here's a sort of primer of the train system: we left the Fondation to go to the Paris Center, where Jason has class. We took the RER-B, and from here there are a couple ways to get where we were going; we got off at St. Michele and transfered (here called a correspondance) to the C and then to the stop Biblioteque-somethingsomething. Jason pointed out to me the street I would go down to find the Paris center, then walked me to the stop where I could catch the M-14 train, and left me there. (Eep.)
I took the 14 to Chaterle, which is the main train hub; you can transfer to almost anything here and despite being quite the labyrinth the signs are actually pretty easy to follow. The 14 is quite cool; Jay described it as being futuristic, and it definitely looks kinda that way (a picture to come), as well as being automated. At Chaterle I transferred to the M-1 and took that to the Louvre.
[end train explanation to digress to an description of my visit to the Louvre]
It's a pretty huge place, so while I feel like i saw a large amount in the three hours I was there, I really didn't see too much. I entered, as one does, through the glass pyramid and, being hungry and parched, proceed to a cafe in the museum and bought jus d'orange and a raisin pastry thing.
I then bought my entrance ticket and proceeded, since it is the clearest thing marked, to hall Denon which holds Spanish and Italian paintings and Greek and Roman "Antiquites." I saw Winged Victory (larger than I expected and on some kind of boat?); I saw the Mona Lisa, which was nice but not life-changing; I saw the Venus de Milo which I quite liked. I discovered that my camera battery is already dying =/ I have my second one, but I didn't bring the charger thinking that two fresh batteries would do me for a week. Oh well.
Very cool: apparently Toni Morisson was here not too long ago? Maybe even last weekend? and now there is an exhibit here that pairs ancient paintings with some newer sketches and then a modern video. There was a Bruce Nauman video, also a fi;m by Samuel Becket and a brazilian woman deforming her face by wrapping it in nylon twine.
I also went in the newish African and Oceanic Americas Art exhibit, which is apparently really progressive. It wasn't until late in the 20th century that artwork from these cultures waas considered societally fit to be in an ART museum versus an ethnography or natural history museum. Sometime this year these pieces will be moved to a brand new museum that is being built just to house artifacts from these cultures. I saw lots of Egyptian artifacts, other stuff like that...it all blurs together. All this time I was fretting because I didn't know the time (and I don't know how to ask for this in French, so I just wandered till I heard an American to ask) and I was also completely parched--the French do not believe in drinking fountains, the crazies. I ended my visit to the Louvre with a bottle of water and a tuna sandwich with vegetables.
Earlier in the museum I realized that while Jay had given me the key to get back into his room, I had not written down the number code that could get me back into the building. So, I decided to go back to the paris center to catch him before his afternoon class to ask. I took the 1 back to Chaterle to the 14 back to the Biblioteque. I did indeed find Jason, got the number, and decided to take the C back to the B to get back to the dorm. So, this is where I learn, as I had expected, that the metro system is DECEPTIVELY simple. I got on the wrong train. I thought I was getting on the right train; there was very little indication either way...but I turned out to be very wrong. Not only was it going the opposite direction, it was also some sort of express train way out there. Hmm. I got a little freaked out, but I figured that I could just get off, go the other side of the platform and be fine. I was kind of wrong about this...and the maps in the station provided me with no help... I ended up on an empty platform, no one else around, and a man on the next platform over saw me and waggled his finger at me. "Non; [something in French]." I kind of shrugged helplessly. He asked if I spoke English, and then asked where I was going. I told him Biblioteque and he told me to come over to his platform. I did, and he pointed me to the right side. Everything was pretty much fine from there and I had some time to watch some pretty scenery and a lot of grafitti and read (I am reading The Blind Assassin). I got to St. Michele and got back on B and took it to Denfert-Rochereau, which is becoming my home base.
I rewarded myself by going to Cafe D'enfer (Cafe of Hell, btw) and ordering a cafe au lait. I drank that had some water and then, it being around 3, headed back to the dorm, one more stop away. I passed a bakery and was drawn in by the smell and my promise to Pelks that I would try pastries every day and I ordered an apricot tart and a St. Nicolas dough-boy dipped in chocolate (these are the cheapest things I have bought since being here). I got on the B, hurriedly asked a young man "Cite Univeritaire?" and he nodded, and I got back and here I am.
