Leaving on a Jet Plane

Woke up early Monday to shower and get to the Louvre by opening. Well, the shower in the apartment was only spitting out cold water, so I ended up just wiping down with a washcloth and layering deodorant. Because Terra wasn’t sure when they would be back, I needed to take my suitcase with me. Thankfully, the Louvre has a free baggage check, so I wouldn’t be lugging everything around all day. I wanted to walk, not because I was feeling particularly energetic, but I didn’t want to pay for the metro for a short distance (like, twenty blocks, maybe?), and I needed to get supplies for lunch and dinner from the supermarket on my way there, anyway. I got to the Louvre with ten minutes to spare and went to the secret-not-actually-a-secret entrance from the metro and got in line (there was still a pretty long line, but not nearly as long as at the pyramid. The security at the Louvre seriously is lacking! There are signs all over the place saying (well, picturing) no food or drinks, and so when I put my backpack and suitcase through which was packed with food, I was expecting them to confiscate it, but no one said anything. Well, it was the opening rush, maybe they just didn’t have time to bother, or maybe they don’t actually care. I figure most people wouldn’t even try getting food through once they saw the signs.

I got my (free) ticket, from a guy behind the counter who, when I said, “C’est bon?” responded, “Non. C’est pas bon,” and then smiled mischievously. I love sarcasm. Especially in different languages!

I, like everyone else, started with the Italian paintings and the Mona Lisa 

(which is correctly spelled with two N’s? Did not know that), which was lovely and very crowded. There were a lot of other things I saw that I recognized or that I really liked but hadn’t known about. I actually crossed rooms off as I went through them so I wouldn’t repeat anything accidently, and so I could get through as much as possible in the time I had. I probably saw about 2/3 of the museum, but I didn’t spend any time in the garden since I’d already been there with Jenn last time, and I took two breaks in between sections of the museum (it is GIANT) to eat or just sit and not look at anything. Museum fatigue is a dangerous and common disease in Paris, you know, and you have to be careful.

Eventually, I decided I had had enough of the place and wanted to go do something else. That was around one and my train left from Gare de Lyon at 6pm (I checked that time SO often, this time), so I decided to spend some time in Bastille. I took the metro, since I was getting tired of walking with my suitcase, and had some trouble with getting the suitcase in with me (or, more accurately, me in with the suitcase), but an employee came over and helped me learn the trick of putting it under the turnstile and then walking through and I made it pretty easily after that. I saw Bastille 

and the Opera House, 

and then wanted to go to Victor Hugo’s house. 

I walked over and learned that it is closed on Monday’s. Stupid Hugo. So I sat in the park in the middle of the block where he lived and people watched and tried to concentrate on reading HP7(F), but only got a few pages in before I fell asleep.

I slept off and on for a while and then ate some food and went to find a bathroom. I asked one of the park workers, who told me that there wasn’t any in this park, but he was about to walk two blocks to the next park, and there was a bathroom there, so I could just walk with him. I did, and we talked very briefly because there was really not much to say after introductions and “where-are-you-froms” and he was working, anyway, so he was on the walkie-talkie a lot. I didn’t stay in that park long, simply because I wanted to start heading toward Gare de Lyon, since I wanted to walk instead of paying for the metro again. It is only a few blocks away, so it wasn’t that bad at all. I stopped in a couple shops, still looking for presents for a couple of people, and then went to wait at the station for my train. There wasn’t much to do at the station besides wait, and I didn’t want to think about that fact that I was leaving Paris, so I looked around all the little shops there too for a while, to distract myself. It mostly worked, and then, all too soon, I was on the train and leaving Paris.

Geneva

boooring. Seriously- Geneva is boring. Not that I got there at a particularly exciting time- 10:30pm on a Monday night, but still. 

I got into the station and had absolutely no idea where to go. There were no information centers or anything, no one who could tell me where to go for public transport, etc. I knew the address of the Hostel I was staying at, but not how to get there from the station or even where the station was in regards to the rest of the city. WHERE AM I?!

I figured out on the map provided at the bus stop where I was going, but didn't know which direction it was in and eventually I just decided to take a cab. Well, thankfully, when I told the cab driver where I needed to go, he just said "Oh, you really don't need to take a taxi for that. It's only five blocks from here, and a very easy walk. Just go on this street here for five blocks and then turn left and you're there."  

I just appreciated that he didn't just take me and have me pay for something I could easily do myself. So I walked five blocks and got to the hostel in no time, checked in and went to bed. 

