Fin (Days 15 & 16)

Our last day in Paris was a rainy one and we were pretty exhausted so we had already decided we would spend the day in the neighborhood. Both of us felt we'd done all we wanted to do in Paris for this trip, so we had a leisurely morning repacking and having breakfast, then walked around near the hostel. Le Village hostel is in an area with lots of fabric shops, which really interested Mom, so we spent some time looking at fabric and then went souvenir shopping.

Fortunately we really hadn't bought much more than postcards anywhere else (with a couple exceptions from the Harry Potter studio tour), so we knew how much space we had for extra stuff. We got a few presents for family and a few things for ourselves - I hadn't bought anything the last time I was in Paris, and I hadn't started my shot glass collection yet when I was there, so I bought one and a few other things.

As we were heading back to the hostel we passed Le Petit Musee du Chocolat - a chocolate store that could give Honeydukes a run for its money - so we spent some time exploring it. There were lots of colorful sculptures made entirely out of chocolate, including a scale model of the Eiffel Tower. It was a fun little thing to do before we left, and we managed to not buy anything, which was good since traveling with chocolate is not the best idea.

Back at the hostel we ate a small lunch of whatever leftovers we had from various meal purchases - a little Chinese food, some fruit, some cheese and bread. Then before we left I ran up the street to Subway to get us food for later, since we figured we didn't want to have to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant. (We were staying at the airport hotel for the night since our flight was pretty early the next morning.) We walked to the train station where we would take a train out to the airport and then catch the hotel shuttle back to the hotel.

But our adventures weren't over.

While waiting in line to purchase our train tickets, we spotted a guy with an adorable puppy. Turned out he was American and was homeless because his roommate didn't like the dog, so he asked if we were leaving Europe and had any coins to spare (since banks won't convert coins, just paper money, even if it's 2 euros). After we purchased our tickets we had a 2 euro coin to give him and as we were playing with the puppy he mentioned that he cut hair and asked if he could give me a haircut. I kid you not. As it had been two months since my last haircut and was going to be about another two months before my next one, this was perfect. He did it right in the station, on a platform. We got lots of stares, but apparently he does this all the time. He's the hair cowboy. Google him. It's for real. He's kind of famous:

So I got my hair cut in Paris, in the train station. His puppy, Nanook, was tied up over by our stuff where my mom was patiently waiting, but he quickly got free and ran over to us. So then it became my job to stand on his leash and keep him from eating my boots while also trying to stand still as Kanu cut my hair. Ultimately it worked out great. I got a haircut, I got it for way less than I could ever get it cut in NYC, he got some money. We got to meet a cool guy and an adorable puppy, and it's a great story to tell.

Kanu and Nanook walked us back to where we would get our train and we parted ways. We were able to catch a train right away to the airport, an express train that got us there in half an hour at that. Then as soon as we got up to where the hotel shuttles arrive, our hotel shuttle showed up (which only comes every half hour). We got to the hotel, checked in, and went up to our room where we ate, as it had now been a while since our last meal thanks to my haircut. Relaxing baths, comfy beds, one more round of packing, and bed.

The next morning we were on the first shuttle back to the airport at 5:15. I hadn't been in this terminal last time, and it was super cool. Very technological, space age aesthetic. There was a weird atrium area that had a bunch of escalator-ramps that all went to different floors and pointed in strange directions and seriously looked like that shot in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when you see all the Hogwarts staircases for the first time. I half-expected them to start changing places while we were riding them.

We were flying Iceland Air home, so we flew from Paris to Rekyavik, basically three hours straight north. I watched 500 Days of Summer, which I actually found pretty depressing, and then found Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) and started watching that. I was about halfway through when we landed in Iceland.

Our layover in Iceland was only about an hour, but we got our passport stamped since we were heading back to America and then quickly bought food at the only place to buy food in that section of the airport. It was a weird experience, with everything in kronor, having absolutely no sense of how much something cost. We got our food and checked out and it was like 2,500 kronor or something, which meant absolutely nothing to us but felt like a lot. Apparently it was like $18 or something, which was a lot for what food we were getting, but it's an airport.

Then it was time to board our flight to JFK. We ended up seated next to a girl from Iceland, so we got to hear her speak Icelandic with some of the flight attendants. I watched the rest of Harry Potter and was in the middle of watching The Hangover (which I had never seen - I know, I know) when our screens stopped working and they couldn't get them fixed. So mostly I tried to sleep for the rest of the flight.

