Autumn in Paris

Hi Everyone -

Finally, here's my post on Paris - just after I've completely forgotten all the details. :P But I'll dig into my memory to try and recreate an accurate description.

I went to Paris in October with my friend Pia from work. We took the Eurostar, which is officially the most civilized way to travel. You leave from the city center and arrive in the city center. You travel in a roomy, sunny train, and get to Paris within three hours. Wonderful.

So we get to Paris, and it's about 15 degrees hotter than it is in London and sunny - absolutely gorgeous. In fact, practically the entire weekend was sunny and warm, which made for some great sightseeing. It was almost 70 degrees 2 days in a row - and this is in the middle of October!

We arrive at our hotel (the charmingly named Hotel Perfect, graciously suggested by Kristel), and find that they think Pia and I are some kind of couple, since we have a room outfitted with one double bed. Luckily, they can offer us twin beds the next day, so we decide to cope. On the good side, the room has those fabulous French windows that open out onto a balcony in the front of the hotel. Ah, Paris!

That night, we headed down for a romantic stroll by the river to see the city at night. We saw the Opera House (yaay HAA 11), and then walked along the river for a bit. After trying a ridiculously busy touristy place recommended by someone at work, we ended up at a wonderful little Italian restaurant near our hotel, where we had wine and linguine with clam sauce...mmmm. You can tell already that this trip was all about food. :P

The next day we went up to Sacre Coeur to see the amazing view from the top of the hill. You can see the entire city, and the cathedral isn't half bad, either. :P Then off to the Pompidou Center (HAA 11!), where we saw some amazing modern art, enjoyed more views of the city, and traveled through the "gerbil tubes" on the outside of the building. Then Notre Dame (requisite pose outside) and some amazing ice cream, which we ate on the Seine. That night we went to a brasserie recommended by my mom's friend, where I was talked out of getting pig hooves by Pia. :( I got my french onion soup, though. :)

Monday was a big day - in the morning, we went off to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty much what I expected, but the views were really amazing. Plus it was cool to be so close to such a famous structure, even though I always thought it was in the middle of the city center. it's not...it's actually a bit down the river. sadness. Then off for what Let's Go quoted Lenny Kravitz as saying it was "the best falafel in the world". Hm. But it was ridiculously delicious (and cheap!) all the same. Yaay Let's Go!

Finding the best falafel in the world led us to La Marais, Paris' Jewish neighborhood, which drove me into a tizzy with all its bakeries and bagel shops. Yaay! We picked up some of the best challah I've ever had and took it off to the Cimitiere (sp) Pere Lachaise, which was this old, picturesque cemetery on a hill a little out of the center. All sorts of famous people are buried there, like Chopin and Oscar Wilde, and it really reminded me of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA (which I recommend highly). We walked there for a while, saw Jim Morrison's grave (surprisingly small, but of course surrounded by tourists), and enjoyed the quiet of the winding stone paths for a bit. Then off to the Champs-Elysees to see the arch at night (pretty) and back to La Marais for some delicious tapas at a jazz club. (Where, unfortunately, all the jazz was in the basement for an additional - and expensive - fee. boo.) And sooooo much wine. Yummm. I love France.

Up bright and early Monday morning to check out the Musee D'Orsay, which is a museum with a collection of mostly impressionist paintings, including Monet, Manet, and all the other French painters who don't sound like each other. I saw Olympia, which was cool (yaay sophomore seminar!) and some incredible Art Nouveau furniture and decorative arts. Also, the building itself is amazing - it used to be a rail station and has this huge central space with a soaring glass ceiling. I think the architects deserve at least as much credit as some of the painters in the museum.

We wanted to take a quick little trip back to La Marais for some more challah bread, but it was closed. Boo. But no matter - I got some deliciously oozy french pastry instead, and all was well.

And of course no European trip would be complete without a requisite mad dash for a train. After assuring me that our tickets were for 6:30, Pia nervously informed me that they were in fact for 6:00, and that was actually 15 minutes from now. Bear in mind that our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the station, and then imagine our mad dash (with luggage), through the streets of Paris, dodging the crazy drivers and angry pedestrians. Good times.

When we got to the station - with about 8 minutes to spare - we ran to the Eurostar check in, and presented our passports for approval. Although we were obviously in a rush, panting for breath and looking flushed and ACTUALLY TELLING THE GUY WE WERE GOING TO MISS OUR TRAIN, the French passport officer just glanced at us calmly and kept on talking to his friend, stamping our passports after what seemed like forever. Yaay, the French.

Then, after dashing our way through form-writing, question-answering, and metal-detecting, we jumped on the train and into our seats...an entire minute before the train pulled out of the station. That was fun.

A couple of hours later, we arrived in london, where we parted ways, none too happy to be on our own, I think. :P Let's just say our travelling styles are radically different. And perhaps the way we communicate our feelings. And our capacity for passive-aggressive behavior. I might start thinking about travelling alone.

Ok, this is going on far too long. I think I come off as some food-obsessed maniac, but then again, that's pretty accurate, isn't it? :P Hope you enjoyed the blog...below is the link for the accompanying pictures.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=u54fr1b.5ngffh1v&x=1&y=bocbek

To everyone recovering from your Thanksgving binges, enjoy your leftovers for me! My Thanksgiving adventure is set for this Saturday - stay tuned for reports of how that goes.

= :)