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Paris
Day 1
After breakfast we checked out dropped our bags in some lockers at the train station and checked out a museum.We also ate Surinamese food.The Dutch have a territory called Surinam, which is north of Brazil.Some people from this area immigrated to the Netherlands, and their food is quite good.After lunch we hopped on our train to Paris.
We arrived in Paris around five o'clock, right on time.We didn't leave Brussels until 3:30, which means we had about 2/3 of the distance to go in 1 ½ hours.The reason we made it is because we were going 300 kmph and didn't make any more stops.We took the metro to the hostel's neighborhood, and had no problem finding the hostel itself.We were in an exploring mood I guess and decided to walk around after we dropped our bags off.We headed for the River Seine.Most of the sights are situated very close to the Seine.This is another example of a large European city being located next to a large river.
We started walking down the river and first past The Institute of France.This is where the official French Dictionary is created.The Institute is a group of 20 people that make sure that no English words get into "their" French Language.Being the super productive French people they are, the last dictionary they published was in 1930.Fortunately for them not much has changed in 77 years.They don't have to make words for computer, or refrigerator, or internet, or jet.Despite the lack of motivation on the inside, the outside is strikingly beautiful.
We crossed by the Louvre, but did not have time to stop and visit it. From there we crossed the famous Pont Neuf, which was the first, and most impressive walking bridge in the city.From there we passed some more old stuff, but I am not going to bore you with names, because we didn't stop to check them out.Around eight we stopped to grab some dinner.I had a Panini, which are quite different than Panini's I had in the U.S.I had ground beef, which is the first time in three months I have asked for beef and had something that actually tastes like beef.
After a quick bite we walked over to the Cathedral of Notre Dame.There was no hunchback, but Rudy Rudiger was there.Honestly the building is unimpressive.It is built in gothic style, but seems to be unfinished.We were going to go in, but there was quite a line to walk up the stairs and we had a date with Eiffel that night.We tried to get back but never found the energy or time.From there we started heading towards the Eiffel Tower.Along the way we passed the Place de la Concorde, which houses another Egyptian obelisk. In the Reign of Terror at the time of the French Revolution, the dreaded guillotine was erected on this spot to claim thousands of heads.This is also the largest round-about in Europe, which is saying something.This is also a great spot to get a glimpse of the Arch de Triomphe.
From the Place de la Concorde we headed towards the river and followed it until we reached the Eiffel Tower.It took us something like two hours to walk for Notre Dame to the tower, and we were ready for a break.Luckily for us we got to climb 668 stairs until we reached the second level.The view was pretty good but it was extremely packed and this was at 11:30.We were unable to go to the top because they had stopped selling tickets for the elevator to the third level.From here we walked back to the hostel, which didn't seem too long, but again turned into this 45 minute walk.The city is much more spread out than the other cities we have been to.There is a really great metro system though, with plenty of stops. Fortunately for us we didn't have to do anything until 11:00 the next day, so we could sleep in.
Day 2
Our hostel offered us a breakfast which consisted of a roll and juice and coffee.I think this is pretty standard for breakfast in France.Day 1 was extremely hot and almost felt like Rome again.Day 2 was extremely wet and cold, and almost felt like London again.We met the free tour at St. Michel's fountain, which is a cool looking fountain with the Arch Angel Michael kicking the devil's butt.It is also a hang out for homeless people, and I think all their beers bottles clogged up the fountain, because we never saw it work.I still had my umbrella ella ella hey hey hey, from Athens and Dale had his rainproof jacket.We both wore sandals and looked pretty smart standing next to the people with no protection and soggy footwear.
The route for the tour took pretty much the same route we took the night before.The difference is we could pay attention to the tour better because we had already seen the sights and were familiar with what he was talking about.He was a good tour guide besides the fact he was a Texas University grad.He was really into youtube.com for some reason.He kept telling us stories and telling us to look them up on youtube.I have my suspicions that he was talking money under the table from youtube.In between the youtube speeches, we got to hear about the 80 art museums in Paris.I think I exaggerated the figure but on every corner there is a museum.And these aren't like crappy little museums with nothing in them.They all have Monet, Klimt, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Manet, and so on.In addition to the artwork inside, the outsides are also inviting. This is due to the fact that a German general left Paris without blowing it up, despite Hitler's wishes.
Caution:This paragraph contains a major sidetrack.The leader of the French "resistance", was Charles de Gaulle, who took back Paris.Paris had been under German control for four years at this time and had grown to live with the Nazi's.The Parisians had shown little resistance to occupation and it was only until the Allies invaded France, and were making their way to Paris that the citizens started resisting.Why is it that de Gaulle thanked the French for all their efforts and praised everyone except for one group.The Allies!But maybe they didn't forget the allies after all.There is a statue of Churchill and an FDR street.I don't recall a Truman Street though.