I woke up, showered, thank god, and walked to the supermarket after checking out of the hostel to get my breakfast- I love fresh croissants (literally still warm from the oven, amazing). Got to the station, took the train to the airport, and began my long journey home. Nothing too dramatic or intense or scary happened- mostly just long periods of flying and then waiting, with short periods of hurry-hurry-hurry in between. The girl who sat next to me on the plane from Amsterdam to Boston was German but lives in the US so was flying home from having visited her parents for a while. We both watched "Water for Elephants," and "Win Win," which were great movies, especially the latter. 

I got into Boston and went through customs in no time which was surprising but wonderful. I told the customs guy I had chocolate and he smiled and said "okay, you're all set." and I went to wait for the bus that would take me to the right terminal for my flight to KC. 

I was very, very lucky to get out of Boston. It was storming pretty badly and we were only delayed for forty minutes- there are some flights that were supposed to leave a little later than that which are still at the airport now because of the weather. Thank god because I was so tired at that point I was legitimately having trouble keeping my head up. I got to use the free-for-an-hour wifi, though, and managed to contact my mom and let her know I was okay and in Boston; she hadn't heard from me since before I left Annecy, whoops. 

The flight home was short but probably the worst one because I was so ready to be done with traveling. I either wanted to move constantly or sleep and I couldn't do either in that stupid tiny plane seat. Whenever I wasn't sleeping, I was looking out the window. Traveling west that late, we were just chasing the setting sun the whole time and once we got to KC, everything was dark and all the little city lights lit up the ground beautifully. It always surprises me how visible everything is at night when you're flying over a city. 

But anyway, I got off the plane, saw my mom and dad waiting for me, and made it home. 10pm Liberty time, 5am Annecy time, jet-lagged as hell and ready for bed. And tomorrow begins another adventure! 

Paris Part Deux Part Deux

Sunday began very early for me. It was a long day. I started at 7 in order to get to Notre Dame in time for mass and get into the towers before too many people had arrived. I went into the beautiful church, trying to walk as quietly and take as few pictures as possible because mass was going to start soon. 

There were several people that were just being so rude and loud, particularly this one little Asian girl (not young enough too have not known better) who just didn’t shut up until one the employee shushed her like five times, loudly. She looked completely taken aback by it, as if she didn’t know you’re supposed to be quiet in a church? Agh.

Anyway, the church itself was just beautiful. The chandelier was hanging out on the ground, 

in need of renovation, and there were a lot of people who it looked like were just coming to mass. I sat near the back for about ten minutes, just watching mass start and listening to an alter boys’ beautiful singing, but very quickly it became clear that I should not stay much longer. This is not because anyone told me to leave, it’s because I am- 1- not catholic, and would have no idea what to say or sing or repeat during a catholic mass and 2- not French, so I REALLY wouldn’t know what to say. Literally the only words I recognized in ten minutes were “Dieu” and “amen.”  I think it's cool that that is the same in French, though I know it's because it is a Latin word. I just like that it hasn’t changed in all this time.

I left the church and went to the place where you have to wait for the towers, only to realize that they don’t open until 10. It was 8:45. I had things to do! I went over to Saint – Chapelle, which ALSO was not open, not until 9:30, and so I walked a little bit along the Seine, looking for shops of interesting things. I didn’t really find anything, so I went back and became the beginning of the line for the entrance to the Chapel. 

There were two or three people who cut me in line, and I just said, “there’s a line,” (but in French), and then realized that they weren’t there for the chapel. The chapel is in the same place as the Palais du Justice- they were there for court-hearings or something. At least, they were clearly Parisian and not tourists, so I didn’t really say anything after I figured that out. They certainly weren’t nice about it, though.

I feel like most of my Sunday was spent with Louis Catorze. There was stuff about him all over the place in Notre Dame, he’s the one who had Saint Chapelle built as well, and I also went to Versailles later, and, well, you get it. Boy did this guy like pretty things. Saint Chapelle was absolutely gorgeous, 

and I was literally the first person in there on Sunday morning. Wow. Practically the whole chapel is stained-glass windows, all of them telling biblical stories. The two windows that are over the places where Louis sat on one side, and where his mother sat on the other, tell biblical stories that relate specifically to the two of them, which I thought was pretty cool. Once I felt satisfied with my experience there, I went back to Notre Dame, since it was about ten. There was SUCH a long line. I may or may not have cut some people to get closer and get in sooner. Possibly.

