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We found a random little park to have lunch
and found this legit playground! |
Can I just start off by mentioning how amazing technology is?
Yesterday, I had a 3-way skype converstaion with my mom and brother. I
was skyping from Germany on my laptop, my mom
was skyping from the States on her iphone, and my brother was
Skyping from Chile on his ipad--kind of impressive. Anyhow, we took a train
from Frankfurt to Paris this morning (and are having trouble getting our train
figured out to Rome). The first thing I noticed about the train station in
Paris were the guards with machine gun (probably not the best idea to ask them
to take a picture, though the tourist in me was tempted...), the second thing I
noticed was that the air smelled like cigarette smoke; I thought that was
pretty bad until I smelled the metro--kind of a mixture between B.O. and urine,
and I was surprised by how dirty the city was...not what I expected from Paris.
Luckily, once we got closer to the center of town, everything changed and I
felt like I was walking through a textbook. Honestly, the history just oozes
from this place, i'ts nothing like I've ever seen.
Our first big stop was the Louvre, we were a little overwhelmed by
how big the line was, but it moved quickly. Unfortunatly not quickly enough to
avoid all the vendors slash con-men walking around. Note to anyone planning a
trip to Paris, if a big black man comes and says, "Does the pretty lady
want to put her finger in the string? (it's a string tied in some circular
knot)" Say no. haha. That probably sounds obvious, and for the record: I
didn't put my finger in the string , but there are really men that walk around
asking that, and--from what I've heard--they pull it tight and won't let it
loose until you give them money. I'm not sure if these odd things happen
because I'm in Paris or just the fact that it's a big city. Either way: kinda
creepy. A lot of the local men here are kind of creepy; and maybe creepy is a
bad word--obnoxiously forward would probably be a better description. I don't
think I've ever been gawked at more in my life; I seriously thought it was a
joke the first guy passed by me (as we were standing trying to figure out the
map). He walked past 3 times with his arms wide open, kissing the air and
winking at me. Really? I have to wonder if those kinds
of maneuvers have ever worked for anyone. I hope not. Either way,
everything really does get better the closer you are to Center, probably
because most of the people there are classier, or just tourists. I've gotten asked a few times
where I'm from, for some reason I LOVE the fact that it's not a dead giveaway
that I'm from the states. :)
I also LOVE the Louvre! Just walking in there and seeing all the
diversity was amazing, there must have been museum maps in 2 dozen different languages
(This is their website link: http://www.louvre.fr/en). Shawn and Hayden speak Russian, and I'm pretty sure that we've met every single Russian that has come to Paris. We met a family that drove 4 days to get here! We talked for awhile to a couple Russian men, one wanted to practice his English, but kept letting us know that, "I am very shine with my English." Aka: shy. I think hearing other people speak English, be a little shy, and make mistakes is giving me more confidence with Italian; not because I will speak it better, but just because I've realized that making mistakes isn't a big deal. I've picked up the basic hello, goodbye, and thank you in German, French, Italian and Russian. I seriously wish I was fluent in all those languages, but hey--maybe someday I will be. :) Anyhow, all the artwork seemed bigger than
life, I honestly had no idea how massive some of the sculptures and paintings
were. I got to see the Code of Hammurabi and even the Mona Lisa! The
Mona Lisa is actually thee one piece of art that wasn't as big as I expected.
I'd heard from others that it was pretty small, and they weren't lying, but it
was still pretty magnificent--that I got to stand a few feet from one of
the most renowned pieces of art in history...that's special. I took a
zillion pictures, so rather than listing everything I saw, I figured I'd just
post the pictures and let you see for yourself. :)
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| Mona Lisa! |
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| Wait...is this not the Statue of Liberty..? |
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The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code,
dating back to about 1772 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered
writings of significant length in the world.
|
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| Notre Dame |
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| I can't help it, I am obsessed with windows and stained glass |
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| Street vendor food is the way to go in Paris! Cheap and delicious! |
After the Louvre, we made our way to Notre Dame! I'm definitely
not Catholic, but I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on this experience.
Everyone was so respectful in there, which I suppose I would expect, but it
made it such a peaceful and relaxing experience--which we needed after walking
around Paris for 5 hours. The Cathederal is definitely functioning--there are
areas for confessions, and spaces dedicated to different saints where
individuals can light candles and pay money as some sort of an offering. The
artwork and archetecture in Notre Dame were absolutely beautiful, especially
the gothic windows, which--as Shawn and Hayden now very well by this point--are
my absolute favorite!
The rest of the day we just spent walking around the city,
grabbing dinner pananis (panini is actually the plural form of sandwich in
Italy, panino is singular, just fyi) from a local street vendor. We ate it on a
bench near the river, and got to just sit and relax for awhile on the water. I
love people watching here--there are SO many couples, which is probably more
obvious than surprising. I like it though, it's as romantic of a city as I
imagined--if I ever come back, I'm definitely bringing a significant other :)
or just finding a Frenchman while I'm here ;)
Well I better get going to bed, lots to do tomorrow! Wish me luck
for finding a way to Rome--our eurorail isn't working for the train we planned,
so either it's pay $150 for a train ride or fly.
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