Dead Legends, Protest, Cabaret, French & Australian Gangsters and Cinderella

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DAY 2
* JIM MORRISON’s grave among others at NAPOLEON Père Lachaise Cemetery. (Jim's grave is surprisingly standard. The rest of the cemetery is quite impressive though with enormous monuments, catacombs and tributes to politicians, artists, martyrs and common peasants) *The cemetery was one of the first since Paris's ban on cemeteries due to health hazards in 1786.

* Sacré-Coeur & Montemartre (view from the scenic highest point in Paris)

* Student demonstrations, police in RIOT gear. Intense but no physical responses. (Would’ve been well documented by the massive group of tourists watching from the sidelines.)

* MOULIN ROUGE, the famous 1889 red light district CABARET located in the old town village Boulevard of Clichy.

* Night out with reformed GANG member/couchsurfer Aussie Mike from the streets of Perth. Hanging around Republique and Bastille we witnessed several FIGHTS, muggings and few meager attempts by POLICE to stop the perpetrators. We got out of there after chatting with bums on the steps of the Bastille Opera House and sensing that we may have been the next VICTIMS.


DAY 3
* Day trip to the outskirts of Paris

First Stop: The Château de Vincennes. Typically OUTRAGEOUS castle with moat, dungeon, drawbridge, dragons, etc. Originally a hunting lodge for Louis VII about in the forest. Housed the CROWN OF THORNS as it awaited arrival in the Sainte-Chapelle. A small remnant of the crown remains in the Château and is displayed prominently in it's very own chapel.

Second Stop: Château de Fontainebleau. The former residence of Napoleon Bonaparte was known as a "NO TELL MOTEL" for the elite, also "The Fountain by The Mountain". Full of actual bookshelves that hide secret passages and paintings that cover hidden treasure. Vast forests and hunting grounds surround the massive and luxurious castle, which supposedly inspired Disney's CINDERELLA castle in Tokyo Disneyland. You can imagine couriers arriving horseback through the wooded paths, bringing news from abroad. The woods were good for walking around looking for fairies, DWARVES and mythical creatures but we couldn't find any on that particular day.

Last Stop: "Steeve's Couchsurfing Raclette Party". This guy is amazing. He was hosting three Aussies, two Canadians, two Slovaks and an ALASKAN! The night before he invited a group of 15 couchsurfers over for a traditional French dining experience called a "raclette", similar to a fondue. We ate melted FROMAGE (cheese) with fine cuts of meat, potatoes and quality French wine.

Steve introduced us to very generous and friendly young Parisians (most spoke English and a few Spanish) and helped defeat the stereotype of the snobby, exclusive and anti-American Parisian. I suppose that's part of what couchsurfing and traveling are all about. Good times, good food, good people, good SPIRITS.

Au revoir for now... Off to Amsterdam

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