After the tour, which was four hours long, we went to the Louvre.This place is a made house.We missed Tom Hanks though.I figured he would still be working on the Da Vinci code, but he has been living in Paris for so long that he decided to take August off.We headed straight for the Mona Lisa.A little note about the Mona Lisa.The Mona Lisa did not get famous until a guy stole it in 1911 and tried to make copies.Now it is the most famous work of art in the world, but unfortunately you can't get close enough to find out.We also saw the Winged Victory, which is a statue without a head I have seen before a sometime in my life.We walked around a little more looking at all the pictures in the same hall as the Mona Lisa.Neither Dale nor I can tell what the difference is between good art and bad art.I assume since it is in the Louvre it is good art, but they could have fooled us.Another great thing about France is that you rarely see any English on signs at museums or any place for that matter. I mean if this was a tourist destination they would probably have English on signs.This makes looking at art very exciting, especially when you can only read the year it was painted.
After looking at a bunch of pictures with Jesus either being crucified, having dinner with 12 of his friends, or being born, we headed off to find the Venus de Milo.I mean I have never seen such a work of art.She is a Greek figure with no arms.Where can you find such art?Oh Greece, really, oh AND Italy. Ok, but besides that? The Louvre has a whole floor dedicated to it.So we are both really sick of Ancient Greek art.The stuff in Rome was just copies of Greek stuff anyways so it looks the same just newer.So there is about 1,500 years of people carving similar figures.
Dale suggested looking for newer paintings.I thought this was a great idea and we took the tram from one wing of the Louvre to the other.Still the paintings were not new by any means, but they weren't ancient and this was fine by us.There were some really interesting paintings in these wings and you can find them in the Paris pictures.After looking at these we were kicked out of the museum and forced onto the street.
We had purchased a day pass and decided to get the most out of it.By now the clouds had passed ad the sun was coming out.We took the metro to the Arch de Triomphe to get a better view.This Arch was much more massive than the one in Bucharest.It was commissioned by Napoleon and finished 30 years later.I think the dictionary guys worked on it.From the arch we went back to the St. Michel fountain because there were some authentic French restaurants there.Dale had escargots, which are snails that look like boogers.I stuck with a salad and fish.We each had a glass of wine to complete our authentic meals.Ok I could have gotten mine anywhere, but it was still at an authentic restaurant.If you are French stop reading this paragraph and move to the next one.The wine in Italy is better. There I said it.If you want to convince me otherwise you can send me a bottle to 1705 Marian.
After dinner we took the metro back to the hostel and I was going to do laundry at the local Laundromat.The laundry was getting really rank.Unfortunately they closed and would have to do it tomorrow.The rest of the night we hung out at the hostel.
Day 3
Our last day was spent in Versailles, the grand castle during Frances golden years.The crowds were ridiculous.We waited in line for about and hour and a half.The actual main tour was not that long.It was an audio guided tour we paid a little extra for, but it was worth every penny.Especially since very little was in English.I kind of regret not doing more of the audio tours when we visited places in Eastern Europe.The hall of mirrors was very extravagant and pretty much every room had a theme.The rooms surrounding the hall of mirrors were themed with Greek gods that were painted on the ceilings.
After the tour we grabbed a bite and headed to the gardens.The size of the grounds was enormous.Everything was kept very trimmed and it would be hard to find even one weed.After walking a small fraction of the grounds we were exhausted.We were trying to leave early to have time to eat and do some laundry before we caught our 9:10 train.We ran into another audio tour of the Dauphin's quarters.The Dauphin is the next in line for the throne.It was not as impressive as the king and queen's quarters, but was still interesting.We left to catch a train back to the hostel.
We ended up leaving the hostel with only an hour before the train left.The lady told us it would take 30 minutes for the subway ride to the station and that sounded about right to us.Well it took 45 minutes instead.Which should have left us plenty of time to board the train, but this was not like other trains.Apparently we had to switch our ticket for another ticket.The train entrance was not like all the others we had been on either.This entrance was more like an airport with a passport check and luggage check and a gate.Well back at the ticket booth our lady was having problems exchanging our ticket for another ticket.10 minutes before departure they told us that they were closed and they would have to book us one for tomorrow.Infuriated we booked the first train in the morning which happened to be a 7:15.The hostel we had been staying at had been completely booked and we were pretty sure the same would be true for tonight.To our surprise they had a mattress.Yes a mattress, and only 1.We did have the opportunity to grab a bed if a couple people hadn't checked in by 2 am.We flipped for the mattress and I won.Luckily for Dale, those people didn't show up and when I woke him up to steal a blanket from him he was able to snag a bed.We were only charged for 1 bed, so it may have worked out better.
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