So, I am actually now in Rome but I have a few minutes and have to write about my amazing experience in Paris. Let's start from the beginning.
So our chunnel experience from London to Paris was relatively uneventful (we almost didn't make it on, but since we did it was uneventful) but fun. London was rainy and cold when we left which made it easier to leave-did I mention that I love London? Anyway, when we arrived in Paris the weather, although a tad bit warmer, wasn't much cheerier and I would come to find out that the people would not be either. A few brief encounters with some people who must have been paid to be so incredibly unhelpful reminded us that we were now dealing with a whole new ballgame.
Paris is not an easy way to navigate when you don't really know where you are going and even with a good map the streets wind around and can be confusing. We had a hotel, we had a map, we had correct directions but we still wandered up and down streets for a very long time with our huge packs on our backs in the middle of very large crowds. Well, to our delight as we stood helplessly on the same corner we had passed 3 times already, an old man came to our rescue. He asked us if we needed help and he pointed us in the right direction, smiling as he sent us on our way. "What a nice man" we thought. What a nice man indeed! Half hour later and a half hour further from our hotel we realized that he had sent us in the opposite direction of where we needed to be and that we were literally only one block from our hotel when he sent us packing. I had heard Parisians loved to give Americans the wrong directions but I didn't really think that was true! He laughed all the way home while we walked around in the rain.
Luckily the owner of the Bed and Breakfast of where we were staying when we finally found it made up for him in abundance. He is a short curly haired man with a huge smile and a very french sense of humor. We had numerous conversations with him and we always left laughing. It was a great place to stay and we were within 2 minutes of Notre Dame which made our sight seeing a lot easier.
Our first night, despite the wind and rain, we decided to hit the Eiffel tower. We arrived at the top just as the sun was setting to view Paris at night-which is much better than Paris during the day. A few hundred years ago I'm sure it was clean and bright but years of pollution and decay have made it somewhat dingy and dirty. Coming from London the contrast was even greater because London is so clean and well kept. I must admit I wasn't so sure about Paris when we got there, but after viewing it at night from the highest point in the city I decided it might not be so bad after all.
We walked back along the Seine river-a walk we would come to know well over the next few days-and tried not to watch couple after couple making out on each and every bridge. There were even couples taking pictures of themselves while making out on the bridges...interesting. I didn't find Paris romantic but apparently other people do-not sure what the fascination with pda's in Paris is but the displays were rampant. Also, what's up with the food? I hated everything I ate in Paris and I thought they were known for the greatest delicassies in the world. Pretty much everything is on a baguette and it is loaded with one of three things: Mayonnaise, butter or cheese (or a combination of all three). There is usually some meat mixed in there but the majority is basically lard. The crepes were mediocre but even the pastries were not that great-maybe I just do not possess the taste buds of the French but whatever it was, I am not a fan.
Let's get to what I am a fan of-everything else. Paris is jam packed with fascinating architecture, art, and history to boot. I spent three days with my jaw on the floor trying to fathom what I was really experiencing. I thought nothing could top my London experience but honestly, Paris was right up there with it. We spent our first full morning touring the Louvre-which, being an enormous and incredible palace was a museum in and of itself. The French decorate with gusto-they leave no square inch untouched. Everything from the carpets to the ceilings were painted with scenes from the political and religious (which was basically the same thing) culture of the day. The museum was basically created when the revolutionaries took over the palace and threw open the doors for all of the commoners to see. Most of what we saw was originally the private collection of royalty including the Greek Venus De Milo, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Raphael's Madonna and thousands more sculptures and paintings from centuries gone by. The palace is huge, we only saw a select collection, but what we saw occupied the whole of the morning.
This entry is probably occupied the whole of your morning as well if you have read it all so I am going to stop and start another entry just to give your eyes (and my fingers) a break.
