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Published: August 13th 2011
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Wow, such a long day! Let’s start from when we landed… and I will also mention all the dumb American things that we did as well.
After we got our backpacks we navigated through the airport to find the RER train which would take us to Gare du Nord train station. I got frustrated at the gichet automatique because it wouldn’t read my debit card… then someone told me I was inserting my card the wrong way. Ohh….We got to the platform just fine and stood next to some other Americans on the train; it was a good start, the train system wasn’t that intimidating. Then when we got to the train station, we walked FOREVER to the other side to make our reservations for our train to Cannes on Thursday. Mary and I decided that we wanted to speak in French as much as possible, but this first one at the Eurail ticket office didn’t count. Too confusing, even in English. But we did manage to ask for help in French, and understand what they were saying! Yes!
The train station was gorgeous! Never thought I’d say that about a train station, but the architecture was really cool. I didn’t
take any pictures because we already stood out so much, but we have to go back in a couple days so maybe then.
We managed to make our way allllll the way back to the other side again to the metro (remember were carrying 30 pound backpacks and heavy carry ons). After we got up the platform, Mary and I realized that we were now in “real Paris;” nervous glances and complete feeling of vulnerability. The first train pulled up in front of us and we literally just froze: wide-eyed with nothing to say. It was jam packed, literally no way we could get on that train without body checking someone with our backpacks. So we waited for the next one. And even then the doors came really close to shutting on my bag. Mary almost hit someone with hers and when we came to a stop we both almost fell on someone. Woopsies.
When popped out of the metro station at Pigalle, it was pouring rain. Good thing we brought rain clothes…? We wandered around for about 15 minutes to find our hotel (which is really a 2 minute walk when you know where you’re going) in the rain.
We had 2 hours to kill before we could get into our room, so we walked around to get a feel for the neighborhood. Both Mary and I agreed that this wasn’t what we imagined Paris to be like…
We had a late lunch at the No Stress Café, which was actually kind of stressful because we came to the realization that meals are going to add up. And we didn’t know the tipping policy. Anyhoot, we enjoyed our first cups of $5 café avec crème, $6 tea and $20 penne pasta.
After checking in, showering and changing into “less touristy apparel,” we decided to walk a few blocks north into Monmartre, home of the Moulin Rouge, and apparently, plenty of sex shops (yes, we did go in one, lots of nipple tassels and banana hammocks). I wanted to take pictures but it wasn’t allowed.
I desperately want to see a Moulin Rouge cabaret show, but the cheapest one is 90e ($130).
After that scene, we proceeded to find the huge catholic church, the Sacre-Coeur. Along the way we purchased our first pain au chocolat (yummmmm) and practiced speaking French to each other by saying random phrases and things we
dinner our first night :(
too tired and late to find a place to eat and speak french.. so we went to the market. c'etait triste! saw on the street.
We rounded a corner and this huge building, beautiful, opened up above the steps of Monmartre. In our amazement we almost got roped into this weird thing that some guys were trying to show us but we escaped. Rule: NEVER answer a questions/show interest.
I should have counted how many steps it was up to the church; apparently is the highest panoramic view point. It was really cool to see Paris from this perspective. It looked like it went on forever.
The Sacre-Coeur was really beautiful with the architecture and stained glass. I’m not Catholic, so big churches like this are hard for me to appreciate, but it was still amazing. I liked the organ.
Mary and I continued to wander through Monmartre, which turned out to be exactly what we pictured it would be: cobble stone streets, flowers on window terraces, old buildings, a little open air market and lots of sidewalk cafes (which we shall return to). The sun had come back out and we were happy.
When we got back to the hotel, both of us just passed out for a little bit. I remember falling asleep to some kids playing soccer
BONJOUR PARIS!
our little room in Paris. Great concierge = Bruce! outside in the street and mopeds cruising by. Oddly, these were relaxing sounds, perhaps subconsciously reminding me that I was finally here. We woke up and decided to plan out a little bit of what we wanted to do tomorrow and figure out metro stuff.
Instead of getting dinner, we walked down to the little market to get ready-made sandwich wraps. Yes, we’re in one of the foody capitals of the world and we purchased convenience food. It was cheap and we didn’t have the energy to sit at a restaurant. And then we couldn’t figure out the wine, so we got grapes instead and promised to get some for tomorrow’s lunch under the Eiffel Tower.
So instead of going big on our first night in Paris, we decided to just take it easy in our little hotel room. We’re kind of in a sketchy neighborhood anyways and not ready to adventure too far in the dark yet.
A bientôt.
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Brian
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DUDE!
so excited for you. i'm so gladddd i can finally comment on a blog post of yours!!