Jason is now back from class, eating the Fritos I brought him and doing some reading. We will have pastries soon and then I think we are going to go see Pan's Labyrinth and prehaps and have raspberry beer.
What have I learned today? Don't be afraid to ask people for help. They are not actually as mean as we give them credit for. Also, another French person asked me for directions.
I will finish up this day when it is over. For now...au revoir!
Also, it is raining today. The sun the past two days was a real fluke. This is France as she really is.
A
PARIS DAY 1: Hello, the French?
Well, I arrived safely and soundly and pretty much right on time. The overseas flight was really nice; I got to choose my own movies to watch (I picked "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 2") which was quite nice. Then--arrival! It's so good to see and be with Jason again, but I'll try to avoid saying much more about that to save you all the cheesiness. Suffice it to say, I am very much in love, in the city of love. =)
The metro station is right outside the dormitory, which is nice, and the trains run really well, meaning the longest we ever had to wait was ten minutes and usually it more like 0 to 2 minutes. Having been awake for almost 24 hours (I don't sleep well on planes) I meant to take a nap after arriving but found out much to my disappointment that I was allergice to something (we assumed) in the sheet. So, we ended up going out early than I had expected.
One stop away from Jason's abode is Denfert-Rochereau, a really neat little part of town with a bunch of cafes, pharmacies, meat martkets, a honeyshop, and the like. We went to the grocery store (Metroprix) to buy some hypoallergenic detergent (despite the fact that hypoallergenic in French is "Hypoallergenique," this took us some time. I ended up buying a brand called "Le Chat"). We also bought a bottle of wine (still have yet to open it) some mulberry yogurt, a dark chocolate bar with ginger, and some delicious, delicious cheese. All the produce looked amazing, and there are so many different kinds of champange...
Next: the laundromat. Gotta wash the sheets. We brought out yogurt and chocolate bar and sat down to wait. The place was run by a little, French-speaking (duh?) aisian woman who tried to give Jason advice about teh wash cycle he had chosen, but that never really got through... Anyway, a while later we headed back with our freshly-washed and dried sheets so that I could take a nap before we headed out for the evening's fun: the Eiffel Tower.
Slept until 10pm; got up; eventually made our way out and to the right stop (it had been nice all day earlier, but by the time we headed out it had rained and was still drizzling). We arrived right around 11 and the tower was, as Ramya put it, going crazy: all light up but also twinkling with bright little white lights. It was pretty gorgeous. Sadly, the last tram goes up the tower at 11, so we didn't get to make the ascent, but was still quite gorgeous. Pretty huge, too, which I can only tell after standing under the base.
We took a walk down the Seine after this, trying to find some not so expensive places to eat. We passed some people doing fire poi in the plaza of some old, graffitied building with columns and statues of large, grecian, reclining women. We found an intersection with lots of restaurants, but they were all quite expensive, so we decided to head back to Denfert-Rochereau. We checked out three open cafes and ended up going to the the Indiana Grill (yes, it was as Americana as it sounds, though more Mexican, because Mexicans and Indians are the same, right? Right.). I had a fajita salad, with marinated chicken, zucchini, lettuce, red cabbage, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and vinagrette for 10 euro and Jay had ribs, steak kabob, and french fries. Man, they make our food better than we do. Oh, and our negra modelos (Mexican beer) were served in pint glasses that said "Bud: King of Beers." Heehee.
It was pretty late at this point; the metro had stopped running and so we walked back to the dorm (one stop away, so wasn't too bad, and the rain had stopped). It was a nice walk; all the residential buildings are so...exactly what I expected them to be, with little intricate metal fenced balconies and pretty white walls and tall windows. We got back in and at was time for sleep.
Today is a day on the town. Time to get ready for that day. =) I am taking pictures but cannot upload them until I get back home, so you will have to wait.
