Paris...Part Five and Final. :)

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Hi guys,
Warning to everyone: This blog is super long.

Well, Paris with API was considerably less cool, but I still had a lot of fun hanging out with my Cádiz friends.

I got to the hotel a little after 12:30 and was absolutely exhausted. Natalie wasn’t in the room. Fine with me, I got ready for bed, set my alarm for seven and just crashed. During my studying/napping the day before I also tried to find a good place to run around our hotel, which was in the 4th. Thankfully, Luxembourg Gardens were not far from out hotel. I figured out which streets I needed to take and memorized their names and the order I needed to take them in and woke up and took off for my run. Not as fun without someone to talk to, but I was proud of myself for getting to the gardens while running, without getting lost. It took about 15 minutes to run there, so I didn’t have long to run through the gardens, but they are equally as nice and peaceful at 7:24 in the morning as they are on Thursdays at 6 in the evening in October.

While there I ran past one of three small statues of Liberty that there are in Paris. One is on the Seine, actually nearby the Inception Bridge (can you remember its actual name?), one is in some museum and one is in Luxembourg Gardens. Then I headed back, to finally meet up with all of the other students. We had a bus tour of the city, which after a lot of walking around and a bike tour was sort of anticlimactic, but our tour guide was a pretty funny guy a made good jokes.

After the bus tour, we were free for some exploring and lunch before we had to meet back up at the Louvre. We explored Notre Dame and my Cádiz friends wanted to see Shakespeare & Co.. Jerica and I had time that we could write notes to leave on the little corkboard, which I thought was really cool. On our way back to the Louvre we took our time and looked at all of the street art that people had set up in stands along the Seine. There was a lot of nice art work, old books, and souvenirs. Jerica has this thing going where she buys a copy of Harry Potter in as many languages as she can from the countries we visit. Amazingly, one of the vendors had a copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in French for only 7 euros. Too good to pass up. Personally, I think her idea is super cool; to have Harry Potter in all those different languages? Unfortunately we couldn’t find Harry Potter in Portuguese in Portugal, but I guess she will just have to go back there. I even found a book called “Le Devin.” I wasn’t going to buy it, but I took a cool photo of me! Devin must me a more common name in France than in Spain. I asked Evan if people ever had trouble with his name in Spain, because they just can’t get mine here. “Oh yeah. For about two months I was “Eva” until one day they finally were like ‘Oh! You have an ‘n’ on the end of your name!’”

Towards the end of the line of vendors was a girl with a binder of small water color paintings. One in particular caught my eye. The coloring was really pretty with bright blues, greens, purples, and pinks. It was of just a bridge and seemed like it was looking towards Ile de la Cité. I decided I really wanted a piece of art from Paris, and I knew it was fate when before I even asked she said, “It’s of Pont des Artes.” My lock bridge! Ah, so perfect. I was so excited about it, and it was only 10 euros.
My favorite part of the day was lunch, though. We walked back over by the Louvre to the Jardin des Tuileries and ate lunch in the grass, under the sun, in clean, crisp air. So, so nice. We all agreed that Cádiz was nice, but this was a good change of pace. During our lunch Hayley mentioned that she really wasn’t in the mood to go to the Louvre. She’d been there before and just didn’t feel like spending such a nice day in the museum. Before Evan and I went to the Louvre, I was thinking that I wouldn’t mind double dipping, but after Hayley mentioned that she didn’t want to go, I started thinking that after we had spent nearly four hours there just two days before, maybe I was good too. We asked Juan if it would be alright if we didn’t go. “Of course, it’s your trip; you ladies may spend it how you like.”

Hayley wanted to see Luxembourg Gardens. We strolled over there and picked up a snack on the way. Tarte au citron for me, another one to cross off the list! We carried our treats to the gardens and tried to find a place to sit. I would NOT suggest Luxembourg Gardens on a Saturday afternoon in October. There was a herd of people EVERYWHERE! All over the place, people! Even the grassy knoll where you are allowed to actually sit on the grass was completely full. These people must have all come from places where there is no grass too! Hayley and I don’t like big crowds, so we found a small area where there weren’t many people, just some kids riding trikes in circles. We sat and talked for a long time about family, friends, what we missed, what we didn’t miss, and what we were most excited to see in Paris. We talked until we got cold and had to walk to the sun.

