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Hello everyone sorry for the wait I've had an insanely busy 4 days in Paris!
Well as soon as I got off the train my couchsurfing host Aurelien met me and we were straight to the bar - huge bag and all - to meet his two friends Jude and Frankk, and drink a mojito! I knew as soon as I met Aurelien that all my fears were pointless, he is a fantastic host, brilliant at English, and has given me so much advice about Paris - especially the metro which is very confusing - I could not have asked for better!
So in the morning - slightly hungover - I hit the streets of Paris, and promptly found myself lost in a district of Paris called Bercy, which is very pretty and lovely to wander around. I managed to get back to the river and orientate myself eventually, and headed off to Notre Dame. The Seine is enchanting, I walked all along the path, past boats with people eating meals on the top or cats lazing in the sun on deck. One boat I passed had a man sitting on the edge drinking from a mug, he had a billowing
white shirt and dark floppy hair and I thought '' that is the most French man I have ever seen''! I found a lovely canal called canal Saint-Martin, just above it I came across an arts market so I wandered around there and drank some very sweet mint tea.
I wanted to get to Notre Dame for 2.30 but when I arrived there were so many people I left and went for a walk around the Ile de Paris - the island that Notre Dame is on - and found a lovely flower market. i think it is true that Notre Dame is the heart of Paris because I keep finding myself back there, once I got lost and ended up there, and another time I was lost - again - and noticed a landmark of Saint Michel which I later realised was right near Notre Dame. Well it is a beautiful building anyway!
That morning I met Sokunty - my other host! - and her little brother Nidaro who is 6 and sister Brenda who is 15. They are very sweet and I spoke to Brenda in English because she wants to learn and Nidaro drew a picture of
me! In the evening Sokunty took me to see a play in French but set in an Irish B&B. It was a comedy called Bed and Breakfast, and even though I couldn't understand most of what they said I still enjoyed it! On the way home Sokunty's friend Barbara, who is a metro train driver, took us on the front of one of the trains because she knew the guy driving. It was great to see what they do and to be at the front, especially on this particular train because it goes outside!
The next morning I hit the Louvre, quite early because it was free day, first sunday of the month, but it was still packed! first of all I couldn't for the the life of me find the Egyptian part, it took me an hour! the Louvre is huge! but it did mean I saw some things I wouldnt normally look at, like some amazing ancient wall paintings from Iran. But it was worth it to see the Egyptian collection, it was fantastic! although there were alot of people, many taking pictures with the flash on grr! but I enjoyed reminding myself of all the things from
uni, and I found 3 sistra - bronze ceremonial rattles - that I wrote my dissertation about so got very excited!
I then saw some Greek and Roman statues and things, I found the fantastic statue of the woman lying down, then you go round the other side and realise it's a hermaphrodite! And of course the Venus de Milo. I was going to try and see the Mona Lisa but it was too busy I was getting a bit cholstrophobic so I left - well, eventually, of course I got lost trying to find the way out.
By the time I got outside it was raining but it brightened up after a bit so I went for a walk, found the Palace behind the Louvre, with a lovely garden and modern sculptures in the courtyard, it's like poles of black and white stripes all of different lengths. I then walked through the Jardin des Tuileries and down the Champs-Elysee, dodging the rain showers all the way! To avoid one shower I went in a shop that was selling bags at 800 euros! I then walked to the Eiffel Tower and the park by it the Champs du Mars. There
were 4 wedding cars near the Eiffel Tower and 4 brides I could see, which I thought was very strange! There was also a strange pavillion made of glass and metal, with metal poles all around, and it had ''peace'' written in loads of different languages.
Sokunty and Aurelien took me to a restaurant that night, where they always take couchsurfers, where I had a lovely Indian salad, with tandori chicken and chip-like potatoes, it was really good! and of course creme brulle. The waiter was taking the mick out of me for saying creme brulee with an English accent and saying he doesn't know why English people like creme brulee so much. But he had the most uncanny London accent when he spoke english, I've never heard anyone speak French and English perfectly like that before, especially with a London accent it was wierd! My hosts had brought their friend Ibrahim along, they all work in a market that is in Paris for 2 weeks, they all work at different stalls, selling things from different countries. Ibrahim is Morroccan and sells Morroccan things with his brother. They live in Marseille and I'm hoping to see him when I go
to Marseille because he is very sweet and told me lots of things about Morrocco for when I go there.
I decided to visit their market the next morning, it was amazing and huge! The building they are in sells clothes, jewellery, food, crafts, from almost every country in the world it was fantastic! I brought a bracelet from Ibrahim's stall and some very cute and flowery Korean socks. I then went to the rest of the market, they had 8 massive buildings, one full of house and home stuff, one full of garden and swimming pool stuff, one called 'planete femme', which Ibrahim asked me to go in because he was too scared but he wanted to know what was in there, it was full of makeup, jewellery, bags, shoes, craft things - a huge stall full of beads which I had to hurry past - and even stalls with people doing your hair or nails! They had literally everything in the market! and outside was a stage with bands playing music, it was great! and I think it was quite expensive to get in as well but Aurelien brought me his pass so I could get in!
I
then wanted to go to see some other things so I went to the Latin Quarter and saw the oldest church in Paris, Saint-Germaine and I lit a candle. I wandered around all the winding streets to the Pantheon and the very beautiful Jardin de Luxembourg. I went home and my hosts were having a dinner party and Aurelien cooked - you guessed it - lasagne! and he also made a gorgeous chocolate cake, was yummy! i met some new people, Sokunty's best friend Nadine and their other friend Cedric, and Jude and Frankk were there who I met on the first night and Ibrahim and Barbara, it was so nice! I think Paris is a very diverse city because although all these people are French, their backgrounds are so different - in one room we had people from Italy, Cambodia, Cameroon, Morrocco, Martinique and probably some others I don't know, it was fantastic! I must admit I have been struggling the whole time to speak French, I really don't know much at all, but I am lucky because most of the people there spoke English. I understand words and the gist of a conversation but I just cant join
in, its frustrating! But i will have to get used to it because when I go to the Netherlands I won't understand anything!
One of the guys there, Cedric, offered to take me to Montmatre the next day so that's what we did. It was good for me in a way because he doesn't speak much English so I got to practice a bit! We met at Montmatre and it was very pretty and sunny! We went inside Sacre Coeur and he got me a candle to light. Then he took me to a Japanese restaurant and we had these yummy kebab things and rice, we went to Notre Dame and had a look inside this time, it is a stunning place, so pretty! Then we went to musee Quai Branley which is full of art and sculpture from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas, very interesting and some very strange things, like a long rope studded with bats teeth that they use as money, and strange masks people wear for initiation ceremonies. The best thing was these huge statues with peoples heads on the top, which I then realised had huge slits up the middle - they are drums!
I walked from the museum to Notre Dame - yes, there again!- to meet Sokunty and Ibrahim and we went to a concert inside Notre Dame. It was the church choir but they were fantastic, it was so pretty and as you can imagine the accoustics in Notre Dame are wonderful! It was a special end to a very special trip to Paris, for tomorrow I'm off to Brugge!
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Joanna
non-member comment
Your pictures are amazing
Hey sweetie, it sounds like you're having a fantastic time even after the first four days or so. I look forward to reading more of your blogs soon. Love and hugs.x