a few things i forgot to say about london:
i broke my sandal. i was trying to move out of the way of a blind man and tripped. the thing came out of the bottom. we borrowed a stapler and tape and repaired it, which lasted an hour. then i just had to flop it around. what a pity.
also, you would not believe the high heels women wear. middle of the day walking through the park they are in stilettos. i think that would be madison. they didn't even appear to be in pain. i was so so impressed.
i got to paris late saturday night and checked into the hostel so that i could have all of sunday to explore. the hostel is right at the edge of zone 1. the sheets are made of paper. right after i came in, another girl came in. she was french. i started to smell something, but figured it had always been here. as i laid in my bed trying to sleep it was even worse because our beds were on the same level. the entire room full of smelly feet. then this really nice french lady starts talking to the girl. she then gets up and leaves. i asked what she said. "i asked her to take a shower because the room smelled so bad." i thanked her and everyone in the room agreed. we opened the windows. that girl lived right up to the french stereotype.
i woke up and had "breakfast" in the hostel, which was included. i headed to the cathedral of notre dame because there was a mid day mass. it was exquisite. i loved it so i will post a lot of pictures. i should mention the terrible sun burn i received in london. it is quite funny looking due to the shirt i had been wearing and very very painful.
after mass i waited in line to walk up the tower. i was trying to figure out where to go next so i asked the nice looking men in front of me who were speaking english. they appeared to know their way around and i thought they could save me some time. they ended up being from chicago! one couple lives in winetka, which is on the very north side beyond evanston and the other couple used to live in brookfield. we ended up talking the entire 1 1/2 hour wait. they were some of THE nicest people i have met.
then we got to the ticket desk and they paid for my ticket! i felt so lucky. here is a picture of them. (let's see if i get this right--i know they'll be seeing this) tom and christine. mike and julie. we got some really great pictures at the top.
look at the bell. like from the hunch back of notre dame! it was gigantic.
seeing the panoramic view really helped me get my bearings in the city, which was nice. this is a little shout out to jeff carl---see the flying buttresses? cool, huh?
after we parted ways, i walked through the latin square to find some food. i realized i wasn't really hungry so i took the metro up to sacre coeur. it is a beautiful white church at the top of a hill. beyond the church is a big square where artists paint and then that sunday there was a wine and food market. i bought a big bin of strawberries for 4 euros because they looked so red and delicious.
i ate them while listening to some men play guitar. then i went to the dali exhibit. what a strange, strange man, but also a brilliant artist. his paintings and sculptures were incredible.
i sat on the hill some more and did some people watching. i felt like walking so i walked from the hill to the eiffel tower. it took me about three hours because i would stop to take pictures or look at things. i laid in the grass once and watched the sun. (don't worry i bought spf 50 sunscreen).
my initials again.
the sun was in a perfect location for these pictures of the eiffel tower. i didn't enhance ANY of these pictures because the colors were so great. i have to say the eiffel tower is a little prettier in pictures than in real life. it was kind of weird. i don't know what i expected, but not that. the lines were miles long so i decided that i didn't need to walk up it. it looked a bit scary anyway.
by this time, i was very hungry and so i decided to splurge and have a 13.50 chicken and fries at this cute cafe. the protein tasted sooooooo delicious. my poor body is upset with this traveling. i am not getting enough nutrients i think and so i keep getting sores and such in my mouth. anyway, the chicken was just what i needed. i met a nice couple from spain and a group from holland. people are so so nice. that is my favorite part of traveling alone---talking to random people.
so the waiter took a half hour to bring my check and so i decided to go in and give him the money. as i was standing there, these two ladies were talking about me (in french). i thought maybe they were talking about my sunburn since i had a lot of comments about it already. so i pointed to it and said "sunburn?"she then spoke english asking where i was from. she had been telling her mom "see, there looks like a nice, wholesome girl." i guess there was a huge group of young people going to the hill of the eiffel tower to get really really drunk. it was organized by a drinking facebook group. there were about 300 police men (not exaggerating) out. she asked where i was from and kept asking questions so i eventually sat down with them. they are american, but spend half their time in paris. the father (who is now dead) built the tallest building in paris (which christine had mentioned that they went to the top for dinner). her mother is 88 and looked really fabulous. she wanted to go to bed so she left. amanda ended up buying me two glasses of wine and wanted to pay for my dinner, but i told her i already had. she pulled out a 20 (american) dollar bill and handed it to me. i refused, but she insisted. then she bought me my very first french crepe! they lit the alcohol on fire and poured it all over the crepe then topped it with powdered sugar. it was umm.... really strong. we talked for two hours about all kinds of things. she donates to hearts home, which is the program i applied for to volunteer abroad. she grew up as a wealthy aristocrat and couldn't believe i stayed in hostels. she was really fascinated by my stories because she never experienced anything like it. she kept wanting to set me up with the wealthy french boys. i didn't object.
long story long, we finally left and she showed me her house. guess what her backyard is: the EIFFEL TOWER. how is that even possible? she gave me her email and phone number so i could call if i needed her to wire me money if i ran out. we might meet for lunch again, but i'm not sure because i'm having difficulty getting internet.i don't know how i had such a lucky day of so so so many nice people.
despite some great stories and experiences, it's not really my favorite city.
more to come.
salut,
e.
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