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Published: September 15th 2006
London - Day 4+5
I guess I should spend some time and talk about some of the people that I've met. I went to a Burmese restaurant that was recommended by my travel guide and the owner who runs the place was definitely a nice guy. He talked about some of his relatives in Canada and how he has always wanted to visit the country. The restaurant is called "Mandalay" and it's located near Edware Road station.
I guess since I spent so much of my time on the Underground that it was only a matter of time before tourists would ask me for directions. 2 Italians asked me for directions and I initially led them in the wrong direction. However, I quickly discovered what I had done and I got on the train with them and led them to their destination (I needed to go in the same direction.)
On my last night at the hostel in London, I had a very talkative, but cute roomate from Ireland. Her name was Anna and she has lived in several places including London, Dublin, Adelaide (in Australia), and Limerick (in Ireland). Once I introduced myself, she couldn't stop talking. She talked about her job (she's a Pharmacist), her lovelife (she's newly single, but still friends with her ex), and Sex and the City. She in fact joked to her boyfriend that she was staying in a room with another guy, which led to a quick call to her mobile. We must have talked until about 1 in the morning, but I unfortunately did not get a chance to say goodbye the next morning as I had to leave for Paris.
The next morning at breakfast, I sat with 2 American college girls and briefly talked about London. When I told them that I was travelling alone, they told me that I was "gutsy"...
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Paris - Day 1
... which is a good segway into my first 2 days in Paris so far. You definitely need guts in this city and I found this out the hard way. Here are several mistakes that I made in my first couple of hours:
1. Stopped at beggar outside the train station. If someone asks you, "Speak English?" move on and ignore them.
2. Walked up the side streets of the 18th arrondisement. Fortunately, nothing happened to me.
3. Avoid the main entrance to the Sacre-Coeur. There are thuggish guys trying to sell silly wrist bands and they are very aggressive. I chose to ignore the one who approached me, but he got in front of me and I attempted to shove him off. He shoved me back.
4. I managed to get into the fare-protected area of the Gare du Nord without putting in a ticket. I asked the Information desk where I could buy tickets and he barked at me asking me how I got in (people in Paris are rude because they are overworked and underpaid, so my friend tells me). Fortunately he let me through the gates so I could buy tickets.
5. I didn't weigh my fruits before going to the cashier.
So as you could imagine, I was quite overwhelmed. I quickly called my friend Daniela (former roomate of mine in Ottawa), and she was able to get me to a 'calmer' area of Paris. I met her down at the Cité Universitaire and we went out for dinner. We went to a rather "un-French" restaurant, but it was casual, it had a patio, and our server was quite pretty. She escorted me back to the Metro station and I was able to get back to my hotel without actually walking on any of the streets in my area.
I got back to my room and it so happened that I had 3 other girls who were staying with me. 1 was asleep, but apparently she was a Canadian. The second was an Aussie (name Mimi and pretty cute) who's actually coming to Vancouver in November to live with her boyfriend who works for KPMG. The third is a girl from China who is also here by herself.
Paris - Day 2
After calming down somewhat from the debacles of the previous afternoon, I decided to head out to 'tourist' Paris. I started at the Louvre and I walked around for about an hour and a half. I saw a few of the main attractions such as the Mona Lisa and Venus Mélo. As you could imagine, it was full of tourists primarily older Asians who take pictures with their peculiar squatting techiques (you've seen the pictures on the Internet).
After the Louvre, I took the Métro to St. Michel and had a crepe at a local stand. It was quite filling and it was only €3.50. I then headed to Rue du Rivioli and walked towards the Jardin de Tuileries. The garden is absolutely beautiful with well-kept grass and delicate fountains. However even in the 1er, one cannot escape the beggars who ask "Speak English?" After the garden, I walked along the Champs-Elysees towards the L'Arc de Triomphe. For the female readers, Louis Vuitton is near the end of the strip and the store is 3 floors. I did take pictures and I went into the store for curiosity's sake. The average price for a wallet with the traditional monogram is about 250 Euros, while the purses start at 700 Euros.
After taking some pictures of the L'Arc de Triomphe, (which is quite a sight, btw) I proceeded towards St. Germain des Près which used to be a bohemian part of Paris, but is now quite upscale with nice boutiques. I found a top-tier café, "Café des Magots", and paid 5 Euros to sit and have a coffee. But, it was well worth it as I had a prime spot right at the entrance which was perfect for people-watching. I picked up a copy of this week's Economist and I played the part of the sophisticated intellectual. There were a couple of Americans who sat next to me and I got one to take a picture of me infront of the café. They were very nice and they told me that they did not vote for Bush. (chuckle)
I decided to end my second night in Paris with some Asian food. I took the Metro to Paris' Chinatown and had a bowl of Pho - that's right, Pho. It was cheap (only 5.50 Euros), but it wasn't that great. It did the job though.
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Eva
non-member comment
Aw poor you
What an adventure in Paris, huh? Despite the little crazy encounters, I'm sure it was worth the visit still. I better see a lot of pictures when you get back!