PARIS
I was originally going to call this entry, “I HATE FRANCE”, but after being here for a few days I have since changed my resignations. The first day here was a rainy day. We had to wake up at 3 am in Madrid to take a taxi to the airport for our 5:45 am flight to Paris. I got to the airport only to find that RyanAir (EasyJet’s competition) has even stricter weight limits! I had to shed 2 kg or pay 30 Euros. Ouch. Well, I was able to cram some dirty laundry into my carry on backpack. That would be the last I would see of my luggage.We got to Paris at 8 am. My luggage was nowhere to be found. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I was able to file a report with an airline representative who spoke a bit of English. I described what my luggage looked like and the contents. I had some ribbon tied to the handles of my plain black luggage to make it distinguishable from others. The representative did not know what color cream, off-white, or khaki was. I didn’t know how to say those words in French! We settled on brown/yellow.
Well, from there, we took the bus to Paris (our flight came in through Beauvais airport, which is about an hour outside of town). We were halfway to town when I realized that I had never gotten my passport back from the airline rep. !@#$% I thought. What an idiot I am. I was so frazzled by losing my luggage I didn’t even notice. I jokingly said to Tim, well, what else can go wrong today? Maybe something will be wrong with the hotel reservations.
You guessed it. We made reservations at the BVJ Louvre in March, confirmed in May and reconfirmed three days before our arrival. When we arrived to the hotel, the front desk informed us that they were all booked. We were 30 minutes late in arriving because of the whole luggage ordeal and they gave our room away. Plus, they had a huge group coming in and couldn’t give up any rooms.
Well, the hotel was kind enough to book us a reservation at a nearby hostel. We got settled in and then started exploring Paris. Paris has a much different vibe than Madrid. There’s not as much graffiti, but still a lot of smokers – uggh. I love how everyone carries around baguettes!
Places we visited:
- Cathedral de Notre Dame (The Rosetta window is amazing)
- The Louvre (so much to see, so little time!)
- Various churches (I almost liked these better than Notre Dame)
- The Eiffel Tower (It’s not as tall as I thought it would be – still amazing up close though)
The Place de Bastille and site of the Guillotine - The Tuilleries (Gardens)
- The Centre Pompidou (very weird architecture, but it grows on you)
- Day trip to Versailles (front was not what I thought it would be, it's all about the backside!!!)
- Arc de Triomphe (the new president of France drove through this while we were there!)
Paris Opera House (Les Miserables anyone???) - Champsee Elysees...Let$ go $hopping!
- Basilica du Sacre Coeur (not sure if I spelled that right...but it was nice)
- The home of Victor Hugo
- Lots of other random stuff
p.s.
Finally got my luggage, the last day in France. It was a bit damaged and a few clothes were missing, but whatever. Glad to have my medication again! Oh and my passport is safe and sound with me too. I got that sucker on a leash!
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