Paris 2001

Grand Tour of Europe 2001 – Paris

25 April – I should just avoid travel days at all costs. It would be much less nerve-wracking that way. I got up early and got breakfast in the hostel. To avoid missing another important train, I opted to take trains that would get me to Geneva an hour earlier. The first two trains weren’t bad. I was lucky to get on the one going to Bern early, because it got so crowded. The train to Geneva was lower grade, but that didn’t matter much. I was ready Into Thin Air, and it was quite foggy out. I sat in the Geneva station for a while, then on the TGV train that would take me to Paris. I started fighting a little stomachache. That train ride wasn’t bad – I read and dozed and read some more. I got into Paris right on time – 4:16, then proceeded to try using the Metro. Bought my ticket and headed for the platform. On the way to it, I noticed the air was very dusty/smoky. When I got to the entrance area, there were police officers denying passage to line 1. I tried to find out what happened and one of the officers mumbled something about the train being kaput. Huh. I’ll have to see what that was all about. Luckily, I was able to take another route to my hostel. Just as I was approaching it, it started to rain. The hostel itself (Aloha Hostel) was in the midst of remodeling or something, so it didn’t look at that great. Found out I was booked in a double room – uh, no… too expensive – so I ended up with a mattress on the floor. Fine, whatever. I tried to work out where I’ll be staying for the next few nights. I got frustrated, and coupled with a foul tummy, I wasn’t a happy camper. I called Mom to make me feel better, and it worked. I decided I didn’t want to go back to the hostel just yet, so I bought a cheese sandwich and a small glass of wine at a bar. So Parisian. I called another hostel and got a place there for the next few nights. Whew. Then I decided to walk on towards the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. My feet took me past Les Invalides and down towards the palaces. I walked along the river towards the Eiffel Tower. It was getting late enough that I didn’t think I’d have to wait overly long to see it lit up at night. I bought a chocolate crepe and walked up to the Palais de Chaillot to get a better view. Took a few pictures, then watched these massive black clouds move their way in and start raining. Stood in the rain for a little while getting soaked before the sky started to clear. As it did, a rainbow appeared, arching right over the Tower just as the Tower lights started going on and off like random flashbulbs. Ooh la la! It had to have been one of the most magical things I’ve seen in a long time. I hung around there for a little while until the sun was about to set, then walked back to the hostel. I talked with the two Canadian girls who are sharing the room before they left, and I got ready for bed. I can’t unpack much, only being here for one night.

26 April – I got up early this morning, ate my free breakfast of half a baguette and orange juice, and took my stuff over to my new hostel. It took a while before everything could get straightened out, but I’m good. I bought a 3-day Paris Visite card for the metro use, then went to the Louvre. I spent a nice long time waiting in the line, but at least it wasn’t raining, merely cloudy. Finally got in to the museum around 10. To my pleasant surprise, museum workers were on strike and so it was free. Saved me a couple bucks. I headed straight to the Mona Lisa, so I could get that out of the way. I spent the next few hours looking at the paintings, sculptures (Venus de Milo, etc.), antiquities and the like. I was really impressed by the collection. Since a good chunk of the museum was closed, I got to see all of the open exhibits by 2:30. I decided enough was enough and left, I found La Comedie Français after a bit of walking. I wanted to see that – Re: The Scarlet Pimpernel. I just might try to go in… From there, I walked to an internet place to check my mail. Got some interesting news {um, not sure what it was, don’t remember it}. And I Hate French keyboards! I decided to go to the Cimietiere Pere Lachaise. Huge cemetery full of sepultures and tombs. I saw the graves of Jim Morrison, Heloise and Abelard, and George Bizet. It would have been really easy to get lost there, so I didn’t stick around long enough to do so. I came back to the hostel to put my stuff in my dorm room – nice, own shower, 4 beds… I did some grocery shopping, which took a while because I was torn on what to get. Chatted a bit with my roommates Jade, Esther and Mary Claire before going down and making dinner. I talked more with Jade during and after dinner. Then I decided to have a go getting up the Eiffel Tower at nightfall. As I got there, the lines and the tiredness of my feet didn’t make climbing to the second level too appealing. So, I decided to take the Metro over to see Notre Dame lit up at night. Turned out it wasn’t anything special, and my feet were killing me, so I decided to go back. Got ready for bed, read a little. It’s going to be nice sleeping in tomorrow!

