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Published: August 10th 2009
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Sacre Cour
The highest land spot in Paris Le Village Hostel
Paris, France
Wednesday, August 5 2009
Well folks, I'm back out on the road, and tomorrow I travel to the next farm I will work at. It's a smallish farm in Germany somewhere near Frankfurt. The labor that we've discussed over email encompasses some building/construction work, making cherry schnappes, tending the vegetable garden and such. And fantastic news: I won't be alone working on this farm! There are supposed to be two girls from Malaysia arriving tomorrow around the same time, and the three of us will join someone from Australia already at the farm. It will be nice and interesting having different people around to converse with than the owners of the farm, as I sometimes felt a bit of a pest in that situation. I know I wasn't being one, but still it'll be nice to have multiple people to have after-work activities with.
So what have I been doing in Paris since Sunday morning? Mainly walking, relaxing and trying to absorb the insanity that fell into my life in July. I admit that I might have panicked a bit when I flew home from Belgium, but it was entirely my decision to do
so. I don't regret it one bit, because my family comes above damn near everything else in my life, and I will always be there for them when needed. Plus I managed to do a bit of work around the house while there, finishing some jobs that really hadn't been done this year. The place was a little nicer than I left it, which is my goal when I go WWOOFing. So in a manner of speaking, I WWOOFed at home.
One of the funny things about returning to a city you've already visited is that you don't necessarily feel the obligation to complete the tourist punchcard. No, this isn't some lottery ticket that I'm talking about, but rather the list of things that people tell you that you absolutely HAVE to see in such-and-such a place. For Paris, that list includes the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Cour, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Luxembourg Gardens and Notre Dame. Even if you don't necessarily pay to go inside all these things, people look at you a bit funny if you don't come home with a picture of every one from the outside when returning home. Well, given that this
Homies
Some of my homies from the hostel in front of the Army Museum isn't my first trip, and I had seen most of that stuff already, I felt less hurried and pressured on this visit. Last time Paris was fine, but it wasn't great. This time, I can honestly say it was a great visit.
Another benefit of being an old hand in a city is that you can play tour guide to folks who haven't been here and also take a shot at discovering new things you missed. I've latched up with a group of folks here at the hostel, and between a couple of us who had been to Paris previously, we had it all covered. Directions, sights, the tips and tricks to finding the perfect lunch spot, just what you should be eating for lunch (the sandwich is king when it comes to lunch in Paris) and so forth. I managed to find a fantastic little chocolate shop between Montmartre and the center of town where I purchased some chocolates for my host family in Germany. I've also been less afraid to just mangle the French language than I was in the past. Sure, perfect pronounciation is great, but sometimes you just have to try and make it happen.
People here definitely appreciate your attempt far more than just walking up to them and asking if they speak English. Though, if all you manage to do is learn please, thank you, hello, goodbye and excuse me, you're doing better than most tourists I've seen.
Fantastic news on the non-WWOOFing front, as well. My friend Sara emailed me before I left the states to see if I wanted to go to Oktoberfest in Munich. Um...of course! So we're now booked into hotels in Munich, as well as booked on the Munich to Venice overnight train. We both figured that 6 straight days of nonstop beer debauchery might just cause our livers to abandon our bodies, so we're going to save a little bit for the canal city. From there, she'll head home and I'll continue my journey in Italy.
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Kelly
non-member comment
GREAT!!
Love the blog -- So glad you're "on the road again" as the inimitable willie says.