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Published: October 17th 2010
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Well Saturday was our free day. We split apart for the day and it was quite refreshing. I am really getting settled in Paris now and I feel my french improving every day. I think if I had 6 months I could be fluent! Well not so much, but closer than I am right now. I spent my day getting up early and going for a run. I had read about the grand epeciere at the Bon Marche, so after I got ready I walked over to that direction. The streets were really busy today, crammed with shoppers and tourists. I made a quick stop at Pont des Arts, a metal fence type bridge that is famous not only for being a prime picnic spot, but where lovers from all over declared and seal their love with a lock with their names inscribed. The whole fence is lined up with various key locks and messages. Its very cute and romantic. I do notice one thing being here compared to canada, a lot of people freely express their love for each other. There is a lot of kissing in the parks, holding hands, general staring into eachothers eyes. I guess thats why
they call it the city of love! I myself am not a fan of pda, it just makes everyone around you uncomfortable while you stradle the other person on a park bench.
I grabbed an amazing take out lunch from le Grand epicerie ( the best bococini i have ever had) and took myself over to Jardin de Luxemburg to sit and eat and read my book. It was a perfect relaxing day, and since we were going out that night I wanted to save my energy. Aperfect fall day!
That night we decided to check out the club scene at a very popular place called le cab. This was a very busy club with bottle service and very expensive drink menu. I usually try not to convert my money when im away, but we spent $50 canadian on two drinks. wow. Drink very slowly!!!. The club itself was vey happening with fun music and lots of people.I could see how if under the right circumstances this could be a good place to party.Then my travel partner got sick, so we left.
Sunday morning, our plan was to rent bikes from the local velib service. When we stepped
out we realized just how chilly it was. This was not the best weather for bike riding, but we persisted. We played around with the machine and for some reason, it did not want to accept our credit card.We tried over and over again to no avail. I took this as a sign and headed over to starbucks immediatly and hopped on the metro. We headed up to Montmartre and landed on blvd de Clichy. This street carries a lot of touristy cafes, sex shops and of course the famous Moulin Rouge. We looked across the street and saw a 3 story sex store,and as curiosity goes, decided to check it out. Upon walking in the girl at the desk looked up at us from under her wig and then went back to her business. She was wearing fishnet stockings and a bustier. There was a wall covered in dildos and some other sex toys that quite honestly I have no idea what they do, I checked the package to try to identify what i was looking at but we really don't learn those words in my french class. Then I glanced up at the wall and saw tv's showing
porn. I almost puked. Raunchy stuff like that makes me physically ill. We left that area and checked out the second level. The walls were lined with dvds of every sort,lesbians, trannys,and chubby chasers. I began thinking it was way too early in the morning to be exposed to this. But then I doubt there is ever a good time to be exposed to this.A man walked past us thru the hallway and I looked at where he came from. There were booths further down and I realized that that the dvd's on the wall were for watching in the boothes. I really hope I haven't touched anything.Gross. I contemplated for a second about how much anti-bacterial gel you would need to fill a bathtub. Our curiosity has been filled enough so we leave.. We head up toward Sacre Coeur, making stops along the way. We stumbled upon a neighborhood garage sale. Lots of antique dishes,knick knacks, things that would make my mother and aunt very happy. There was also, surprisingly ,a huge number of stores open despite the law that forbids them to. I wonder how often they enforce that. We trek up the many stairs and find ourselves
at the top of the hill, by Sacre coeur.The steps are filled with tourists, all here to see the same thing.The view. This is one of the most well known views in paris, high atop overlooking the city. We stop and sit at a bench and do the typical tourist thing, which is have lunch. Everyone picnics up here, bringing wine and cheese and baguettes. It almost ruins the whole atmosphere by how cliche it is, but being that sonja has not been here before, you gotta do it at least once, then find the more local spots the second time around.or maybe the 3rd. We spend the rest of the afternoon strolling around, picking up the cheesy tourist items,watching the artists in place de terre paint their next masterpiece,or easy sell. The weather finally became the better of us and we decided to call it a day. Thank god we didnt rent bikes. Tomorrow starts our 4 day paris museum pass so the next 4 days will be soild hardcore museum and monuments. I am actually looking forwand to it, stay tuned for some fun pics coming the next while!
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Maureen Lupton
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Fantastic!!
Well I'm a bit tardy in getting to your travel blog, but bravo on the fab trip and your written discriptions are exceptional!!! I am enjoying living vicariously through your exciting travels. Lots of Love Aunti Mo