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Published: November 22nd 2007
Paris Drizzling
Actually it was more of a downpour when we bought the umbrellas... it stopped immediately after we had them.We arrived in Madrid today but because of a lack of internet access we're going to have to post our Paris blog from here. We LOVED Paris. When we first arrived we had some communication problems with Paulhita, the Sri Lankan man my parents had arranged to pick us up from the airport due to the transportation strike throughout the city. After a few hours, and a nauseating van ride, we arrived in Paris. The hotel we stayed at with Liz's mom was right down the street from our friend Tommy's apartment. Tommy is living in Paris on an Inter-European exchange program known as Erasmus. The first day in Paris we walked around his neighborhood on Monmartre and visited the Sacre Couer cathedral and the Moulin Rouge. We ate a lovely olive baguette on our way to the center of Paris. Ani and Ian visited the Louvre while Liz and her Mom and Tommy walked around the Old Jewish/ New Gay quarter known as Marais. Ani and Ian were of course impressed with the shear amount of art in the Louvre but found themselves more interested in the architecture of the building. After we all met up we walked down to
Blanche
Waiting for one of the few running metro lines at Blanche Station on Monmartre Notre Dame which was closing early due to the strike... like nearly everything in Paris. We walked back to the hotel and went to the cafe Zebra for dinner. After a few bottles of red wine, the hours of traveling caught up to us and we passed out for the next 12 hours or so.
The second day in Paris, Ani and Ian visited the Eiffel Tower. Ian got sick on the elevator on the way up but when they got to the top the sun peaked out of the rainy Parisian sky just long enough to take some great pictures of the Paris skyline before heading back down to meet Liz and Tommy and Ann at the Arc de Triumphe... also closed due to the strike. That night we ordered pizza and bought wine and had dinner in Tommy's tiny little 6th floor walk-up apartment. Tommy taught Liz and Ani how to roll their own cigarettes a la poor French students. They're pretty confident that it is a valuable skill they'll be called upon to use some time very soon. After dinner Tommy took us to a student bar on Monmartre where we had some beer and some
more hand rolled cigarettes before the long walk home down Pigalle, which Tommy affectionately refers to as F*ck-F*ck street.
On our last day in Paris we walked down to the Musee D'Orsay only to discover it was closed... yep, you guessed it, because of the strike. We decided to walk to the Latin Quarter of San Germain des Pres to enjoy a delightful crepe and then toured the inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral. After that Liz and Ani decided they wanted to go on a "Da Vinci Code" quest and went to visit the Cathedral de San Sulpice. It was just as creepy as it came across in the book and everyone enjoyed walking around looking at the Solstice Oblisk and the "rose line." That night we dined at the Zebra Cafe again and Liz and Ani and Tommy went to see the movie Once which had just opened in Paris. The film was enjoyed by all until the next day when they had to wake up at 4:00 am to catch a taxi, to catch a bus, to get to the airport... damn strike.
We are now in Madrid and we will be updating you all as soon as we can!
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stacie
non-member comment
ooh la la
sooo jealous! i just got back into d-town but i sure wish i was traveling with you fine ladies! everything sounds amazing, mmm, and so french. also glad to hear you guys like once, i'm addicted to the album! can't wait to see/hear more. buon viaggio!