We landed in New York I think a good 40 minutes early, and then began the next adventure, but that's a story for another day.

One (Museum) Day More (Day 14)

So Sunday was free museum day. We got up early so that we could be at the Musee D'Orsay before it opened, since we figured whatever line we encountered would only get longer as the day progressed (we were right). As you may recall, Ganesh and I made multiple attempts to visit this particular museum last year but did not succeed because the museum was "on strike." What this actually meant was that the museum employees were on strike because the museum, which was supposed to be reopening having just finished a major renovation that added a lot of new gallery space, had not added any more staff to cover this additional area. I think it finally reopened a week or two after we were there.

Anyway, it was definitely open that day, and we got there just before it opened. It took us about half an hour to snake our way through the line that had formed, weathering just a little bit of rain on the way. We first went to see the special exhibition, Degas and the Nude, which was extremely comprehensive (and therefore a little dull for people who don't particularly study penstrokes) and because it included so many drawings the rooms were very dark to protect the artwork. Like going to see bats at the zoo. It was not like the Degas of the ballet dancers, but some of it was interesting. We then headed out to explore the rest of the museum.

We discovered pretty quickly that by this point in our trip, we were getting a little museum-ed out. Consider that in the past two weeks we had been to: the Tate Modern, the National Gallery, the Tower of London, the Reina Sofia, the Prado, the Picasso Museum, and the Dali Museum. It turned out our favorite thing about the Musee D'Orsay was probably the building itself. Once a train station, the museum was created when train traffic became too heavy and they needed a bigger station, so D'Orsay got turned into a place for art. (This is how most art museums get created in Paris, it seems. L'Orangerie was once a greenhouse and the Louvre was actually a palace until Louis XIV decided it was too small and built Versailles.) The museum had gorgeous architecture, particularly including a couple of giant ornate clocks, presumably so people wouldn't miss their trains. We did see some famous works by Degas, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Caillebotte, Pissaro, and Seurat. Pretty cool.

After that it was still pretty early so we decided to take Sam's advice, despite our skepticism, and visit the Hunting and Nature Museum. Sam had said people always doubted him and then really liked it.

We didn't.

There were lots of stuffed-formerly-alive animals, a lot of sciencey things about animal anatomy and bones and whatnot, and some weird animal-themed art. A few rooms full of hunting rifles. Fortunately the whole thing was only really two stories of a not-particularly-large building (probably used to be something else). We laughed it off and headed out in search of food, as we were now both very hungry.

Most places seemed to be closed in the area, but as we were walking back to the metro we passed a Chinese place and bought a few things to try and took them to go. We got enough food for two meals, really, and certainly saved over eating in a restaurant. So then we and our lunch headed back to the hostel. After eating we took a nap and then went to meet up for the Montmartre walking tour.

The tour starts in front of the Moulin Rouge, which is quite possibly the most disappointing landmark in Paris when you see it in person for the first time. It's not half as big, beautiful, or romantic as it's made out to be in the movie. Still, we started there and then wound our way through the streets of Montmartre (not far from the hostel, really), seeing Van Gogh's building where he lived with his brother, the restaurant where Picasso sold sketches of waitresses for food, the only vineyard/winery in Paris (which produces only about 400 bottles of apparently mediocre wine a year), artists' square, and the studio where Picasso and Modigliani lived together back in the day. The main stop on the tour is of course the Sacre Cour at the top of Montmartre (which means means martyrs' mountain). One of the first and now also the last stop on the tour is the cafe that Amelie works in (in the movie Amelie, which I've still never seen), where we got a free glass of wine at the end. Mom and I didn't really like the wine though, and the management decided we weren't allowed to sit down at tables if we weren't buying food even though they weren't busy. I liked the place they used to end the tour better. Last time we were allowed to sit for as long as we wanted and the wine was better. So. Those are my feelings about the Amelie cafe.

After the tour we went back to the hostel for a quick rest and then went out to attempt yet again to see the Eiffel Tower light show. It only happens once an hour on the hour, so we went and saw it at midnight. We took the metro to Trocadero, where you can see it from across the river, and ideal viewing place. As I've said before, and as I warned my mom, I think it's pretty  lame. It basically looks like paparazzi are covering the tower with flashes going off constantly for about five minutes. That's all. But, Mom liked it and she was glad she got to see it at night. So then back to the hostel and to bed.