We were supposed to meet the Louvre kids in the gardens after the Louvre, but the time came and went from when we expected them to be there, and there were so many people in the gardens we were sure that they would never be able to find us. There were also multiple entrances and no way to know which one they would use, so we couldn’t even just wait by the gate. We made the executive decision that there was more of Paris to see. There was a museum Hayley had interest in, so we headed that way. Well, the museum had a sign up, in French, with lots of French words and lots of different times. The museum closed sometime between 5:45 and 9:30. It was like 7:30 at that point, so we figured that it was probably 5:45? Maybe? We needed to learn more French. Thankfully near the museum was at least Pont Alexandre III, so we enjoyed time there for a while. “Hayley! Take a picture of me!”
“Ok! Ok, now look regal.”
“Ummmm…” After thinking for a full 30 seconds, the only thing I could think of was the episode of SpongeBob where he has to be fancy so he just always keeps his pinky up. So, in true regal style, I slowly raised my pinky in the air. Hayley just started laughing and laughing but was able to compose herself long enough to take the photo.
We had talked about going to see the Eiffel Tower at night, so in one last attempt to find the rest of our group we went back to the hotel, left a note and headed to the Eiffel Tower. On our way there we crossed the Inception Bridge again and Hayley looks down and sees a footprint in the cement. “Look at that footprint! That must be Leonardo DiCaprio’s footprint.” I agree. Settled. Picture taken of Leonardo DiCaprio’s footprint and no one will tell us differently.

We enjoyed seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up, and every hour there are twinkling, dazzling lights as well, which was really neat, and all of the canal boats were lit up. We agreed that this would be an ok place for a date, we supposed, I mean, if we had to. 😊 However, since we had no more luck finding our friends and we were hungry we tried to find food. Hayley thought she saw restaurants up by Troncadéro, but that is in the 16th, which if you remember from like 12 blogs ago, that is the ritzy area of Paris, probably expensive. We asked a guy at a souvenir stand where a cheap place to eat was, “There is a McDonalds up that way, and a KFC, and a Chinese place.” Hayley and I did not come to Paris to eat McDonalds.
We opted to head back to the 4th to see what there was by our hotel. Right outside of the metro station was a restaurant. Looked like it had food, we were in. A waiter seated us at a table and we started looking at the menu. I got as far as noticing that a hamburger was the cheapest thing at 17 euro. Executive decision made by Hayley and I, we were not eating here. “Quick, let’s just get up and leave before he comes back, we can’t leave if he comes back and asks for our drinks.” So we took off and did not look back. Up and down a few streets and there was a little Chinese restaurant that looked reasonable, and it was warm inside.

It ended up being a really quiet place with this adorable Chinese lady who spoke no English, but we were somehow able to hold a conversation with her with my super-duper broken French and my French phrasebook as well as gestures and pointing. I got spicy duck and Hayley got pineapple chicken. Coolest thing ever, Hayley’s pineapple chicken actually came in a pineapple! We ate, and ran, actually ran, back to the hotel because we were cold. Once again, a bed sounded so delightful. We agreed to tell everyone to meet for breakfast at 9 so that we could head off to the Palace of Versailles somewhat early.

The next morning I wasn’t able to get up with my alarm to go for my run. That should have been a sign that this was not going to be a good day. It started off fine. We were able to find the right train to take us to the town of Versailles, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. We weren’t actually interested in seeing the inside of the palace, plus it cost 13,50 euros, we really just wanted to spend the day outside in the gardens and be back in Paris by the middle of the afternoon so that we could see more of the city. Our guide told us the gardens of Versailles were free, which is NOT true, they are 6 euros if you ever go. Hayley was dying to see Marie Antoinette’s House and Village, which sounded good to the rest of us. You have to actually take a tram or a golf cart down to her house because it is so far away, well, you can walk, but it just takes a really, really long time.

You actually have to pay more money to get into Marie Antoinette’s gardens and home, which we weren’t too excited about, however the ticket taker asked, “Are you studying architecture or art in Paris?.”
“No.”
“Are you studying architecture or art anywhere?”
“No.” (Come on guys, she is trying to help us out here!)
“We are students in Spain,” I chimed in.
“Ah, good, can you show me your visas or student cards?”
Perfect. We got into the gardens for free. Her gardens are absolutely beautiful, and her little village sort of appears through the trees and seriously looks as if it were taken right out of a fairy tale. The buildings all have sort of a pale pink trim, and there is a little lake with swans, as well as a tower, and a farm. We walked around the village and as we were waiting for everyone to get done taking pictures, I was again enticed by the grass. I sat down and then laid back, soaking up the warm sun. Brian gave me a pull up and we headed off to catch the tram to explore the gardens up by the palace.