I got in about half an hour later (see, I still waited! I didn’t cut everybody, just the latter half…) and got in for free (seriously- this student card has saved my wallet), and walked up a whole bunch of stairs. There were WAY more stairs than I expected. I don’t know why I didn’t expect that many, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it is all spiral-staircases and so you can only see the stairs directly above and you have no way of referencing how far you’ve gone. These stairs were so old, too, that most of them and had little dips in the middle because of the number of people who had walked them over the centuries. That was very sobering, thinking about the thousands of people who have passed through those halls and enjoyed the beautiful view- just the idea of so many people…

The view WAS amazing, and definitely worth all those stairs. Especially being that close to really old gargoyles who are all just so cool and creepy and unique looking- I loved looking at them. The space for walking is very, very small, no matter where you are, and so it was pretty crowded up there, but I did get to see the great bell and to go to the top and see the view from up there, too (though you’re only allowed five minutes up there because there is only one way up and down, not big enough for two people).

Paris really is just a beautiful city, and SO big. I’m not sure I could ever live in a place that big. I would get so claustrophobic; start feeling really insignificant about being this tiny organism in a giant pulsing body that really wouldn’t miss me if I left. I prefer my less-than-20, 000 people Missouri town.

After admiring the view for as long as I could, I walked all the way back down those many, many stairs, quickly but not too quickly because I was so afraid of falling on the very smooth stones and dipped-steps. And also was a little dizzy from all the spiraling.

The journey to Versailles was interesting. The plan had been to get on the RER at the Notre Dame stop and just go to Versailles, but Paris had other ideas for me. The stop was closed, so I had to wait for a bus that would take me from Notre Dame to Invalides, where the RER started running again and from THERE I could go to Versailles. Boy, I wish I had known that before hand. It took a good half an hour to go the distance of three stops because of waiting for the bus and whatnot. And there were far too many people on the bus to be in any way in line with safety regulations, at least in the states. I got to Invalides and there was, of course, a line to get tickets for the RER to get to Versailles. It was only 6€ for a round trip though, which really isn’t bad, and I managed to fall asleep and take a little nap on the train. I got there and saw that there was a really long line to get tickets to the castle and gardens as well! What is it with all these tourists, huh? Thankfully, I realized very quickly that because I was a student, I could “proceed directly to entrance A with proof,” and that’s exactly what I did. I got in pretty quickly after that, even though there was a long line there, too, and I just showed the lady my id card and she waved me through. Love it!

Versailles was very, very crowded. There were some rooms that I honestly didn’t even stop in because there were so many people; there wouldn’t have been any point. I could not have enjoyed them the way I wanted to. I got to see the Hall of Mirrors, 

which was beautiful and long and big and still full of people. I’m glad I saw it, though; it’s something I’ve wanted to see for a while. I also saw the king and queen’s bedchambers. It’s interesting seeing all the doors hidden in the walls for inter-bedroom traveling. That, and the bed’s are all really short because everyone who was anyone slept upright on lots of pillows in that time. Weird.

The part I enjoyed most, probably, was just the view from the windows into the gardens. They are so elaborate and extensive; it was like looking at a plant city. 

It was another 6€ for the gardens, which I think is a little silly, especially since they advertise it not as “the gardens,” but as “the musical fountain show,” which pretty much just involves recorded music playing through speakers and sometimes the fountains turn on, but not all at once and they don’t do anything interesting, they’re just fountains. 

Whatever.

When I went into the gardens, I kind-of just let myself get lost. I happened upon lots of sculptures and fountains just by walking around, because the only time I looked at the map of the garden I got really confused and disoriented, so I didn’t do that again. It wasn’t like there was any statue that I really wanted to see (or that I even knew existed) there. At one point, I stopped to get some water because I had forgotten my water bottle, and while I was putting my stuff in my bag, I saw this girl set her still half full basket of fries down on the top of the trash can and walk away. People really bother me when they waste that much food (especially when the fries were 4€- who can afford to waste that?). I got to the end of good part and went into the gardens that are free to the public, lay down on the grass and took a nap. It was really nice. For a while, I watched these two kids, sister and brother (I think), the brother teaching his sister how to use his skateboard. It was so cute- he would go between saying “tournes, tournes, tournes, tournes, tournes!” (Turn!) “Bien,” and “Attends!” (Wait!), but the whole time he was so patient with her and seemed like he legitimately wanted to teach her. It was super adorable. I love big brothers that actually like their sisters.

