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The Tower at night.
YAY for the city of LIGHTS! I arrived into Central Paris via the EuroStar. This is the coolest train EVER!! SO FAST. But still better than flying, I get to watch as the French countryside opens up in front of me, beautiful. From Gare du Nord (the end of the Eurostar Line in Paris) I made my way...all by myself using the two french words that i know...to the suburban train station and catch a train to Plasir-Gringon (Plaisir is where Denis and Natalie live and it means "pleasure" - PERFECT!). When i get to the station Denis is there waiting. When we get home we sit down to an amazing leg of lamb dinner - be prepared, I get very spoiled in France ahahah - complete with wines and after fromage and crepes. SO good! We stayed up until about midnight just getting to know eachother and talking about everything from work to politics to love. Such warm and welcoming people. After all the wine and a day of hiking and travelling, I'm exhausted and ready for bed, Denis shows me to my room, it has a GINORMOUS bed and is right next to Denis' home recording studio.
The next morning at breakfast I got to
YAY First day in Paris
This was taken right before i crossed over and saw the Seine for the first time. meet the girls!! Sophie and Lucy are Denis and Natalie's daughters they are 4 and 2 respectively and could not be more beautiful if they tried! Natalie dropped me at the train station on her way to work and I spent the day wandering around Paris. I walked everywhere, from Gare Montparnasse to the Army Museum up Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumph to the Tracadero and of course the Eiffel Tower which I approached from the north and when i turned the corner and saw it I just stopped...I CAN"T BELEIVE I'M HERE!! What an amazing feeling! The next day was a little tough...it was raining a LOT and I got into a couple of situations where my lack of French created some frustrating moments for me and most likely for a few Parisian cafe managers. It's really the first time I've been in a place where english is not the native language and its mostly frustrating because I SO badly want to be able to communicate wit the local people to really experience the culture. That being said, I look at it as a challenge and I'm brsuhing up my mime skills! ahahaha! The following day I
Denis and the girls!
From the left: Sophie, Lucy, and Denis. SO amazing!! went to Versilles Gardens. SO beautiful. Its hard to imagine this ENORMOUS place was once someone's backyard! Everything is SO lavish and to think that Louis and Marie were living it up here in these lush surroundings while the freanch people were starving in the streets. Unreal.
-- On a side note this day marked "ONE MONTH ON THE ROAD" for me!--
That night I went with the Fam to Natalie's parents place for one of the most exsquste dinners I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying (told you i got spoiled here) to compliment the amazing food was a bottle of red wine...vintage 1988!! (SO spoiled!) Natalie's parents are wonderfully generous people and I can't thank them enough for that great night of food, wine and converstation. On the way home Denis and Natalie drove us past the Eiffel Tower just so that I could see it at night all lite up, very cool.
I spen the next morning wandering through the labrynth that is Pere Lachaise cemetary, visiting the final resting places of the likes of Chopin and of course Jim Morrison. From there I went to Sacre Coer, a Cathedral up on a HUGE
Monument
The trees ALL over Paris are great. hill in the north of the city. To say that the view from the top, of Paris, is breathtaking couldn't be more of an understatement. Next I moved on to the famous Bells of Notre Dame. Once inside i lite a candle for my Grandpa Ralph. Its a beautiful place, the Rose Window and all.
--A note on Tourists. I know i AM one, but I always make a very genuine effort to be respectful of the sites I'm visiting, especially at any kind of religous site. I don't consider myseld an extraordinarily religous person, but when a sign CLEARLY (in several languages) to be "Silent" and "NO Flash Photography" I tend to heed the warning. Not so with most of the visitors of Notre Dame on that day. I just felt bad for the people that were there praying, their conversations with god muddled by the constant din of tour groups and abrasive sudden flashes of light. Oh well. end rant here--
The next night I enjoyed one last AMAZING meal with Denis and Natalie, complete with a champagne toast to send me on my way. I will never be able to adequately describe the love and
Arc de Triumph
Took this picture standing in the middle of a crosswalk on Champs Elysees. welcome and kindness Denis and his family have shown to me since the moment I arrived in France, I will be forever grateful and will miss them VERY much! ---Denis and Natalie, when you read this please say 'hello' to Sophie and Lucy for me.
Before bed I pack my bag once again, in the morning I catch my flight to Berlin! Germany here I come!!
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Amy
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Parisian Memoirs from China!
YAY Love! I am sure that everyone is happy for the update even if it is from China. These things get more daunting to write the further you travel, but your public is happy to hear about you. LOVE YOU!