Gypsies, Gypsies.... Everywhere!

Sunday, I got up at 5:30am to get ready to take a very early Eurostar train to Paris! There were no major mishaps and the train was okay. It's a pretty easy ride! I talked to a couple of American girls who were backpacking as well. So, I arrived in Paris in good form. Smoking is not allowed on any trains in France, so I went outside to smoke a cig and take in the Parisian atmosphere. I walked out the door, my heart and head filled with great expectations of Paris, but I was met by the stinking reality. Gypsies were en force, milling around with blackened bare feet, begging for change. I had at least 15 come up to me in a matter of 10 minutes. It reeked of urine and BO. And it was horrifically dirty. Well, I figured I was at the train station - often not the best area of town. So, I made my way to the TI, got a map of Paris, my museum pass, and directions to the hostel. I found the metro and hopped on the appropriate train. The Metro was awful... way worse than NYC. When I got off the train, I tried to find the street the hostel was on, but it was no where on the map. This older gentleman came up to me and asked if I was looking for some hotel. I said no and we started chatting. Hisname was Serge and he was very nice. He helped me find the right map and even walked me to the main street and explained how to get there. The TI had sent me to the wrong metro stop. I had a bit of a hike ahead of me. Oh well, a chance to see Paris! I thanked Serge and we said our goodbyes. Heading in the direction of the hostel, I couldn't help but notice how filthy the city really is. And the smog is awful - it's worse than LA. Even though I was in a very affluent area, it did not feel all that safe. So, my dreams of Paris in the Spring were slowly crumbling. I finally found the hostel. The bar looked nice, so I went ahead and paid for 3 nights, but once I got to the rooms, it was a real shithole!! It was like stepping into a 3rd world country! One girl said it reminded her of thailand. The toilets AND the showers were outside in the damn courtyard!! And this was supposed to be a nice one!?! It certainly was expensive enough. And it was NOT at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.... more like a 15 - 20 minute walk away. The only redeeming factor was that I met a lot of cool people staying there.

Anyway, they had a lockout (yuck!!) until 4 pm. I asked the guy at the bar/reception where the post office was and such. He was rude and of no help! He said, "walk down Rue de Commerce for awhile, you'll find something." My feathers ruffled, I sulked around the corner. Everything was closed. It took me about 10 minutes before I remembered it was Sunday. Asshole... he could have said something. Whatever. So, I decide to try and find a grocery store since I had not eaten since about 6 am. But after an hour or so of walking around in the blazing heat, there was nothing! When I saw McDonald's (yes, I know) I made a beeline. The prices were horrendous! About $8.50 USD for a meal!! And to add insult to injury, they had no "Dollar Menu"! In the UK, they had the "Pound Saver" menu which sits quite nicely with ravenous backpackers. But I was hungry and everywhere else was closed. So, I gave in. After eating, it was just after 4pm, so I headed back to the hostel. After getting my bags situated, I changed into my flip flops. It was so hot!! I'm going to have to get a pair of sandals ASAP!! Anyway, I chatted with this guy for a bit, then i decided I could walk down to Champs elysees .... in my flip flops. This was a huge mistake, but I'll get to that ina minute. So, I head out and as i'm approaching Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower, this guy on a bike passes me and smiles. So, I return the smile without much thought. He loops back around and follows me. He says something to me in French and although I do speak a little French, I did not get what he said. I asked if spoke English, but of course he did not. So, he started talking again and asking me questions. The only thing I got was "Promenade." I thought he was asking if I was going on a walk. So, I said yes, I walking to Champs Elysees. At that point he hopped off his bike and started walking with me. So, I guess he had asked if I wanted to promenade with him. He was a rotund french man who seemed harmless enough. Why not? So, I didn't argue. He pointed stuff out, I took pictures, so on. All was fine until about the Hotel des Invalides. At that point he started to try and hold my hand!!??!! Boy, French men move quick! I tried to explain to him that I was not interested. He kept walking with me until I was right at the beginning of the Champs Elysees. I decided to lie and say I had a boyfriend. A petit ami.... well, for some reason he thought I had a baby??? So, a bit more effort and he finally got what I was saying. So, thankfully, he went away. And went down the Champs Elysses. It was big and long, crowded and dirty. A lot of very expensive shops and restaurants. So, I didn't really stop. Just took it all in. I came to the Arc de Triumphe, took my pics with the other tourists and headed back towards the eiffell Tower. The plan was to find a shop and buy some wine, cheese, and bread and have a picnic on the Champ de Mars beneath the Eiffel Tower. Well, I popped into a shop and walked right back out! The prices were unbelievable! So, I gave up and wondered how I could ration the chips I had left. At this point my feet were killing me and they were literally black from the digusting filth of Paris. French people don't seem to like pavement, so there is a lot of dirt and gravel paths. Gimping down the Rue, I found a shop that was open and I popped in to by some cigs. I asked the gentleman behind the counter if he spkoke english very politely and en francais! He glared at me and saod "NO!" He then turned his head in disgust and loathing. I stammered for a few moments trying to piece together my french.... see, in American schools, they don't teach you the proper way to by cigs in a french class. Why?? I hear a voice from behind me ask if I needed help. I turned and it was a young middle eatern guy who spoke with an American accent. We laughed and I said "Yes, please!" So, he helped me buy cigs and then he asked if I wanted to join him and some other people for a picnic! I agreed, but where to buy wine and such?? He took me to a shop that was open. No good cheese, but who needs food when you have cheap french wine? So we headed back over to the Champ de Mars. There was a guy from South America (all over), a Bulgarian, a french girl, and 2 American guys. Apparently, they had been in the park for awhile! It was nice! We shared all the wine, laughed, and watched the Eiffell tower light up - every hour from like 8pm to 1 am it actually twinkles! Very cool! At around 10pm, I decided to head over to the tower to see about riding up. The line was horrendous, so I headed back to the hoistel. By the time I got back, I was actively limping and my feet were on fire. Damn flip flops. Damn dirt and gravel. I had gotten the first major blisters of this adventure.... right on the balls of my damn feet. Ouch.... that night I had to take a shower. It was awful. It was filthy and dirtyy and outside ! I'm not French! I don't walk around naked! And it was just a push button one temperature kind that only came on for about 10 seconds per push! So, I started to cry.... I don't like Paris.

