Day 3, 4, 5 - Paris

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I took the overnight train from Munich to Paris and arrived Sunday Morning at Gare de l'Est. After I dropped off my bag at St. Christopher's Hostel, I tried to walk to Gare St. Lazare. However, after about 30 minutes and still nowhere near the train station, I realized I had to take the Metro. From St. Lazare, I rode the 1.5 hour train to Rouen, a city to the north of Paris. Once, one of the largest and richest cities of Medieval Europe, Rouen was where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431. I spent a couple of hours walking around the city and taking in the Gothic Architecture. I was on my way back to Paris after a visit to Rouen's Notre Dame Cathedral. Too tired to do anything else, I called it a night early.

Monday morning I woke up at 9 and went to visit the center of Paris. As I sat on a bench in a square, this Parisian chatted me up. A 19 year old name Shone, he gave me his telephone number, and we agreed to meet in the same place tomorrow at 11am to walk around. Not far away, I stood at Kilometre Zero, located in the square facing Notre Dame and where all distances in Paris are measured from. I went inside Notre Dame and relaxed in some of the parks around it. Then, I took a promenade in the Latin Quarter passing by the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, and I randomly happened upon a high school (which I later found out to be Lycee Louis -le-Grand, regarded as one of the most successful and demanding high schools). Apparently, Eastpak backpacks are really popular because it seemed like everyone had one. Also, watching them in their courtyard/playground, I can conclude that they're not very good at basketball but pretty good at volleyball. After being creepy for a little bit, I left for the Jardin du Luxembourg. The gardens were breathtaking--immense and filled with Parisians on a Monday. I lounged a bit in a chair until around 6 pm.

I was ready to begin my journey to the Eiffel Tower. I had seen it in the distance all day, but it wasn't until I started walking toward it that I realized it was much farther away than it seemed. On the way, I stopped in a small park called Jardin Catherine Laboure. Inside was mostly moms playing with their children and a couple of teenagers. I finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower around 7:30, and since the stairs were closed, I took the lift up the tower. The view was nice, and being at the top was very cool. However, taking pictures of the tower on the ground is better than taking pictures on the tower itself. I stayed around the Eiffel Tower for the night and left the area around 10pm to go look for a hostel.

I had a hostel reserved for every night in Paris except for Monday night. So I take the metro to the Latin Quarter to find one. At this point, I'm really proud of myself for using the metro system so adeptly and finding the hostel I was looking for so quickly. But when I ask the first hostel if there are any available beds, that pride quickly disappears. He says they are all booked but points me in the direction of another hostel. I walk about five minutes, and all of a sudden, it starts pouring down rain. I keep walking for another ten minutes and get to the second hostel. Unfortunately, it is full as well, and the man there gives me the address of a different hostel. I set out again in the rain, half-laughing at my predicament and half-hoping I don't get mugged in the rainy night. After 15 minutes, I arrive at Oops! Hostel, and the guy tells me they are full for the night. I'm drenched and looking kind of pathetic at the moment. The receptionist goes to double check some rooms to see if they are indeed full, and he manages to find me an open bed. Thank god! I get to my room. It's very nice and hotel-like; basically, it's a small hotel room with two bunk beds. In the room are three other guys, one from Michigan, one from Calgary, Canada, and one from South Carolina. They are all travelling alone so this is like a perfect room. We all get to talking, and some of the guys have already been travelling for a while so they have tons of stories to share. Apparently, if a guy is wearing shorts in Europe, it's a pretty good indicator that he's gay. Haha I had no clue and I have been wearing shorts almost every day of the trip. I fall asleep around 2am, and the next morning everyone is up by 8am.

The guy from South Carolina, Justin, has a French placement test for his summer French classes at the Sorbonne; I'm jealous. The guy from Michigan, Dave, left around 7 to catch a train back to Frankfurt, I think, to fly home. The Canadian, also named Michael, and I head out to see the Arc de Triomphe. He's been in Europe since April 1, which is ridiculously awesome, but he's only spending a day in Paris because his trip got cut short by some stuff back home. Anyway, we ride the metro to Champs-Elysees and make our way up the Arc de Triomphe. In my opinion, the view from on top of the Arc de Triomphe is a good deal better than the view from the Eiffel Tower. We look below at the roundabout in hopes of catching a famed car accident. No luck however. While we descend the Arc de Triompe, it has begun to drizzle. After walking a bit on the Champs-Elysees, the rain comes down harder. We duck in to have lunch together then go our separate ways. He gets onto a "L'Open Tour," a hop on-hop off tour bus, and I depart for Chateau de Versailles.

I get off the train at Versailles Rive-Gauche and head for the palace. Since there's a strike in Paris, the audio-guide that is normally included with the ticket to the palace is not available. I spend an hour or so walking through the chateau and admire the grandness of everything, especially the hall of mirrors. All in all, I was expecting to be more impressed, but that might have something to due with the fact that it was such a dreary day. At least it wasn't crowded.

I'm getting lazy with the pictures. I think I'm just going to upload them to facebook from now on.
Here's the Paris album.

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Photos

Rouen
African festival concert