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Published: August 8th 2008
Viva La France!
For those who have been watching my log I’d like to begin by apologizing for not updating it as quickly as possible. My days have been busy sightseeing and nights have been full of making new friends from around the world. Secondly, I would like to state that I have slept for a total of 16 hours in the last 3 nights while in Paris so if I don’t make complete sense you will understand why 😊
When arriving to the Paris airport at 930am on Monday August 4th I did not receive a favorable impression of the French. When asking for directions in the aiport a French employee gave me a snoody attitude. This incident did not intimidate my willingness to apply the French I learned in high school and recently though. I decided on my airplane ride over that I would try to speak to at least 5 French people per day for at least 5 minutes each.
The metro subway network is very expansive in Paris which in my view means they value public transportation because it is efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly. A friend I made recently (thanks becky) helped
me plan out which metro system to arrive to my hostel before I left The States so I made it with no problems. The French in the metro are respectful when moving about by saying "Pardon".
Arriving at my hostel I notice it is located in a quaint little intersection beside a large catholic church. It was the 3 ducks hostel I stayed at and when I arrived I was given a bunk in room 7. Little did I know who was occupying room 7. When I opened the door 5 to 6 girls stood there looking at me and then they started giggling. I shared a hostel room with a total of 7 girls from Hungary....no joke. Only one spoke conversational English and we all sat down one night talking about Hungary and the USA. One of the girls is going to school to be a dentist!
I unpacked my bags and ventured to the rues (streets) in search of the Eiffel Tower. It was only 15 minutes away from my hostel on foot. Words can not describe the sensation of standing before it. I knew from that time that I was in love with Paris. I
could sit in the gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower for hours and love every minute of it.
I next visited the Arc de Triumph which was ordered to be built by Napoleon in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitatz at the peak of his fortunes to celebrate the strength of his army. Out of all the sights in Paris this one was my favorite. Just imagining Parisians crying as Nazi’s goose-stepped under it is emotionally unfathomable. When the Americans liberated Paris from the Germans Franklin Roosevelt made sure that the first person to drive under the Arc was a French General. And the French were so thankful that there is a metro stop, a street, and other things named after him.
A side note about how the French dress….men really never wear running sneakers like Nike, Asics, and New Balance with their clothes. However they do wear black or dark brown casual shoes. The men wore pin striped suits, nice dress tshirts to work. Blue jeans were not widely seen either. French women are absolutely stunning. They carry themselves with such grace, pride, and elegance. They wear dresses, slacks, and sandals with lots of fashionalbe straps. Altogether Parisians just look put together in an effortless way.
After Arc de Triumph I went to the Hospital des Invalides which was built to house Napoleon’s wounded soldiers. Napoleon is buried here and I saw his grave…very neat! I then wandered around Paris and saw the palaces where Operas are performed each year.
When walking home I got lost and I pulled out my travel book to get my bearings. After standing at an intersection for 3 minutes a French guy comes up to me and in French ask if I need help. Ahhh Oui! Je ne sais pais ou Je suis….( I do not know where I am). After pointing on the map he explained the directions in French to me and I made it back home ok. When walking around that day I went into a supermarket to buy some food. As I was looking at the cheese selections and old woman began speaking to me. After asking her to repeat what she wanted I understood she wanted me to grab a bottle of water for her because she was too short. After grabbing it she said “merci!".
That night I stayed in the hostel and talked to travelers from all over the world….Brazil, Colorado USA, and London. And although all of us are physically tired we all talk about politics, work, food, economics, and lives in our respected countries. Everyone listens to each other so closely trying to decipher broken English.
Day 2
The next morning I woke up and decided to visit Versailles, which is wear the King & Queen of France slept. It is an absolutely huge mansion with 3 wings. It may be mostly known for its Hall of Mirrors and gets enormously well-manicured garden that contained ponds. I read in my travel book that this would be a day trip and it was. I arrived back at the hostel at 5pm. I then ate, showered, and headed back out to Paris to see Notre Dame. While there I met another American from Connecticut named Jon. We both expressed interest in going to a dance club or bar and he came back to the hostel with me so I could drop stuff off. We went to the Bastille region at 11pm to drink, but we found that most places had few Parisians in them.
So I end up coming home early enough to catch up with Dan from Colorado. Dan, Jorge (a Brazilian dentist), and I decide to buy bottles of wine and go to the Eiffel Tower. We get there at 11pm and find there are tons of young Parisians and travelers like us sitting in the gardens of the Eiffel tower…drinking wine…eating cheese..and enjoying the romantic atmosphere. (The Eiffel tower was lit up the color blue because right now the European countries are united to form the EU. Every 6 months a president of one European country is the president of the entire union and currently France’s president was him.)