Tour de Paris (Day 13)

Our second day in Paris we got up and had breakfast in the hostel, which included coffee, orange juice, croissants, and cereal. We sat by a window looking out on the street, at a little table like in a French cafe. After breakfast we headed to do the free walking tour of Paris like I did when I visited last time. I had hoped we might get Arnaud as a tour guide again, but he wasn't at Saint Michele plaza, so we went with a guy named Sam instead. Mom later found out Sam has family in Yankton, South Dakota, where she lived after college. Small world.

Sam was a good tour guide, told us a few different stories than what I learned last time, and it was fun to see so many beautiful parts of Paris again. It got very warm in the middle of the day, but Sam did his best to stop frequently in places with bits of shade. At the end of the tour we went with Sam and some of the other tourists to a French restaurant with meal deals for people who did the tour. Perhaps the best part about the restaurant was the waiter who single-handedly served everyone who showed up. He had the perfect stereotypical French accent and seemed to really enjoy being a waiter. One of the items on the menu was duck, and as he served people he would say "I have a duck, for you, maybe?" and when he was right he would say something like "Wonderful" or "Perfect." He was really adorable.

Before we left the restaurant we got tickets for the Montmartre tour and Mom chatted with Sam a bit. We asked for his recommendations for museums on Sunday because, as it would be the first Sunday of the month, all the museums were free. We decided on the Louvre and he recommended the Museum of Hunting and Nature (Le Maison de la chasse et de la nature). He then directed us back to our hostel via a bus so that we could see some more of the city. We caught the bus and headed back, taking the metro as well (because it's impossible to get anywhere in Paris without changing buses or trains or something) and rested for a while.

Later that evening we went out to visit Shakespeare and Co, my favorite bookstore. Mom wasn't a big fan of the tight spaces (which makes everything a little crowded even when there's only a few people there), but she waited patiently in the upstairs reading room while I looked around and decided what to buy. Finally the store was closing (at 11 pm) and I settled on Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Mom picked out a postcard and we headed out into the Parisian night.

It was Saturday and things were pretty crazy. I tried to navigate the metro to get us to the Eiffel Tower, because Mom wanted to see the light show. We ended up having a lot of train problems and got tired and hungry and gave up and went home. There was a particular hitch getting off the train at one point where we had to go up an escalator, but police were checking tickets at the top so there was a backup. Now, as you probably know, escalators keep moving whether the people in front of you move or not. There was a brief moment of very scary backup as we kept pushing the people in front of us and the people behind us started pushing us. But finally we got home and fell into bed after a long day touring gay Paris. (pair-eee)

A French Day (Day 12)

We flew into Paris Beauvais (have fun pronouncing that one) and then took a bus into the city, which took about an hour. From the bus we took two metro trains to our hostel which was just two blocks away from the metro stop. I was familiar with this hostel because it was the one Ganesh stayed at back when I was in Paris in October. The location, right in Montmartre and so close to the metro, made it ideal. Plus I knew it would be quiet and comfortable, and we had a bathroom in our room which we only had to share with one other person.

Despite the walk being only two blocks to the hostel, we stopped just a few feet from the metro at a little crepe stand and got crepes for lunch. Then around the corner I popped into Dia (the grocery store I regularly shopped at in Madrid) and got us a liter of orange juice for a euro. Our room wasn't ready yet when we got to the hostel (it was only about 12:30) so we sat in the lobby and ate and did some research on what else we wanted to do that day. Mom had a list of free things to do, one of which included a Friday afternoon fashion show at the Lafayette Galleries, the Parisian equivalent of Harrods, Macys, etc. Right before we left, we checked at the desk and our room was ready, so we dropped our stuff off upstairs (taking the tiny elevator one person at a time) and then headed off.

We couldn't find anything about a fashion show at the store, but it was in a beautiful building with a stained glass dome in the middle and, from the top floor/roof, we got a pretty beautiful view of the city, for free. Mom got her first real view of the Eiffel Tower. We sat for a while, took a few pictures, looked around, and then headed down to explore the store. We took some time taking pictures of the dome and then went to the actually gallery, which had a modern art exhibit that we didn't understand at all. A lot of it was cartoon drawings with writing on it, in French, so we were pretty lost. Something involved Kanye West; I don't know.

