Paris

I’m finally up to date in my journal!!! Yay! Now I just have to get my blog up to date.

July 14, 2005
Bastille Day!!!
We arrive in Paris around 7:30. We got off the train and looked for information. However, it was closed, so we tried asking the ticket people how to get to Orly Airport but the guy we spoke with barely spoke English. While we were standing in line, I realized I had left my passport and train ticket under my pillow on the train. I ran towards the train (which they were already cleaning) and tried to find it. I tried to talk to the guys cleaning out the cars, but they didn’t understand English and seemed irritated with me for being on the train while it was being cleaned. I went to find Amber so she could try to explain to them what I needed (because she speaks a little French). Kelsey noticed that I had looked in the wrong car for our compartment, so I got into the right car and found my passport and ticket (right where I had left it). THANK GOD!!!

I followed Amber down to the subway where we purchased tickets to get to Orly Airpot (which was in Zone 5 – expensive!). We got on the subway and then switched to the OrlyVal after 14 stops. When we arrived at the airport, we went to wait for the shuttle to the Holiday Inn, which arrive in about 10 minutes. By the time we were finally checked into the hotel, it was almost 11am.

We were all hot and sweaty and wanting a shower so we took turns taking showers before we decided what to do for the day. It was the first shower/bath combination we’d had on the trip. I took a rather long one because it felt so good to get clean after two days of no shower.

I borrowed some of Amber’s concealer and did my makeup and hair. We planned to have our pictures drawn at Mont Mart because they were very famous for the artists’ portraits. I left my hair down for the first time in two weeks (which felt really good for my scalp). Then, we waited for Dustin to finish getting ready.

We left to go back to downtown Paris, and headed towards the Notre Dame. We found it and went inside. They were having mass while we were there (that would drive me nuts). People were talking too loud while going through the cathedral and taking pictures with flash (no respect!). When we got out of the cathedral, we walked around the back side of it to take more pictures.

We walked through the surrounding areas and went into a souvenir shop where I bought a t-shirt, a couple shot glasses and some postcards. We decided to find some lunch and walked around till we found a nice little place that served crepes to go. I had banana and Nutella (chocolate) on mine. It was very tasty.

We ate as we walked back to the subway station and figured out where to go next. We decided to go to the Moulin Rouge. We stepped off the subway and went upstairs to the street and into the red light district.

I’m not sure why it shocked me so much, but I didn’t expect the Moulin Rouge to STILL be in the red light district. There were sex shops everywhere and signs glaring offering various (and disturbing) products and services. We walked to the Moulin Rouge and took pictures. I went inside to ask what the Moulin Rouge was now and the girl at the front desk gave me a pamphlet and explained that it was a place for cabaret shows (with scantily clad women). Interesting…not what I expected again.

We went back to the subway and headed towards Mont Mart. We walked up the hill and then up the steps. We went inside a church at the top and then found the place to have our pictures drawn. The man who drew mine was very nice. He asked if I was Swiss because I was wearing a shirt that said Switzerland. When I told him I wasn’t from Switzerland, he thought I was Italian because of my eyes. He said I had very pretty eyes. The portrait took about 45 minutes to draw. He told me not to smile a lot because I kept wanting to smile (I do that when I’m nervous). He said I was beautiful enough without smiling. When he finished, the picture was SO pretty…definitely a glorified version of myself (in Amber’s words about her portrait).

Kelsey had her picture drawn while mine was being drawn and Amber had the same man draw her picture. Dustin decided to get a caricature drawn. Each of us bought tubes to protect our drawings on the journey back.

We walked back down the steps of Mont Mart and back to the subway to meet Ryan, Siobhan and Markus in time to get dinner with them. Amber and I thought we were supposed to meet at 7pm and Kelsey thought we were supposed to meet at 7:30. We got there at 7 and waited. They arrived at 7:30 and apologized for being late. They had gotten on a subway that shut down due to a bomb threat. They had to get off the train and walk to the next station over to get to the Eiffel Tower on another train.

We decided to go find dinner and then a place to watch the fireworks. We walked about two blocks away and found a restaurant that looked good. We sat outside for dinner. Almost all of us had chicken. Siobhan and Amber had a salad. The chicken came with fries, but the waiter was kind of rude, so we never had a chance to ask for catsup. Markus was very upset about the catsup. There was a table next to us with a very rude French woman who had interrupted our waiter while he was finally taken our order and they had catsup, but we didn’t get any. The chicken was a leg and thigh still attached with no sauce of any kind. The food was cooked well, but it was very bland and the lack of catsup made me sad. We didn’t leave the waiter much of a tip because he totally ignored us with the exception of taking our order and bringing our food.

We left the restaurant in search of some place to watch the fireworks. We wondered around for a while looking for a place to sit. Ryan decided to go “away” from the crowds. He had planned to go towards a palace area near a metro, but so many streets were blocked off, we never quite made it to where he was hoping. We were walking further and further away from the Eiffel Tower and we kept passing people going in the opposite direction. We were all teasing Ryan about his “brilliant” plan (because the Parisians seemed to have the opposite idea), but he said that no one would think of his idea, which made it a wonderful plan (ha ha!). We just laughed and teased him. We never did find an open spot. We ended up camping out by a tree and standing during the entire fireworks show.

The fireworks were spectacular! Amber and I had lots of pictures that turned out really well. Markus recorded most of it on his video camera and made sure he had the finale on there. We missed the 4th of July, but I think watching the fireworks by the Eiffel Tower was better than anything we would have seen in Lincoln. I was sad that I didn’t have a video camera that would tape more than 3 minutes at a time.

After the fireworks were over, we waited for the square to clear out more and for the subway station to open up again (because it had been blocked off). Everyone was pushing and shoving and being very impatient.