The next morning, I dealt with the blisters as best as I could. After mailing my first package back to the States, I went to the Louvre. I was excited! But, when I got there, it was a bit much. It was PACKED! I mean shoulder to shoulder, people pushing and shoving kind of crowded. And the ENTIRE museum was filled with a dull constant roar. Now, you are NOT supposed to see art in that kind of an environment! You can't reflect and absorb what you are seeing when people are screaming and pushing all around you. So, I saw what I wanted to see - primarily Da Vinci's work (they don't have as much as I thought), the Mona Lisa, and Death of a Slave. - and I got the hell out of there. I spent about an hour in there. I was not happy when I left. I had hoped to really spend time just enjoying the art. I asked if there was a good time to go, and apparently it is always that way. So, I went to the Pantheon, since I know had an afternoon free. It was OK, but I lingered for about 1/2 hour since they had the A/C on. I then hopped on the metro and made my way back to the eiffel Tower. I braved the lines and made my way to the very top. Honestly, it was nothing special. I would have been happier just going to the 2 nd level. The smog was horrible and greatly reduced visibility in a cloak of brown nastiness. So, I took the stairs back down since the line for the elevators was ridiculous. I found the damn post office finally and got the post cards stamped and on their way! The kids should have them soon! After the draining day, I was very tired and decided to head back to the hostel. I saw a Supermarche on the way and popped in. I got a Quiche and a cheap bottle of wine thinking it would be great to simply enjoy the evening sipping wine in the courtyard. Ha ha... no such luck. The hostel doesn't allow drinking of any alcohol but theirs. If they catch you, they take it away. God! It's PAris! Europe! You are allowed to walk down the damn street drinking! So, my hopes were dashed. To make matters worse, the hostel did not have an oven. So... no quiche, no wine. Instead, I spent the evening chatting with fellow residents and my Brazilian roommates shared their pasta with me! So, that was a lot of fun! But I was getting stopped up and not feeling too well....

The next day, my feet were really killing me and I had a full fledged cold, so I decided that I need to take the day easy. I figured I would go to Notre Dame and Versailles and then just hang out. I took my time getting out because my head and throat were killing me and I could not breathe through my nose. I arrived at Notre Dame and toured the Cathedral, which is actually free (!!). It's very beautiful! Then I walked around the corner to get in line to climb the Belfry. OK... let me just say that I pissed off some French people, because I had someone take my picture in front of the Cathedral acting like Quasimoto. Actually, I did it more than once. Tee hee. It's fun to act like a child sometimes. Anyway, as I was walking to the back of the line, I hear someone call my name. Well... that's odd! I turn around and Emma, a canadian girl I met at the hostel was already in line! She asked if I wanted to climb the tower with her, and I said yes! So, we climbed the tower stairs which were terribly narrow and steep, spiraling up into oblivion. After much huffing and puffing, we reached the first level! It was great! The Gargoyles were fantastic! We even saw one gargoyle that was eating some animal alive!It looked like a dog. We laughed about it, but decided not to take a picture.... impossible to capture the true horror of that discovery! To we proceeded into the place where the Great Bell is hanging! It was great! It looked like something right out of Jekyl & Hyde! And they had these tiny doors that you had to climb through! We then headed up to the very top, enjoyed the view and made plans to have a picnic lunch in the park. after all, I had carried that cheap bottle of wine all the way up the tower, might as well share it! So after we decended and regained our vision, we went in search of food. We headed straight into the Latin Quarter, which is a very cool place indeed! Lots of cheap places and colorful people! We found ourselves a bit lost and decided to head into this pedestrain alleyway! It was fabulous! The narrow alley was lined on either side with shops and restaurants, each one with a person standing out front trying to get patronage! We continued on until we found the Gyro windows and decided that they would be ok with wine. They had pix of them being served with wine.... so, what the hell! They were MASSIVE!! We laughed so hard at how ridiculous they were! It's a giant flatbread stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, whatever you want, fresh doner meat (i chose Poulet... chicken), and a fabulous white sauce! Then, they dump a bunch of fries on it and wrap it up into a cone! So we walked with our yummy picnic lunch to a park near the Sorbonne and chatted over wine for a couple of hours! Much fun! And not to worry, I have pix of all of this! So, we parted way around 3:30 and I went to the RER station to catch the train to Versailles. I went to the desk to ask how I got my free ticket and the guy screamed at me! Using the damn microphone! So the entire metro station could hear him screaming at me in French. I hate PAris. I tried to find the right train, but I did not know if I had to have a regular ticket or what??!! So, I found another ticket desk but this woman told me that I would have to use a whole travel day on my pass to go. So... that's free?? I was pissed and she was smug. So, I stormed out and went back to the hostel. Paris had already chewed into my budget a bit, so I did not go. Instead, I hung out with everyone at the hostel, which was a lot of fun! Cool people from all over the world! Talking about everything under the sun! Since I was leaving Paris in the morning - thank god - I went to bed around 1am.

The next morning, I was up and out really early! Goodbye PAris.... hello Bruges!