Paris in the Wintertime

Ah Paris. To be honest I didn't really like it at first. I thought it was just a shoddy version of Rome. :P But then you realize that Paris has it's own thing going on. It's own culture and traditions and a history that is more recent but filled with enough bloodshed and betrayal to be similarly intriguing. And boy do I wish I went to the type of school that sent kids on field trips. I would have loved to have come here when we were learning about the French Revolution. It would have added so much

Okay, so lets see. Before I get bored with all the retrospection.

Day 1

We arrived Paris ten o'clockish then eventually made our way to the hotel which was close to three different train stations but in a generally dodgy part of town. It was very basic, in true Ibis fashion, but was clean, warm, and had hot showers. (Yay!)

We weren't sure what we wanted to do because we hadn't planned for the trip very well but eventually decided to go to the Louvre, then walk along the Seine, have lunch, and go to the church of Notre Dame. So we got lost a couple of times but eventually we did that. The Louvre was enormous and we got a bit lost at times. There was so much to see and we didn't have much time so we looked at some of the Egyptian displays, then went to see the Mona Lisa, Man with a Glove, Victory at Samathrace, and a few other works. Very touristy - I know! But you must understand, we were exhausted from the last few days. I felt as if I was going to fall asleep half the time! When we were about to leave, we stopped to buy some postcards. I reached for a postcard with one hand and then, from the other hand, dropped our camera on the floor. Totally unexpected!

Oh, here's a pic of one of the many many art students who just sit in the Louvre and sketch the statues that are there.



Afterwards, I wanted to go to the Tuileries Gardens (despite the fact that it was winter) but Sameer was starving so we walked to the Ile de Cita and went to the Place Duaphin, a very beautiful square. I can only imagine what it must look like in summer! So there was a large building on the end and I ask Sameer "What's that?" He looks at our map and says "A hotel". I thought "Hmmm... Must be a really posh hotel..." but anyway. Anyway, we go around the corner and see tons of police cars. Later on I read the guide book and it turns out it's a detention centre (can't remember the name) from Revolution times. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were held there until they were guillotined. Hotel my *ss... After that, every time I asked what a particular building or structure was, the answer I got was "It's a hotel."

After promenading along the Seine, we had lunch at a restaurant that served Italian food then went to the Notre Dame, which was beautiful and creepy at the same time. We wanted to climb up to the top to see the gargoyles and things up close but the last access was at 5:30 and we were slightly too late. So we went home, took our first showers in three days (don't judge us, it was a logistical issue), and slept for about 12 hours.

Day 2

We woke up feeling well rested and got a fairly early start to the day. We took the metro to the Place de la Concorde. It was a crisp morning and already the tourists had started to gather. As we crossed the street to get a closer look at the Obelisk of Luxor (23m high and 3 300 years old!), we were overrun by a group of Japanese school kids, aged around 12 or 13. They were adorable, taking pictures willy nilly. We did the same. After that, we walked down the Champs Elysees and popped into a number of the shops which displayed signs saying "Soldes". There were lots of things on sale but they were still mostly out of our price range. I managed to get a plain black jersey and a lightweight, grey hooded top.

When we got to the bottom, we looked at all the plaques commemorating the various wars France has been involved in and saw the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then we climbed the 250-odd stairs up to the top of the Arc de Triomph and took in a fantastic view of Paris. After that, we were again exhausted and had crampy calves. We took the Metro towards the Eiffel Tower and along the way agreed not to walk up the stairs when we got there!

We crossed a bridge over the Seine and approached the tower from the wrong side. You may think "What do you mean, the wrong side?" Well, lets just say, if you go to Paris to see the Eiffel Town, approach it from the Ecole Militaire because the view from that end is much more impressive! When we saw the swarms of tourists at the base and the lines that were snaking out from the different entrances, we decided to take a break for crepes and coffee. Hmmm... After the three kilometres up the Champs Elysees and the 250-something stairs up the Arc, we destroyed any calorie deficit that we might have created by sharing one crepe that was smothered in Nutella and about a cup of whipped cream. And then we felt sick.

And so began the most overrated part of our trip - the journey up the Eiffel Tower. Well, the Tower is cool - no doubt. And I think engineers in particular would really enjoy it. At the top they had these panoramic pictures with numbers and labels for each major site in the city. There was one building that I'd been asking about since the previous day, and of course every time Sameer would say it was a hotel. So we had to check to see what it was, and wouldn't you know it, it was called the "Hotel des Invalides"...

But honestly, there were better views of Paris from other places which were much less crowded. We stood shoulder to shoulder with people the whole way and most of our time there was spent queueing and queueing and queueing. Totally overrated. Eventually we managed to get out. At the base of the tower, groups of young people were offering Free Hugs. Jaded, Sameer and I decided they must either be trying to cop a feel or pickpocket naive people.