When the metro finally opened back up, people started pouring downstairs into the subways. We stepped into the fray and we were pushed downstairs. We had to push our way through the crowd to get to our train platform. We were stuck in the tunnel leading to the platform for about ten minutes. I started getting really hot and I could smell someone nearby (it wasn’t pleasant). Some people came pushing their way though to the front. I was starting to get concerned that I was going to be pushed the ground or left behind while everyone else got to the train.

Another train came through and we moved onto the platform. We waited for the next one to arrive and when it did, it wasn’t as full as I was expecting. We were pushed onto the train. I was VERY uncomfortable because there were French people completely surrounding me. Everyone was standing next to me and touching me and we were all sweaty. I felt so gross and I couldn’t breathe very well. I started hyperventilating and I was worried that I was going to pass out. I was scared the people around me would just let me pass out and steal my stuff, then trample over the top of me. There was a guy taking up a lot of room and sitting on the floor by the door. While everyone else was standing, he was sitting against the wall. Ugh!

We started to get close to the stop we needed to get off on and I started worrying about whether or not we’d be able to make our way off the train. At one of the stops, there was a big group of guys who tried to push their way onto the train. Everyone started yelling no, but they just kept pushing.

I was getting smashed and it was getting harder to breathe. About five of them pushed their way onto the car and I felt myself getting light-headed. It was so odd because I’d never had any problems like this before. Markus told me to breathe and started talking about something random so I would think about that instead of being worried.

We finally came to the stop where Amber, Kelsey, Dustin and I needed to get off and we pushed our way out of the car and yelled goodbye to Ryan, Siobhan and Markus. It was hard to get off the car, but easier to breathe once we were off. We went to our next train, which was nowhere near as full as the train before.

Unfortunately, the train didn’t go as far as the stop we needed before shutting down for the night. We got off the train three stops away from our hotel. It was a very sketchy part of town. We saw a taxi stand. It only had a button. I pressed it and the microphone beeped at me. We waited for about 10 minutes and tried to press the button again. The cab finally came and took us back to our hotel. It cost about €14.
So a little over €3 per person…not too bad.

We got back to the hotel and discussed what our plans would be for the next day. Dustin wanted to try to fit Versailles and the Louvre into one day. I didn’t really care to wake up really early because I was tired. We decided to settle it in the morning and then we all showered and went to bed. (This hotel was by far the nicest one – 2 double beds, full bath/shower) :-)

July 15, 2005
The alarm went off around 8:30, but we reset it for 9:30. At 9:30, we got up and got ready to go.

We went down to check out and they tried to charge us for the room (it was supposed to be using priority points, in other words: free). It took about 10 minutes to fix the mistake. We finally got the situation taken care of and hopped on the courtesy van back to the airport.

We bought tickets back to the city and rode the subway to Mont Mart. We had to go up a few steps with our bags, but it wasn’t too bad. When we finally made it to our hostel, the guy was kind of rude when we tried to check in. He said that check-in wasn’t until 4:00 and when we asked if there were any lockers to put smaller things in, he retorted, “We don’t need lockers!”

Amber and I found a safe place for our masks above the fridge and then we all left in search of food. My stomach was upset for some reason that morning (the acid reflux was acting up) and the entire subway ride made me feel really nauseous. We found a place to get baguettes and I also bought a Sprite (the closest thing to 7-up they had). My stomach felt a lot better.

We got on the subway and headed towards the Louvre. It was HUGE!!! We spent over 4 hours there and only saw most of the paintings and a large section of the sculptures (much less than half the collection). We saw the Mona Lisa. I wasn’t really that impressed with it. It is actually really small and green, but whatever. The sculptures were incredible though. Simply beautiful!

After four hours in the Louvre, we went to the Pont Neuf bridge. We sat on it for almost an hour just talking and I wrote in my journal. Then, we headed towards the Bastille. We saw where it had been and then ate at a sidewalk café that looked towards the Bastille site. I ordered a daiquiri which ended up being lemon-flavored instead of strawberry like I expected (interesting, but good).

From dinner, we went to see the Eiffel Tower. We talked through the park towards the tower and took lots of pictures. It was late so it was lit up for the night. We waited until it twinkled to mark the hour and then I took video and more pictures. We walked under the tower and further away. We ended up back at the subway stop we had come in on the day before to meet Ryan, Siobhan and Markus. We went back to the hostel from there.

When we got to the hostel and tried to check in, the guy at the front desk tried to tell us we didn’t have a reservation (we knew we did because it was in the computer earlier that same day). He finally found it and then we started to pay for the room. I paid first and then the credit card machine ran out of paper so Kelsey had to put the other three peoples’ charges on her card. I don’t know why they didn’t have more paper. Then, he told us there was only one room key for the room of six people we were staying in. The key was already checked out, so the room should be unlocked (not a comforting thought, but okay). We went down two flights of stairs to our room.

We walked into a little hallway with three doorways (two with doors). The door on the left led to the bedroom. We dropped our stuff there. The door directly ahead hid the toilet and lost of pipes. It was shaped like a triangle and very cramped (a very inefficient use of space). The third doorway had a sink and shower, but no door. There was a shower curtain, but no door! GREAT!!!

I took the first shower. Kelsey guarded the doorway and handed me my clothes when I changed. It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t much fun getting dressed in a wet shower. After I had finished my shower, I started getting ready for bed. Our sixth roommate showed up (the 5th was asleep when we got there and we never met her). His name was Sam and he was on a holiday from Sidney, Australia. He was nice enough. I felt bad for him though because he was REALLY tall…taller than the beds. It had to be uncomfortable. We talked for a bit and then I went to sleep.