Outside the Louvre

Jim Morrison's grave

27 April – Got up late, ate my baguette with jam, took a shower and headed out to the Eiffel Tower. I decided that it would be best if I went up it early, before I walked my feet off. I practically had no lines and no waiting. I huffed and puffed my way up to the second level, then bought a ride up to the very top. The view was decent – it was hazy/cloudy, so I couldn’t see into the distance very much. I went down to the second level, bought a cheesy mini Eiffel Tower to commemorate climbing up it, then walked back down. I passed a group of Kindergarteners heading up – good way to have them burn off energy! From there, I took the Metro to the Opera. I was a little disappointed, because the performance area itself was so dark as they worked on lighting for a show, so I could barely make out the splendor of the decoration and the chandelier. Appeased myself with an expensive pack of mini postcards. The stairs and the foyer were absolutely gorgeous, though. I walked from there trying to find a market or bakery, with no success because it was too touristy. Walked and walked and walked. I really didn’t know where I was. I bought a camembert sandwich, a lemon crepe and some strawberries and ate those as I walked. I realized I was getting into Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur, so I made my way up (no, not up!) there. Passed through what was obviously a fabric district. I bought another crepe (bad me) and walked up to a bench to enjoy it (nope) and sit for a bit. I hadn’t been up there too long when a {large Middle-Eastern-looking} Frenchman sat beside me and started ranting on and on about English and other languages. {For some reason, he assumed I was Dutch.} I was polite, then when I tried to make my escape, he put his arm around me and kissed my cheek a few times. Pulled out of that as quick as I could and practically flew down the stairs. I walked to the nearest Metro station which definitely took me through the ethnic heart of Paris. I took the Metro to the Bastille. I thought the prison was still there, but alas{?}, no. Just a statue and an opera house. It was starting to rain, so I went back on the trains. This time, I headed for Rue Plumet, to see if I could find No. 55 (from Les Miserables). Again, no luck, as the highest number was 25. I walked back to the hostel. Since it was too early for me to go to my room, I bought a coffee. French coffee comes in tiny little cups. At 5, I went up to the room and rearranged my stuff, talked with the other girls and read a bit. Since I ate lunch late, I’m going to wait and make a late dinner. Same thing as last night – pasta with sauce, spinach, half a baguette and cheese. When dinner time came, the kitchen was so busy, so I just settled for another cheese sandwich. I talked with Jade and Mary Claire, then read a little before going to bed.

Inside the Eiffel Tower

View towards Palais de Chaillot

Sacre Coeur

Haughty Parisian Stop-man

28 April – My last full day in Paris, and I sure took my time getting ready for it. I ate breakfast at 9:30 with Jade, then came back and took a shower. Said goodbye to the girls, then left around 10:30-11. I headed out to Notre Dame. After waiting in line under threatening skies, I finally made my way into the church. In terms of cathedrals, I was pretty disappointed. I think that was mostly due to the fact that they had the nave blocked off, so I couldn’t get into a good position to see the famous rose stained-glass windows. I eschewed the line to climb the tower. The skies were gloomy, and my legs were sore, plus I didn’t feel like paying. Maybe next time {regretting that now, post-fire}. From there, I wandered my way towards the internet place. I did a little emailing, then went to a café. I paid a lot for the privilege to sit inside while it rained, drank hot chocolate while I wrote out a postcard home. I realized I had to go back to the internet place to find out how I could get to the airport in Charleroi from the station. Found out that the last bus to the airport was a lot earlier than I was getting in, so I made my way back to the hostel to get my reservation, then went back to the train station to change my reservation. There must have been problems with the Metro, because the trains were few and far between, and crammed like sardines. Ugh. I finally found where I could get my ticket, and happily, I got it changed at no extra cost. From there, I took the Metro to see the Place des Vosges. Nice park, nice houses. I was a naughty girl and bought a pastry. I found a supermarket and bought some dried fruit. From there, I walked to WH Smith and went nuts buying books. I headed back to the hostel. I had to wait to make dinner, so I finished up the book I was reading, then ate. After dinner, my new roommates came in and we talked a bit, then some other people came in and pow-wowed. We finally got them to leave around midnight.

