10-05/08-07 Paris on crack

I made it to Paris!! I had thought about going, but never seriously considered it. France was not a must see, but now I know that it should have been. My friend Vanessa has a friend studying there who she wanted to visit and so that she could have a partner tourist I went along. Having that connection meant free board, free tour guide, free translator, and free good company.

Getting to Paris meant us having to travel to Sevilla (2.5 hours by bus), to the airport in Sevilla from the bus station (1 hour by bus), and then fly to Paris from there (2 hours). Nothing too horrible until we got out of the airport too late to take the metro and ended up catching a taxi from the airport into town. Cost = 50 euro. No fun, but money becomes fake on vacation (consequently I didn’t spend anything the whole time I was there…maybe) so no worries were had. I was amazed at the speed of checking in and such at the airport. We got to our gate within 15 minutes of entering the airport, if not less. Unfortunately, flight left pretty late so all efficiency was lost. Charles d’Gaul airport in Paris is crazy. There are huge, long moving walkways and people tunnels crisscrossing all over. It was very spaceageish but in like a 1960s sort of way.

Meeting Heather, Vanessa’s friend, was a pleasure (as was being around here the whole trip). She’s ridiculously nice and was an amazing hostess. Her apartment had a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower. The lights on it flash once an hour for about 10-15 minutes which we saw right as we arrived. It is a spectacle for the tourists that I wasn’t too partial to. Not surprisingly, most Parisians feel likewise. Regardless, beautiful view. Getting up to her floor (the 8th) had us all crammed into a tiny elevator. The elevator fit us three and two backpacks as long as one backpack was held above our heads. This turned out to be a normal elevator size. Smaller came later. On the plus side, elevators in France are amazingly quiet.

We woke up relatively early to start what I call “Paris on Crack”. Everyone on the streets, Vanessa noticed, was dressed in very plain/preppy but stylish clothing. I was the only person that I saw that had any writing on their shirt. It seemed like the whole society dressed well. With weather that was a little chilly (a nostalgic change), we began our quest. This is how it went:

1. Saturday market – it was outdoor and extremely French.
2. French Café - coffee and a croissant.
3. Montmarte – a gorgeous neighborhood where the Moulin Rouge is located. It is up on a hill, and has a great view of the rest of Paris. It also has the largest church in Paris, which is pretty huge and very beautiful.
4. Dali Museum in Montmarte – amazing artist, amazing museum.
5. Arc de Triomph
6. Walk down the Champs-Elysée
7. Obelisk – taken from Egypt a while back; Egypt wants it back, France says too bad.
8. Eiffel Tower – We bought wine, brie, some baguettes, and mini-strawberries which we picnicked with on the lawn in front of the Tower.
9. Watched a rugby match with French peeps – It was the rugby world cup quarterfinal and France upset New Zealand (the best team in the world) 20 - 18. The Frenchies freaked out, it was awesome! Unfortunately they lost to England just the other night in the semis.
10. French house party – The elevator was the smallest in the world, I’m sure of it. Three tiny girls just barely fit in it. Barely. The apartment was also tiny but nothing too ridiculous until we saw that the shower was in the kitchen, right next to the stove! The party was alright but nothing as good as going to Nois Blanche (white night) would have been (which was that night also). It is an all night festival with street performers, art, and other fun stuff.
11. Back to the Arc de Triomph – I ran across the roundabout that encircles it because I wanted to truly feel the size of the thing (it’s HUGE). There were some cops there, they weren’t so happy with me. I got scolded but Heather’s French friend Olivier came to my rescue. He is one of the nicest guys in the world and stuck with us all night.
12. At 5:30 AM we caught the metro home. The taxis were ALL full due to Nois Blanche so we camped out at a sandwich shop until the first metro came.

The next day was not quite as jam packed, but I thought we did a good job of that the day before. After a 2pm wakeup and a 3pm lunch, Vanessa and I left Heather and hit up the two museums we most wanted to see – the Louvre and the Pompidou. The Louvre was amazing as everyone that visit it sees. I really liked the Egyptian art and the sculptures. It was crazy to see the Venus de Milo right there. Also, the Mona Lisa was a trip, mostly because of the huge crowd that gathered to see a painting that to me was surprisingly small and not as spectacular as I would have thought. A great painting for sure, but probably not worth its extreme fame. The next stop was the Pompidou which is a modern art museum. Also amazing. The art was thrilling due to the intense modernism and surrealism. There was a ton of Picasso, Miró, and Dali as well as many many many others that I did not recognize but who had amazing works.

To top off the day, we met up with heather and headed straight out to dinner. Having little time left (we left the next morning) we needed a full french cuisine experience. Oh, and that we had. I, in my odd loss of pickyness since I’ve been here, ordered a plate of greinouie (Frog’s legs), Vanessa got the escargot, Heather onion soup, and we all shared a fondue. I really really enjoyed the frog legs, the escargot was excellent too (it was in a pesto sauce, mmm), as was the soup. Our fondue was not in a pot and all melty as normal ones are. It was a hot plate on which we melted cheese that was brought to us. It lifted so that we could pour the cheese onto potatoes and ham, which were also brought on side plates. The meal was a French explosion and I’m really glad I let down all food barriers because I loved it all.

Afterwards, we made it to Notre Dame which was right next door, had a beer, and then hit the sack early so as to get up early.

The next day we woke up, had croissants for breakfast, and then found a store so that I could buy some cheese to bring back to the others. The Brie and Camembert – which I spent a hard earned 5 euro on – were taken away from us at the airport! They were (heavily French accent on) “prohibited”. The security lady was insane and spoke little English. After some exasperated haggling the cheese was thrown into a burn bin, never to be seen again…

So, aside from some tiny inconveniences, Paris rocked hard. The city is beautiful, there is a ton to do there, and from the talk of the locals and foreigners, it is also a fun place to live. Go, do Paris on crack. I highly recommend it.