So our chunnel experience from London to Paris was relatively uneventful (we almost didn't make it on, but since we did it was uneventful) but fun. London was rainy and cold when we left which made it easier to leave-did I mention that I love London? Anyway, when we arrived in Paris the weather, although a tad bit warmer, wasn't much cheerier and I would come to find out that the people would not be either. A few brief encounters with some people who must have been paid to be so incredibly unhelpful reminded us that we were now dealing with a whole new ballgame.
Paris is not an easy way to navigate when you don't really know where you are going and even with a good map the streets wind around and can be confusing. We had a hotel, we had a map, we had correct directions but we still wandered up and down streets for a very long time with our huge packs on our backs in the middle of very large crowds. Well, to our delight as we stood helplessly on the same corner we had passed 3 times already, an old man came to our rescue. He asked us if we needed help and he pointed us in the right direction, smiling as he sent us on our way. "What a nice man" we thought. What a nice man indeed! Half hour later and a half hour further from our hotel we realized that he had sent us in the opposite direction of where we needed to be and that we were literally only one block from our hotel when he sent us packing. I had heard Parisians loved to give Americans the wrong directions but I didn't really think that was true! He laughed all the way home while we walked around in the rain.
Luckily the owner of the Bed and Breakfast of where we were staying when we finally found it made up for him in abundance. He is a short curly haired man with a huge smile and a very french sense of humor. We had numerous conversations with him and we always left laughing. It was a great place to stay and we were within 2 minutes of Notre Dame which made our sight seeing a lot easier.
Our first night, despite the wind and rain, we decided to hit the Eiffel tower. We arrived at the top just as the sun was setting to view Paris at night-which is much better than Paris during the day. A few hundred years ago I'm sure it was clean and bright but years of pollution and decay have made it somewhat dingy and dirty. Coming from London the contrast was even greater because London is so clean and well kept. I must admit I wasn't so sure about Paris when we got there, but after viewing it at night from the highest point in the city I decided it might not be so bad after all.
We walked back along the Seine river-a walk we would come to know well over the next few days-and tried not to watch couple after couple making out on each and every bridge. There were even couples taking pictures of themselves while making out on the bridges...interesting. I didn't find Paris romantic but apparently other people do-not sure what the fascination with pda's in Paris is but the displays were rampant. Also, what's up with the food? I hated everything I ate in Paris and I thought they were known for the greatest delicassies in the world. Pretty much everything is on a baguette and it is loaded with one of three things: Mayonnaise, butter or cheese (or a combination of all three). There is usually some meat mixed in there but the majority is basically lard. The crepes were mediocre but even the pastries were not that great-maybe I just do not possess the taste buds of the French but whatever it was, I am not a fan.
Let's get to what I am a fan of-everything else. Paris is jam packed with fascinating architecture, art, and history to boot. I spent three days with my jaw on the floor trying to fathom what I was really experiencing. I thought nothing could top my London experience but honestly, Paris was right up there with it. We spent our first full morning touring the Louvre-which, being an enormous and incredible palace was a museum in and of itself. The French decorate with gusto-they leave no square inch untouched. Everything from the carpets to the ceilings were painted with scenes from the political and religious (which was basically the same thing) culture of the day. The museum was basically created when the revolutionaries took over the palace and threw open the doors for all of the commoners to see. Most of what we saw was originally the private collection of royalty including the Greek Venus De Milo, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Raphael's Madonna and thousands more sculptures and paintings from centuries gone by. The palace is huge, we only saw a select collection, but what we saw occupied the whole of the morning.
This entry is probably occupied the whole of your morning as well if you have read it all so I am going to stop and start another entry just to give your eyes (and my fingers) a break.
1 comment:
Oh Paris. I believe I mentioned to you before how it just smells like pee and people are rude, but the fact that you got legitimate mis-information is just amazing. I'm glad that in spite of those minor setbacks you enjoyed the city overall. But I whole-heartedly agree that London is a million and twelve times better.
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