Once I felt legitimately rested, I returned to the better park just in time to see the big fountain do its thing, and I sat with my feet in the water and just enjoyed the sun. My feet did hurt a lot, though, what with all the walking, so the water felt really wonderful. After that I wandered some more, trying to stick to the part of the park that I hadn’t already seen and purposely getting myself a little lost. I happened upon a path into the woods (very small woods), and saw this door randomly leading into the ground. It seriously looked like the entrance to a crypt or something. I decided to pee while I was there, since the lines at the restrooms were really long (and halfway across the park), and then I just walked around for a couple minutes, enjoying the solitude of the tiny forest. Then, this guy in a tan uniform came in and just kind-of stopped and stared at me. He wasn’t security for the park; I think he might have been a custodian or a fountain-worker. He didn’t say anything, so I said, “This isn’t a path, is it?” (In French, of course), and he kind-of just shrugged and shook his head. I left, but I honestly think that if I had stayed, he wouldn’t have cared.

I wandered some more, happened upon a weird sculpture of a big plant head thing, 

which is a sculpted representation of a painting, and got back to the beginning of the gardens and decided I was pretty much satisfied and could leave. I walked around the souvenir shops for a bit before getting back to the train station and returning to Paris (I napped on that train, too).

I mentioned earlier that I had planned on making a quiche for dinner for Terra, Amanda, and I. However, I got back to the area around six, and it was Sunday, so all of the supermarkets were closed. We probably could have found a place to buy ingredients if we searched hard enough, but we had all (Hailey and her friend Roslyn came over, too), had long days filled with walking, so we decided to just find a nice, not too expensive restaurant and eat there. We walked around for a bit, looking for something good, and got into a part of the city where an entire street was just restaurants and shops, everything lit up with the neon signs like it’s daytime. We went into a place that had a “16.90€ combo plan,” all of the choices of which looked amazing. It was, too. Our waiter was really weird and kept doing things that were kind-of flirtatious, but mostly just odd, like when he found out Hailey was from Texas, he just started calling her “Texas.” The food was amazing, though.

I had a shrimp and avocado dish with a small lettuce and tomato salad on the side. The shrimp was still entirely intact, something I have never had to deal with before, so it took me a while to get through each piece. I had to rip the heads off and figure out how to get the meat- apparently you can eat the shell- I was not aware of this. And it was really creepy that they still had their little shrimp legs. The resulting combination of avocado, shrimp, lettuce, and tomato was delicious, though, and definitely worth it. And that was just my appetizer!

For the meal, I had muscles with creamy penne pasta, something I knew I would like, and it was so wonderful. I really was hoping to be able to get muscles sometime while in France, since they do them so well, and I am really glad I did. I couldn’t even eat the whole dish, I think I ate about two thirds and then I was entirely full; too full, really. And then there was still dessert! All for 16.90€, that’s really awesome. The last time I got a “meal combo” from a restaurant for less than 20€, it was almost as bad as airplane food. This meal was legitimately amazing. I had apple pie for dessert (it was cold, but I guess that’s normal- I prefer hot), and then we decided to walk back to get more clothes because we were a little chilly. By the time we got back to the apartment, I was really tired, so I just went in and went to sleep- said goodbye to Amanda first.

I felt better about this goodbye because it wasn’t prolonged or sad, it was just a goodbye. I hate emotional goodbyes; they make me sick to my stomach.

I packed my suitcase, which was still mostly packed and just needed minor reorganization, and went to sleep... 

Paris: Part Deux

A lot has happened in the last four days. Most of it good.

My Friday night was… interesting. I went home after the park with plans to meet people for dinner before my night train. I considered leaving my suitcase at my host-moms, but then she mentioned how late it would be and that it would be noisy, so I just figured not only do I not every want to see her again; I don’t want to see her now. So I left- luggage in tow.

We met in front of the Munich (surprise!) and ended up going to a pizzeria- a really good one. I had already spent a lot on Thursday, so I ate my grocery-store food before I got there and then just sat in the restaurant enjoying the company of my friends. We stayed there for a long time. Around 10:30, I left for the station to make my night train. I walked quickly, but not quickly enough.

See, when I thought the train ticket said it would leave at “23:22,” which is 11:22, it actually left at “22:32”, 10:32. I got there at 10:45. Frustrating? YES.