Notre Dame

Place des Vosges

29-30 April – I slept in again, because I knew I wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight. Ate breakfast and gathered up my stuff and left the hotel around 11. I ended up leaving a good amount of stuff there – things that I had brought along specifically for the trip that I probably wouldn’t use again. I set off, backpack on, for the last few places I wanted to see in Paris. I walked all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, an awful long walk. I wanted to climb up it, because it was a bright, sunny day with puffy clouds, but they couldn’t let me go up with my backpack and I had nowhere else to leave it. Then I walked down the Champs Elysse (sorry – can’t spell in French) with hordes of other tourists. I escaped them for a bit in a pretty park, where I nursed my feet. Then I walked on past the Place de la Concorde, Madeleine, and even though it was early, I headed for the train station. The route I took was absolutely dead, and I was starting, so I walked until I found a café where I got a sandwich. Sat for a little while, then set off again for the train station. Walked through a pretty ethnic area to get there. Bought an ice cream cone on the way and another in the station because I was quite warm, and I needed to use up my francs. I was two hours early for my 3:55 train, so I sat down and read until it was time to board the train to Brussels. Nice, short ride. I had a bit of a panic at that train station, because I wanted to find an ATM, but couldn’t. Ended up exchanging a traveler’s check to have some Belgian francs. I caught the train to Charleroi. Even though I got there in time to catch the bust to the airport it was nowhere to be seen. I waited a while, finally, giving up and taking an expensive taxi ride there. It’s a lot smaller and low-key than Stansted. I called home and talked to the folks for a good, long time. I was famished, so I got a cheese sandwich at the cafeteria before setting myself on some seats to read and wait for Madeline. That was about 8. Madeline finally showed around 11. We talked about what we had done since we parted ways. By 1:30 am, we were the only people in the entire airport, except for some security people who were nice enough to turn the lights off for us. That allowed me to get a few hours of sleep until 4, when we were rudely awakened by the radio coming on loudly. Ergh. I gave up on sleep. We finally got to check in, made our way to the departure gate, then got on the plane. I slept a little bit on the less-than-hour-long flight. Once at Stansted, we grabbed our stuff early and tried to catch the bus to Victoria, so we could hopefully catch the earliest bus to Swansea. I slept most of the way to London, but it became clear with the traffic, we weren’t going to make the 9:00 bus. We bought tickets for the 11:00 instead. Bought sandwiches there. Unfortunately, on the bus, we sat behind two people who insisted on talking loudly the entire trip to Cardiff. I wanted to either read or sleep, but it was hard to do either. We made a bus change at Cardiff, and soon enough, we found ourselves back at Swansea, our great adventure at an end.

Successfully asked a woman in German to take this picture of me

Trip favorites (no order):
Best tourist city – Munich, Berlin, Paris
Best inhabitable city – Oslo, Verona
Best hostel – Oslo, Verona (for looks), Interlaken
Best showers – Berlin (also best breakfast)
Favorite building – Schloß Neuschwanstein, Louvre, Deutsches Museum
Favorite sites – Holmenkollen, Eiffel Tower, Gedächtniskirche, Alps
Best weather – Italy and French Riviera (sun at last!)
Best experiences – shuffling Oslo palace guards, free beer in Copenhagen, train on the ferry to Berlin, Vulcan warship 3D sound headgear, Mike’s Bike Tour, drooling cat, flunch!, rainbow over Eiffel Tower, free Louvre

{transcribed 2/17/2020}