Almost back at the palace I reached into my pocket to grab my camera. Nothing there. Purse? Nothing. “Where is my camera? Oh my gosh you guys, where is my camera?”
“Did you drop it in the grass?”
“Oh my gosh you are probably right.”
The tram passes are for all day, so we thought that we could just stay on and ride back down. Nope. The conductor refused to let us stay on the tram. He wouldn’t even listen to Brian (who actually speaks a little French) when he was trying to explain what happened. He told us to go up to the front and ask if they could help, he would do nothing. We walked up to the front. They also told me they could do nothing to help me get back down to the gardens and the line for the tram was so long it would take at least 30 minutes before we would be able to get on another tram. Forget that. Hayley and I took off in a dead sprint towards Marie Antoinette’s home. We got there in just over 10 minutes and we never stopped sprinting. We searched all over the gardens where I had been sitting. Nothing. By the time we walked back to the entrance of the gardens the others were just getting there. They people at the gardens were really nice and helpful. One of the workers could tell I was distressed filling out the report for my missing camera. “I’m sorry no one has turned in your camera. Can I get you a glass of water, at least?” Very nice.

We waited around the gardens hoping someone would turn it in. Brian walked back to where we had been sitting in the grass to look for himself. Still nothing. The people I am here in Cádiz with are by far the kindest, most caring people. They sat there with me, and looked at passersby, to see if they had cameras, walked back over to the grass with me while we searched ever blade for nearly 45 more minutes and then waited even longer with me to see if someone would turn in my camera. Finally after two hours of searching, we decided that we weren’t doing much good just sitting at the entrance of the gardens. I felt so terrible they had wasted the last half of the day looking for my camera. Not a single person complained, seemed irritated, or gave up on looking for it. Everyone just kept trying to help find it, asking people if they had found a camera, and comforting me. These are really amazing people, and I honestly couldn’t believe how nice they were being. I am so lucky that God placed such nice people in the program in Cádiz. I asked if I could at least by them some lunch because we had completely skipped it in search of my camera, “No, Devin. Can we get you lunch? Haha, we feel so bad you can’t find your camera!” I seriously can’t express how kind they all were to me that day, and how much I appreciated having them there. They are really special people, and I honestly can’t express how much I was really touched by how nice they were to me.

Once we decided to get back on the tram and head back to Paris, we got in line and low and behold, the man right in front of me was holding my exact type of camera. “Sir, you didn’t happen to find a camera like that in Marie Antoinette’s gardens did you?
“No. This is my camera.”
“Would you mind if I looked at it?”
“No. No you cannot. You need to take better care of your things. To ask to see my camera? That is unacceptable.” (Muttering in French to his wife) Mutter, mutter, mutter, the word “American”, and then his wife looked at me and gave me one of those throaty French scoffs and turned away.
I couldn’t help it. That made me cry. Well, I had already cried when I couldn’t find my camera in the grass. I was really upset I had lost my photos from the week and now this guy made me feel like a terrible, irresponsible American. Jerica and Brian were outraged at this dude for how he had treated me. Haha as we got on the tram Jerica sits down and says, “You know what, I hope that guys loses his camera.” So far everyone in France had been super nice. Hayley brought up a good point, that he shouldn’t dare scold us for being disrespectful and being “American” when he himself reinforced the stereotype of rude, impatient French people, that up until that point, I had found to be very untrue. We have these stereotypes because of the minority of people, and they, unfortunately, misrepresent their cultures. It’s really too bad. Although Natalie thought that he was a bad representation of the human race in general. Haha.

Before we headed back to Paris we stopped for some Starbucks. Being very sneaky, I had a plan to pay for everyone, but the only person who wanted Starbucks was Jerica. So, I was very sneaky with Jerica. I told the barista I wanted to pay for her drink, in French, so that way Jerica wouldn’t understand and couldn’t stop me. Thank you Lonely Planet Phrasebooks. 😊 Then when we stopped for sandwiches I got everyone a little dessert to say thanks for all they had done for me that day. We had spent four more hours in Versailles than we had planned. I know they had other things they wanted to see, but they never once complained. Also just so happened that mean, angry Frenchman and his wife with the throaty, French scoff came to our sandwich shop while we were eating. He walked in dangling his camera that looked just like mine. Jerica was very sad that he hadn’t lost it.