I hurried back to the restaurant just hoping that they would all still be there (they were), and told them what had happened. Lisa’s dad (who had come to visit from Germany- god I’m jealous of Europeans!) looked completely horrified, and kept asking if there was any other train or a person there I could ask about refunding my ticket, etc. Terra, one of the girls I met from Hawaii, offered for me to stay in her room at her host-moms’ house for the night and then just take the train to Paris with her in the morning. For about two seconds, I considered going back to my host-moms’ house, and then decided I just didn’t want to deal with it so I took Terra up on her amazing offer. However, before we went home, we went to the park with everyone. We walked for a while, which for everyone else wasn’t a big deal, but since I still had my giant suitcase with me, it was a little miserable there for a bit. We eventually stopped (thank the lord) on the sidewalk next to the lake (close enough to put our feet in the water) and ate (guess!) bread, cheese, and drank wine. We are so French. I was so tired, though, and was just lying on the edge of the boardwalk, listening to everyone talking and laughing. I enjoy listening to people almost as much as I enjoy talking to them.

Terra was, thankfully, also tired, and we soon headed back to her house. She still had to pack before the 8:30 train (which, as a professional packer, I could not ever imagine doing), but by the time we got back, she just decided to get up early and do it in the morning. I kind-of just fell over onto the bed and slept.

I’m not sure exactly what I will do (can do) about my missed train in regards to my EuRail Pass. I had already written the information in to my train log, and technically I didn’t use another day with the morning train, and even if I had, I have three days left that I could still use). I just don’t know what they do when they see that I took two trains to Paris on the same day, even though I didn’t. I’m just afraid that they’ll think I let someone else use the pass. Sais pas. I’ll figure it out, though.

So I woke up and ate breakfast with Terra’s really awesome host mom who I totally would have loved to live with so much more than mine… and then hurried to the station to buy my ticket. The reservation cost on the night train had been less than two Euros, so I just didn’t worry about asking for a refund (the actual ticket is paid for through the pass), and I just got the ticket for this train and went out onto the quai, Terra coming up from the stairs right after me having just finished packing. Amanda was there, too, but we were all in different cars so we just said “hello, goodbye,” and got on the train. I spent a good portion of that day being still mad at myself for misreading the time on the ticket.

Getting into Gare Du Lyon, I decided to walk with Amanda and Terra to the apartment that Terra’s mom/grandparents use/rent out in Paris. It is literally blocks away from Notre Dame. I am very glad I walked with them, too, because once I got there, Terra offered for me to use the pull-out couch for the next two days instead of paying for a hostel that is a two-hour walk from the city, and a 30 minute metro ride. Yeah, that seems like a much better plan! And it was.

The remainder of the day we spent mostly together. We went to the nearest grocery store and got supplies (wine, of course, but also water and food for dinner). I went out for a couple hours to visit the Pantheon 

and the Cluny Museum (which has the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries). It was definitely worth it- I didn’t go into the Pantheon, but it was really cool to see this glorious Greek structure in the middle of Paris, with the same Parisian apartment buildings surrounding it as are everywhere else in the city. I walked to the museum after that and got in for free (I LOVE being a student of the European Union under the age of 26!- this is really the most perfect time to go anywhere in Europe in my life). Most of the art/relics there were really, really old. Statues that didn’t have limbs or faces consisted of the majority of the collection, but also tapestries, pottery, and one room that was full of swords. It was a really cool room- they had a little nook with a sword that you could pick up and feel the weight of through the glass,

 and they had several TV screens throughout the room that were showing various scenes from movies involving sword fighting, including the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was a very cool room.

I made sure that the Lady with the Unicorns room was the last that I went to, so I could spend as much time there as I wanted. The tapestries have such an amazing story. They were commissioned in the 1400’s and have, miraculously, managed to stay together, all six, that entire time. When the museum got them in the 1800’s the last foot, maybe two foot on each tapestry was in bad condition and had to be re-sewn and re-died; but, the dye they used was chemical instead of natural and very quickly the re-dyed fabric faded, so you can see the exact line when they were all re-dyed. The tapestries tell the story of this virgin woman who, in every tapestry is accompanied by a lion and a unicorn, and sometimes either a monkey or a maidservant. In the first five tapestries, the woman is tempted by each of the five senses, 

taste, 

smell, 

sight, 

touch, 

and hearing. 

In the final tapestry, though, she is doing something like putting a necklace back into her jewelry box, which somehow signifies that she’s choosing the path of righteousness, not temptation. They are all just beautiful pieces of art. Probably one of the favorite things I have seen here in Paris.

I headed home, having gotten slightly lost because I totally forgot my map, but I found the place again pretty quickly. Amanda cooked an amazing pasta-dinner with homemade tomato sauce,

 and then we decided that tomorrow I would make a quiche for us. I love quiches. And so very French!

We didn’t do all that much afterward because we were all so tired, but I felt like I at least got something productive in after having unintentionally missed half of my day due to the train-fiasco.