Oh, and in the metro station a French man with a baby stroller asked me for directions (which I was clearly unable to give him), but Jason said it meant that he'd assumed I was French and I was very flattered. =)
Loves,
A
PARIS DAY 2: L'as du falafel
We head out around noon (first we stop at...McDo's...to eat Royales with cheese and to see if we can't win Jason a moped--apparently we can't) to go find a place for me to cash my traveler's cheques and end up in the middle of the Champs Elysee, Paris' own Million Dollar Mile, except more gorgeous. The weather was superb, chilly but sunny, and so we decided to stroll.
From the train stop at Rue Franklin D. Roosevelt (yep) we walk west to the Arc D'triomphe, which was quite nice, then we cross the street and head back south. As it was Sunday most of the stores are closed but they all have huge windows with elaborate displays, and I recognize almost all the brand names. The big car dealers were open, though, as was this...brewery? beer and beer accessories? store that I will have to go back to because they had such stylish looking stuff. They were half a dozen movie theatres as well, each with a different selection (Pan's Labyrinth is already out here and we may go see it!).
We pass out of the general shopping area and continue down a promenade, entering what can be described as an open-air transportation museum (but with no sense of chronology and with automobiles, boats, and flying machines).
After this, Place de la Concorde, giant plaza with a couple fountains and giant obelisk convered in hieroglyphics. Across the concorde some young men were playing music on trumpet, sax, tuba, and portable drum kit; they played the Bond theme and then another jazzy piece, and Jason and I bought and shared a cherry-ginger-flavored Perrier.
Next came the Jardins des Tuileries, though as it is winterish the gardens weren't much. Just past this, the halls and tell-tale pyramid of the Louvre loomed before us; I will probably go there tomorrow while Jay is in classes. We continued past, down Avenue de Rivoli (another shopping district, most shops closed and all bars open) back to a train station. I just noticed, this walk covered three folds on my map. It was a perfect day for a long walk.
We went back to the Fondation so that Jason could get some homework done for tomorrow and so I could take a little nap. After these things we go to what Jason says is the Jewish and Gay district (they are side by side) for some falafel. The place is called L'As du Falafel which means "Ace of Falafel," and a guy outside gave us a bill, we gave him money, and then stood at a window watching the cooks stuff pitas full of falafel, cabbage, eggplant, tomato, and sauce. We then ate standing on the street, along with everybody else. By the way, these falafel were recommended by Lenny Kravitz himself (I have photographic evidence!). The stores in this part of town were still open when we arrived, some higher end and some that seemed a little more interesting (I already own a black down coat, but if I make it back there, I saw one in a store that I might have to get...only 39 euro).
On the way back, Jason and I took a photo in a booth in the train station a la Amelie.
We're now back in the room and Jay is doing more reading for class. Tomorrow I think I'm going to head to the Paris center with him, just to see where it is, and then go back to the Louvre.
I took lots of pictures today. =)
Loves,
A
PARIS DAY 3.1: Day D'enfer
Heh, my title is overly dramatic, but all will be explained.
Got up at 8:15 to take a shower. Showering here is like a little battle because there are no faucet turns, just a button that you press. No temperature choice, and the water stays on for about 1 minute at a time. So when I felt the water was about the cut off, I'd have to press the button again. Sometimes the water would keep coming, sometimes I'd have to wait for it work again. Mini conflict, to wake you up in the morning.
So, here's a sort of primer of the train system: we left the Fondation to go to the Paris Center, where Jason has class. We took the RER-B, and from here there are a couple ways to get where we were going; we got off at St. Michele and transfered (here called a correspondance) to the C and then to the stop Biblioteque-somethingsomething. Jason pointed out to me the street I would go down to find the Paris center, then walked me to the stop where I could catch the M-14 train, and left me there. (Eep.)
I took the 14 to Chaterle, which is the main train hub; you can transfer to almost anything here and despite being quite the labyrinth the signs are actually pretty easy to follow. The 14 is quite cool; Jay described it as being futuristic, and it definitely looks kinda that way (a picture to come), as well as being automated. At Chaterle I transferred to the M-1 and took that to the Louvre.