We walked towards the Ecole Militaire. This part was great. There were kids everywhere, riding the bikes and scooters or just running around. It was one of the things that I loved about Paris. Everywhere you looked there were parents taking their kids out for bike rides or walks. There were parents cycling alongside their kids and parents walking around with baby buggies. We saw loads of dads, walking alone with babies in buggies or kids on scooters, which is not something you see every day, especially not in South Africa.

Sameer stopped to tie his shoelace at one point and I looked around to see this over-enthusiastic, little, black dog running towards us. I involuntarily went "Ooh!", this surprised Sameer who looked up to find a dog right in his face. He fell over. We both laughed as the dog ran back to his owner. A minute later we heard screaming. A little girl was running away from the same dog who was hot on her heels. He must have though she was playing with him and she was so little, running in small circles, crying in fear. She kept crying and her brother - who was only slighter older - just stood there looking puzzled as she ran around. Eventually her mother grabbed her and the owner came to fetch the dog. Poor child must have been emotionally scarred but really we found it so funny.

With afternoon on the way, we rushed off to the Picasso Museum which was great except that there were no guided tours and no audioguides! But seeing the work there really made me want to read up more about Picasso and Cubism. Something drastic obviously happened in 1907. Wikipedia shows it was his African-influenced period. At the museum they segued directly from the Rose Period to Cubism so it was quite a jump.

After that we wandered around the Marais area of Paris. Oh-my-god... It was fabulous. Shops and shops - atelier or whatever, little studios all selling the most amazing clothes, shoes, bags, art, knick knacks, furniture. Boutique stores galore. It was absolutely amazing. Like those little streets in Florence on crack...

And then, starving, we went to Mickey Ds, coz it was late, dark, and we couldn't find any of the restaurants recommended by the bloody Frommers guide book. (Note to self: No more Frommers every again...) At McDs, we had to get my favourite in France - wedges with sour cream dip, hmmm... Bliss. After that we went to the Pompidou Center which is one of my two main regrets about Paris. Not enough time in the Pompidou Center! There was just SO much to see! We got through most of one modern art gallery and then had to hoppit in order to get to the architecture exhibition that was on downstairs. That was great because it was all about the architext, Richard Rogers who, together with another architect Renzo Piano, designed the center. There were models, displays, plans, and videos all about the conception and the construction of the Center. Oh, and may I also add, there were great views of Paris from the Pompidou Center as well. From the escalators running up the side of the building we saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up. Ah yes, the Eiffel Tower - better seen from afar... *snerk* Give it a skip, and go to the Pompidou Center instead. Better yet, the Musee d'Orsay which we never got to see. That would be my second regret from Paris.

Day 3

The final day. We got up late, alas alack and then took a train to Chateau Versailles. This after Mr P got us lost a few more times. Fortunately, wifey pulled through for the team.





Versailles. Oh Lord. Wow wow wow. WOW! Mindblowing does not even begin to explain it. We 21st century peeps were awestruck. I cannot begin to imagine being an 18th century pleb wandering up to Versailles. If anyone here is going to France, please do yourself a favour and spend an entire day there. You want to see more of Versailles rather than less. Take the guided tour through the private areas, and then grab the audioguide and go through the public areas, and then do something we didn't get to do -- walk all the way through the gardens, to the Grande and Petit Trianon and to Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. Again, I wish I went to the kind of school that sent kids on excursions to places like these. My teacher showed us pictures but really, you just don't get the scale of it. Holy holy!

In the afternoon we went to Monmartre. Okay, it is one giant tourist trap. But boy is it pretty. :) We walked up the Butte to the Sacre Cour and as we came up the stairs there was a busker playing "Wonderwall" and everyone on that staircase was singing along. Cheesy but romantic. There were couples everywhere. And - ahem - 'nother great view of Paris from here.

Then we went on a walking tour through the streets. After dodging all the dodgy art sellers in the more pedestrian-heavy squares, we managed to track down two of the windmills in the immediate area. I so badly wish I could have taken pictures but by this time my camera was kaput! They were hauntingly beautiful in the twilight. Then we went to the cemetary which was again, something completely out of this world. If you have the time, you must go there during daylight. We didn't get to go in because it was closed at night but we could see it from a bridge we crossed. Think of those New Orleans cemetaries you see on TV (and Buffy of course) and you'll know what I mean. And finally, we found our way to the Moulin Rouge, which was to the other moulin as Vegas is to the Bo Kaap... As we left that area all we saw was shops titled "Sexy DVD" or "Sexy Store" and a few that were three or four stories high saying "Sexy Superstore" or something to that effect. Needless to say, it was the redlight district...

And yup, that was basically it, up until the disastrous journey home, which I've already written about.