Well, that’s the reason. That’s why these blogs have been in FIVE parts. I have no photos of my time in Paris. I had lots of cool pictures that I really liked, and was looking forward to having. All of the pictures that I have put up on these blogs have been either from the internet, or I have stolen them from everyone else. It was weird though. I didn’t take a lot of photos when I was with Evan, just a few when we were at the Louvre and around town, because I didn’t want to worry about having to take a ton of photos, I just wanted to enjoy everything that he was showing me. So, all of my memories of what I had done and seen with him were/are very, very vivid. I was able take in more of the city. However, I had taken a LOT of photos with my Cádiz friends. I could always buy another camera, but I couldn’t get my photos back. That really hurt. That’s what really hurt the most.

I called the Palace of Versailles every day for a week. No camera. So it’s pretty clear someone must have found it, but didn’t turn it in, which totally stinks that someone would find it and not even turn in the memory card so that I could at least have my photos back.

I called my Mom, and per usual, she always knows what to say. She said that I didn’t lose my memories, I just lost the photos. It doesn’t change that I had a great experience in Paris. She would know better than anyone. She said that she has lost many a photo/ video in her years, but that’s not what came to my mind. When I was in the 7th grade, our home was robbed and all of my Mother’s jewelry, including her wedding ring was stolen. To her it wasn’t just jewelry it was all of the memories attached to the jewelry. My Dad had told her the same thing she was telling me, losing her jewelry didn’t change her memories, just the physical objects where gone. “I still have my memories; I just lost some pieces of metal.” To hear her say that was a really eye opening thing. To be able to look past the fact that someone actually entered into your home and stole your actual wedding ring, and be able to forgive them and appreciate the fact that she has 29 years of memories with my Dad, I think that takes a lot. On that note, my Parents have their 29th wedding anniversary on October 30th! I hope they have an incredibly wonderful day, and I love them both 😊

So, my Mom told me to go get another camera while I was there in Paris and just start over. Start making new memories, and maybe scratch my name onto the outside of my camera this time. I woke up early, went for my run, since clearly nothing good comes from skipping a run, and found the electronics store, Fnac. I was actually able to communicate with the guy there in French to explain what all I wanted and got as close to the exact same camera as I could.

Monday we only had until 3pm to explore the city. The girls wanted to Butte Chaumont, Brian wanted to find the steps that Owen Wilson waits on in the movie “Midnight in Paris,” Jerica still wanted to get a photo with the Eiffel Tower, no one but Hayley and I had been on the Inception Bridge, and we wanted to see the famous “The Thinker” statue. We had to split up, but we got it all done, minus “The Thinker” because the museum was closed. The girls loved Butte Chaumont, and on our way back I used my new camera to take a few photos of some familiar names from back in the States! 😊

I was sad see Paris go. Overall it had been a really great trip, despite losing my camera. On the bright side, my parents liked hearing about Paris so much, they want to go visit when they come, so I can just take more photos then. 😊

Sorry this is such a long blog, but I really wanted to finish up Paris to that I can move on to Cádiz and Alba’s birthday that we celebrated Saturday night!
I hope you all have enjoyed hearing about it and that it hasn’t been too much. 😊
On another note, congrats to the Tigers who are still undefeated! Conor, my parents, and I have decided that perhaps I am not such good luck. Spain is lucky that the World Cup happened before I got here otherwise they would have been doomed. Haha!

Well, talk to you all soon. 😊
Love always,
Devin 😊

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Photos

Jerica's Note
This is the note Jerica left at Shakespeare & Co. I thought it was a really good message.

La Tour Eiffel de nuit
The Eiffel Tower at Night.

Hayley
Hayley was REALLY excited to see Marie Antoinette's house, and I thought this picture turned out so cute!

The Temple of Love
So appropriately named in Marie Antoinette's Garden.

Beautfiul Flower
I took a photo a lot like this one that Brian took because I thought the flower was so pretty.

Rexy
Hey hey Dad! You're famous in Paris!

Esso!
Look! They have Esso here!!

Brian at his Midnight in Paris Steps
He got there at noon, it was a good idea but its too bad the movie wasn't Midday in Paris.

API at Troncadéro
Nice face Jerica :)

The Pyrenees
We flew over them on our way back. They weren't covered in snow like this, but this was the best photo I could find of them :)