[end train explanation to digress to an description of my visit to the Louvre]
It's a pretty huge place, so while I feel like i saw a large amount in the three hours I was there, I really didn't see too much. I entered, as one does, through the glass pyramid and, being hungry and parched, proceed to a cafe in the museum and bought jus d'orange and a raisin pastry thing.
I then bought my entrance ticket and proceeded, since it is the clearest thing marked, to hall Denon which holds Spanish and Italian paintings and Greek and Roman "Antiquites." I saw Winged Victory (larger than I expected and on some kind of boat?); I saw the Mona Lisa, which was nice but not life-changing; I saw the Venus de Milo which I quite liked. I discovered that my camera battery is already dying =/ I have my second one, but I didn't bring the charger thinking that two fresh batteries would do me for a week. Oh well.
Very cool: apparently Toni Morisson was here not too long ago? Maybe even last weekend? and now there is an exhibit here that pairs ancient paintings with some newer sketches and then a modern video. There was a Bruce Nauman video, also a fi;m by Samuel Becket and a brazilian woman deforming her face by wrapping it in nylon twine.
I also went in the newish African and Oceanic Americas Art exhibit, which is apparently really progressive. It wasn't until late in the 20th century that artwork from these cultures waas considered societally fit to be in an ART museum versus an ethnography or natural history museum. Sometime this year these pieces will be moved to a brand new museum that is being built just to house artifacts from these cultures. I saw lots of Egyptian artifacts, other stuff like that...it all blurs together. All this time I was fretting because I didn't know the time (and I don't know how to ask for this in French, so I just wandered till I heard an American to ask) and I was also completely parched--the French do not believe in drinking fountains, the crazies. I ended my visit to the Louvre with a bottle of water and a tuna sandwich with vegetables.
Earlier in the museum I realized that while Jay had given me the key to get back into his room, I had not written down the number code that could get me back into the building. So, I decided to go back to the paris center to catch him before his afternoon class to ask. I took the 1 back to Chaterle to the 14 back to the Biblioteque. I did indeed find Jason, got the number, and decided to take the C back to the B to get back to the dorm. So, this is where I learn, as I had expected, that the metro system is DECEPTIVELY simple. I got on the wrong train. I thought I was getting on the right train; there was very little indication either way...but I turned out to be very wrong. Not only was it going the opposite direction, it was also some sort of express train way out there. Hmm. I got a little freaked out, but I figured that I could just get off, go the other side of the platform and be fine. I was kind of wrong about this...and the maps in the station provided me with no help... I ended up on an empty platform, no one else around, and a man on the next platform over saw me and waggled his finger at me. "Non; [something in French]." I kind of shrugged helplessly. He asked if I spoke English, and then asked where I was going. I told him Biblioteque and he told me to come over to his platform. I did, and he pointed me to the right side. Everything was pretty much fine from there and I had some time to watch some pretty scenery and a lot of grafitti and read (I am reading The Blind Assassin). I got to St. Michele and got back on B and took it to Denfert-Rochereau, which is becoming my home base.
I rewarded myself by going to Cafe D'enfer (Cafe of Hell, btw) and ordering a cafe au lait. I drank that had some water and then, it being around 3, headed back to the dorm, one more stop away. I passed a bakery and was drawn in by the smell and my promise to Pelks that I would try pastries every day and I ordered an apricot tart and a St. Nicolas dough-boy dipped in chocolate (these are the cheapest things I have bought since being here). I got on the B, hurriedly asked a young man "Cite Univeritaire?" and he nodded, and I got back and here I am.
Jason is now back from class, eating the Fritos I brought him and doing some reading. We will have pastries soon and then I think we are going to go see Pan's Labyrinth and prehaps and have raspberry beer.
What have I learned today? Don't be afraid to ask people for help. They are not actually as mean as we give them credit for. Also, another French person asked me for directions.
I will finish up this day when it is over. For now...au revoir!
Also, it is raining today. The sun the past two days was a real fluke. This is France as she really is.
A
posted by Ayn at 7:31 AM
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