From the store we decided to walk back to the hostel to see more of the city. Along the way we found a farmers market where we picked up some things for dinner - a potato pastry, artichoke salad, cherries, bread - and looked around a lot. It was all a bit of a challenge since we couldn't politely get anyone's attention in French, so we kind of had to just stand around and wait for people to help us, but it was a fun experience seeing everyone at the market.

Without very much happening, we had a very nice, French day doing things it didn't really seem like tourists would do, most of it without trying. It was a nice easy first day in Paris, and we went to bed early to catch up on sleep before the next day's adventure.

Mon Amour, Paris

Welcome back to Paris! (Meaning iPhoto finally cooperated so I could finish editing and upload pictures. This is a little more than 1/3 of them.)

The Fountain of Saint Michele (Michael), at the Plaza where the free walking tour started.

Saint Chapelle, the only remaining building with visible damage from WWII

The New Bridge, which is now the oldest bridge in Paris.

King Henry IV, a partier and one helluva guy. (Arnaud taught us that in equestrian statues in Europe, two raised legs of the horse means the rider died of unnatural causes.)

At this bridge in Paris, couples come and place locks on the fence and then throw the key into the Seine, signifying their eternal love. Arnaud told us there's some guy whose job it is to come along like every five months and cut them off. Poetic.

Ile d'cite

Louvre

Louvre, aka site of the holy grail according to Dan Brown. (Read The DaVinci Code. Just do it. And then don't see the movie.)

Birds.

Obelisk

The French like their trees square. Oh hey there's the Arc.

Pretty. Autumn!

Nothing is simple about anything French.

Obligatory.

Lighting design of a photo! (Meaning I'm a nerd and use natural backlight on purpose.)

It was bigger than I expected.

And prettier!

And sometimes you just walk by old Roman buildings in the middle of the street.

Good ol' TJ. Didn't know he was an American ambassador to France.

Entering the Louvre...

Commence taking pictures of all the funny art we could find, such as this "Oh no you di'in't!" bust.

Under one of the smaller pyramids, a room that feels like it should be outside. (And was right next to the Code of Hammurabi, but we didn't know that until we left. Of course. LOUVRE!)

Winged Victory of Samothrace. One of my favorite ancient headless statues that was definitely on my first art rect test in 2005.

Possibly the most overrated painting in the world. About the size I expected it to be. The ONLY painting in the Louvre that has its own wall.

That other famous statue.

"What do you mean, my car was towed?"

"Crazy lion, gimme my baby back! RAAAA!"

"This is my chicken. MINE."

And then I got bored with the paintings and just started looking out the windows. At the other side of the Louvre.

PRETTY.

"Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me"

New York in the 18th century.

Whatup, Louis! (Also famous, and mentioned nowhere in the Louvre guide.)

That's not even the Louvre. I'm telling you, the French know how to light buildings.

And then sometimes you walk around a corner and this is there.

Code of Hammurabi.

Kinda weird. But really cool.

Academie Française at night.

Academie Française at night with the sunset setting on my camera.

Crêpe flambouyant. You have to look really hard to see the bits of blue flame though.

People could pay a lot of money for a print of this picture. Or just take it themselves for free.

My future home.

Shakes&Co, y u no open before 11?

Interlude

Versailles!

Louis XIV was known as the Sun King.

Versailles.

Pictures with interesting lines!

A room my mom would like. "The Green Room."

Versailles gardens. I'm a fan of pointy trees, aren't you?

Hall of Mirrors.

Yeah um that's where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Right there. At that desk.

Arc d'Trioumf at night... Again with the lighting

Notre Dame!

Lighting!

Rose window!

Sunrise on the Seine

Oh hey, Rodin.

The gardens of the Rodin museum were really beautiful.

He made this.

My favorite Rodin sculpture. (And the lighting on it was so good... meaning the sun from outside.)

Comedie Française!

My homie, Moliere. (I did a project on him junior year of high school.)

We don't like that the Musee D'Orsay is D'umb and D'closed.

Little girl in front of van Gogh's door.

Montmartre at dusk.

Van Gogh's favorite place for Parisian food and prostitutes. Now it just has food. 

(Look at my color contrast!)

Where Picasso used to order food and pay for it with portraits of the waitresses drawn on napkins.

Sacre Coeur - a mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

Sacre Coeur

So much less impressive in person, but still cool.

And as I walked from the Moulin Rouge to the train to go to the airport, we passed the Moulin Rouge's lesser known cousin for those who don't have the 200 euros for a ticket to the show.

"Love Store"

Paris, Je t'aime.