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Published: June 24th 2008
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Fire!
This enormous dragon was made from all recycled products--soda cans, bottles, etc. He was located in the Jardin des Plantes....we think;) The title says it all. Like the majority of our trips in Europe, we were only in Paris for a few days. Sometimes as soon as we say hello to a place we have to turn around and say goodbye. We usually take our trips on long weekends, work permitting. But even a few days in these wondrous places can seem like weeks. We always make sure to wake early, go to bed late, soak in as much of the culture & sights as possible. Our trip to Paris this month was no exception. I (Amy) had been there a couple of times before so I had an idea of the city layout, how the Metro worked, etc.
We flew into the city late at night, exiting the train onto the cold, rainy sidewalks. We definitely weren't prepared for the cold weather. We were used to the warmth of Spain. I guess the possibility of being cold hadn't occurred to us when we packed our one measly backpack. We always try to travel as light as possible. Who cares if you wear the same jeans for 4 days?! I tried to brave the chilly night air, but in the end
Louvre
It's as though he was posing for this picture was forced to purchase a sweater (it was cute & totally worth it). It was almost midnight and we wanted to get out of the elements and into our hostel so we could catch some Zzzzz's. We searched along the street and probably passed the place about 4 times before we noticed the little door behind a Donner stand. As with most hostels in Europe, there was a simple bed & sink in the room; nothing more, nothing less. With one exception in Paris; our hostel came with a bidet. We had become familiar with a bidet because our house in Spain had 2 of them. Though we never used the ones in our house, we knew their purpose. A bidet can be confused with a toilet of sorts at first glance, but it's used to spray water on you when you squat over it. Kind of a way to get extra clean or freshen up between showers. Since there was just a community shower down the hall and we had to pay to use it, the bidet was utilized😊
We did the normal things in Paris--visited the Louvre, wandered down Avenue des Champs-Elysees, saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel
Louvre
If only the curvaceous figure were what all women strived for these days. Tower. We ate near the tower & Parc du Champs de Mars, expecting the food to be crappy and extremely overpriced considering our location, but were pleasantly surprised (wish we would've written down the name of the place). Our friends Tara, Nick & Caelen came in from Germany and we had cappuccino's near Notre Dame by moonlight. We wandered near their hotel in the 18th Arrondissement, near Boulevard Clichy and the famous Moulin Rouge. The weather had turned beautiful and even though we were constantly on the go we managed to spend hours simply sitting in Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin des Plantes relaxing and people watching. Not too far from our hostel was a place called Pompidou Centre that houses the Musee National d'Art Moderne. This building is a site to see in itself. I'm sure to many it's an eyesore, but it's definitely an eye catcher. The architecture is modern and done in a way to expose as much of the framework as possible. It's brightly colored due to the ducts & exposed mechanical workings that are color coded: blue for air, green for fluids, yellow for electric, etc. Near the center is the Stravinsky Fountain where we
Notre Dame
by sunlight sat and ate one day. We found a lovely vegetarian restaurant near our hostel that could only seat about 10 people. We drank lots of wine. Ate lots of bread. One night when the rain was pouring down from the black sky (the weather during the day was good, but not every night was) we caught a movie in English! We bid ado to Paris, but I assure you we will return again. Au revoir!
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Nichole Z.
non-member comment
Seriously
I agree, we should all strive to be curvy and I know a lot of people who live by the picture of having their head stuck up someones arse. Love the pics!