Paris; a city of sweat and love for those that find it

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So I've spend the last few days in Paris with my trip coming full circle to where it really began over 2 months ago. The weather is heaps better this time and the city is bustling with people shopping like crazy. I was told that for 6 weeks the stores have to hold crazy sales. I don't know who mandates that or if it's just something that happens every year but either way the streets are crowded and the stores are a disaster. It looks like the sales are pretty good though. I've only stopped a few places reminding myself I have very little space for anything. This would be a great place to note for all of you out there reading my blog that I am not bringing things home for everyone. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone but space and money are both giant issues and to be honest I haven't found much worth buying. So, if there's something in particular that anyone wants from Paris please let me know and I'll see what I can do. Otherwise, ya'll get my smiling face and super bear hugs back in the USA as your gift from my Europe trip.

I arrived back in Paris on Saturday night with Brent and Rob after taking the train from Amsterdam. A train without decent airconditioning unfortunately. We got into Paris in time to watch the France vs. Brazil game that left the streets filled with honking and cheering all night long. When the French celebrate they really celebrate. Last night France beat Portugal and it was even crazier. The metro was full of fans and there were cars racing around honking all night. There were a few fights in the area, one that occured right under my window at who knows what hour last night. It was a bit scary because I find people who are so worked up to be so unpredictable. A few of us from the hostel were out wandering around and as soon as France won we booked it back to the hostel to watch from the window. Turns out it was a good idea.

Brent and Rob left early on Sunday morning leaving me traveling alone once again. I took the train out to Chartres and Versailles, cities outside of Paris. It was the last day on my rail pass and I figured I should use it wisely. Chartres was a quiet medieval town with a gorgeous cathedrale housing 172 stained glass windows. The streets were narrow and cobblestone with a good portion of the city on the side of a hill. Of course it was hot and sunny so the hill was a bit unpleasant but the crepe lunch I had made up for it. Versailles got the exhausted and sweaty version of me so I didn't do more than stand in front of the chateaux and find the train again. I have no right to really say I visited there.

Monday morning I walked up to the Sacre Coeur. Don't worry everyone, it hasn't moved or changed since I saw it 2 months ago. :-) Actually the view was much different in the day time and I'm glad I went. I was cornered by an artist wanting to sketch me and figured I'd humor him since I've always wanted to see what would come out of a street sketching of me. The result was a pretty good picture of just about anyone with my hair and jewelry. With the many such artists running around hounding tourists my guess is we all were looking quite the same by the end of the day. While I'm on the subject of artists...

I was in the train station the other day and this guy in line behind me started motioning me to wait for him while he digged through his bag and pockets. I had no idea what he was doing but he eventually pulled out an ink pen in many pieces. I think he had a piece in every pocket. When he managed to put it all back together he pulled out a scrap piece of paper with another small drawing on it that looked like a child's sketch of who knows what. I tried to ask him what he was doing and he rattled something off in French. I told him I didn't speak French and he didn't respond. He started staring at me like he was looking way beyond my face. It was creepy because he wasn't making any facial expressions. He would only look away to write something on the paper but it didn't ever look like he truly wrote anything down. He put the paper and pen away fairly quickly but never stopped staring at me. I got the guy in front of him to tell him I didn't speak French and to try and figure out what his deal was but we didn't get anywhere. In the end he stared at me with no attempt to hide it for a good 45 minutes. I finally got out of there. He had paint on his pants and I wondered if he was an artist. So keep your eyes peeled for some random abstract depiction of me somewhere. Who knows what this guy was doing. Creepy...very creepy.

My friend Maryanne got in on Monday evening from London. We met up with Becca and had a bread, cheese, and wine dinner picnic under the Eiffel Tower. It was nice to have a short reunion and recap of Romania. We went up the Eiffel Tower when it lit up and I have to admit that all cities with a tower pretty much look the same from the top. The difference was this one was insanely crowded with tourists trying to take pictures of themselves in front of the city in the dark with flashes. They never gave up though. I guess it's just having the picture is important in the end.

Yesterday I saw some of the Louvre and by some I mean almost none. If you never slept and only spent 30 seconds viewing each piece you would spend 3 months there before seeing everything. I managed to make it to see the Mona Lisa and a few others and then had to give up. The tourists get hard to deal with and it was just too overwhelming. Today I went to the Museum D'Orsey and checked out the canvas' by Monet and Van Gogh. It was a huge change from the religious iconic art in Italy. I'm still struggling to find my appreciation for all of this stuff in the galleries and have found that renting the audio guides definitely helps but I think it takes time and a better understanding of history to truly understand what you're viewing.

The only other thing to note about Paris right now is it's lack of air conditioning. It's been so hot here the last few days and riding the metro is like sitting in a moving sauna. I swear when the door opens everyone just flexes and you go shooting out slipping and sliding in sweat. It's gross but at least everyone is suffering together. It's not like you're the only one who stinks. It rained the other night so it's cooled a bit but it's still a little on the warm side.

It's getting late and I need to find my way home to the hostel. I had planned to go to Switzerland last night for a few days but ended up staying here when I realized the trains and housing situation wasn't going to be pretty. I likely would have ended up camping out in a train station half way to Interloken last night and who knows if I would have made it back on Saturday in time to leave on Sunday. So Paris is my last city on the tour. I will update at least one more time before I leave this weekend..I hope.

I'm sorry for the lack of photos lately. It's been difficult to find places to easily upload them and I filled my memory card so I have to take them directly from the camera which takes longer and requires resizing software that isn't always available. I promise to create one hell of a slide show when I get back.

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