As we sat there in awe 2 guys and 1 girl come up to us and sit down. We immediately start talking and the 2 guys were from Holland and the girl was from Sweden. We all asked each other questions in hope to better understand each country’s people, their culture, their views, etc. Many preconceived notions regarding each other’s cultures were destroyed. The Swedish guys thought that most Americans agree with the war in Iraq. We sat together intimately til 3am just talking. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Day 3
Absolutely shattered from 2 nights with barely any sleep I woke up with ambitions to see The Catacombs, The Louvre, and Parc de Citreon. Arriving at The Catacombs at 1030am I find there is a lengthy line and I wait 1hr 30 min to get my ticket. About The Catacombs…..around the 1600s the French mined for stone in Paris to be used for buildings. After so long they made mining illegal inside Paris and were left with this massive underground labyrinth. In the mid to late 1700s a cemetery in Paris which housed many of dead Parisians began to cause a stench and disease in the city. To fix this all of the corpses remains were moved and created this underground urban tomb.
Inside it was eerie with thousands of bones and skulls stacked up neatly and in reaching distance. The crypt took 45 min to navigate and was well worth the 3.5 euros. Next I jumped on the metro system to search for the Parc de Citreon which is a relatively new park in France. This area is filled with sunbathers, children, and is great for people watching. I bought my own lunch at a supermarket…a fresh baquette, cheese, ham, a croissant with chocolate in it. After spending some time enjoying the park I headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre has so much artwork that if you wanted to read every description you would be there for at least 3 days. Inside the Louvre flocked thousands of tourist and Parisians. Most people come to see the famous Leonardo de Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Their artwork collection of medieval armor and jewelry was extensive along with artwork from Italian Painters. The Mona Lisa was great but much smaller than I expected but I guess I can say I saw it with my own 2 eyes.
Walking home I decided to eat out at a restaurant but before this I had to delight myself in some tasty baked goods (yea…I know you’re smiling). I found a bakery that produces all types of baked goods..baguettes, chocolate éclairs, cookies, cakes, etc. I saw a young man behind the counter and said “Bonjour monsieur, Je parle un petit francais mais Je voudrais un éclair au chocolat.” He smiled and said “Vous etes American mais parlez francais bien.” After he said that a woman in the store came up to me and started speaking French to me. We both spoke French for 6-7 minutes until I could not understand what she was saying. We both were so excited speaking with each other that my heart swelled with affection towards the French people. We began talking in English and she said most tourist don’t even try to speak French and that French people are appreciative when we try. Then a French couple in their mid 30s approached us and they began speaking with us about their views of Americans. They then told me that my face looked French and I was speaking it good. After this I asked the woman working a good restaurant to eat and she said “I will take you”…she left her work post and walked down the street with me as we spoke in French & English. We parted with a hug and enormous smiles on our face. Then I enjoyed a common French dinner of a 5 cheese assortment with bread and a glass of Bordeaux wine….ahh J’aime Paris!
Coming back to my hostel I met up with the Brazilian dentist again and we both decided to take some pictures of the Louvre at night then go to the Eiffel Tower like last night. At the Eiffel tower we bought 2 bottles of wine and sat down and sure enough 20 min later 3 Swedish men and 2 stunningly beautiful girls from Holland arrived. They looked just like the pictures…their hair so blonde it was almost white, with blue eyes, and a fair complexion. We all shared each other’s wine and talked about each other’s lives, families, beliefs, and religion. We exchanged contact information and they offered me a place to stay if I visit Amsterdam which will be great since I want to go there soon. The conversation was so intriguing that time flew by and we found ourselves in the grass viewing the magnificent Eiffel Tower at 3:30am.
Day 4
I checked out of my hostel and said goodbye to the 7 Hungarian girls and began my trek to Charles de Gulle airport for my flight to Rome. On the train to CDG I spoke with a French woman for 5 minutes and she gave me directions to my terminal in French.
My impressions of France:
• Customs and courtesies are a sign of respect when entering stores, and beginning a conversation
• The French show their affection whenever and wherever they feel. I noticed them embracing each other affectionately as they kiss in subways and streets. I love how nobody is offended by it and how Europeans are more comfortable with their sexuality than Americans.
• There may not be access to restrooms and drinking fountains everywhere like the US. Once could say that they are not as developed, however I believe they have a great balance between wants and needs.
• They do not hate Americans..they hate George Bush and Europeans hate war in general. I was helped every day by a French person.
• If I could describe two principles that embody the French it would be Love & Respect.
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Harold Gard
non-member comment
good post
good update Ryan, are you spending more time in France later?