There's been so much written, poeticized, sung, and filmed about Paris; we were doing our best to keep our expectations in check. But Paris is simply fantastic. There are only a handful of truly breathtaking views and sites around the city, I think, but an unlimited supply of areas that just charm you to the bone with simple aesthetic beauty. It seems that throughout most of the city, there's a certain energy and excitement that fills the air. It's tough to put your finger on, but if it was easy to describe, there wouldn't be so much romance about all things Paris. Us cynical, jaded Canucks are enchanted, and we're more than happy to go along for the ride.
(Yes, there are pictures; ignore my gushing rambling and scroll down if you want to see them.)
Our first few days were a little occupied trying to deal with the administration of recovering Markus' Eurail pass, but boy did we walk about the city. We've strolled through pretty much every part of town by now; it's incredible to see such a bustling, multi-cultural (though we hear there's a lot of latent intolerance between the whites and the French South Africans), modern, vibrant society in the middle of such a historic city, with ancient relics everywhere. Toronto is just so 100-years-young, you know? We wandered onto the Ile de la Cité, a tiny island on the Seine river that was the entirety of Paris in 50 A.D. Nearby was the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, which was far more massive than we expected.
We also walked the much-recommended straight-line route from the Arc du Triomphe down the Champs D'Elysse, through le Place de la Concorde, through the beautiful Jardin du Something-Or-Other, right to the massive Louvre. Stun-ing. The Place de la Concorde is a massive square filled with another dizzing array of traffic. There's a 3300 year old Egyptian obelisk rising high from the center (a gift from Egypt in the 19th century), and many people were executed in the square in the past, including Marie-Antoinette and King Louis Part Sixteen. We tried to soak in as much as we could and imagine such events taking place years ago in the very spots we stood. Then we went to drink.
Paris, and most places in Europe, tolerates (or encourages?) drinking in the streets. So we sat by a nice fountain near the Hostel (on a picturesque, shop-lined street called Moufftard, or just le Mouff') and had a small amount of supermarket-bought wine with a girl from London, Ontario and a funny bloke from Australia. Markus drank more than others, of course. One thing we noticed is that every young woman in Paris seems to be sexy and attractive. Refined and classy, too; if she's not, she's a tourist. The guys, on the other hand, don't make too much of an effort to present themselves; it's like they're just sitting back and enjoying the show. We tried to find any exception to the rule, but we couldn't; my theory, widely accepted that evening, is that they ship the ugly girls down the river to Germany.
We saw the Eiffel Tower, of course, which was much less of a tourist trap than I was expecting. Very beautiful view from above, and Paris is far larger than we realized. And, as Markus described, we saw the Louvre (see many pics below). The special exhibit there on display for now was on Leonardo da Vinci. The sketches, drawings, and books this fellow wrote were astounding. There's brains, there's art, but then there's da Vinci, who delivers the two together into a one-two punch that leaves you reeling.
Fun experience at the Louvre: While waiting on a bench for Markus in the underground pyramid main entrance area, two Polish high school girls sitting beside me struck up a conversation. They could barely speak a word of English, and all I could say in Polish was "Yes" and "Good morning". It was a conversation filled with a lot of arm-waving gestures and pointing, but they eventually got across what town they were from (pointing it out on my guidebook map), that they were there for 6 days with their school, and that they loved Paris. They were so excited when I explained I was half-Polish, and couldn't stop thanking me when I gave them both Canadian pins we brought on the trip for people we met. They took turns taking pictures of themselves with me, and seemed very disappointed when Markus arrived and we left for lunch.
There are all sorts of experiences from Paris I'm leaving out from here (such as showing two interesting and wet-behind-the-ears American girls some of the sights, and getting lost more often than I'd like to admit, and...well, other little experiences!) but in the interest of time and space, I'll get onto the pictures. We're still experiencing issues with the software, and I'll simply link to the photos this time around. We should have a good opportunity to spruce up the ol' blog when we're in Germany in a few days. And, we know everyone can't wait for more photos; we'll post them as often as we can, but many internet cafes are very streamlined (monitor and a keyboard) and don't have anywhere to hook up the camera. Oh, and Markus is drunk -- there's no photoshopping on these or any photos, really, just the occasional rotation. Not that they couldn't use a bunch of touching up...
Pictures
That's it for now. We'll likely be heading out tonight to a local cafe where a lot of students and artsy-types hang out; very low key and laid-back, we hear. Maybe a friendly bar afterwards. Tomorrow, Versailles, then an overnight sleeper train to Munich and Markus' aunt's place an hour out of town. Catch ya later.
Posted by Brian at May 28, 2003 09:33 PMB&M
Alright. Enough is enough. You speak of all these European women.... and then the closest I get to seeing one is a 2000 year old sculpture? Time to take drastic measures, because my gaydar is ringing off the hook.
Counting Mona Lisa and that naked baby, you are still outnumbered by naked men statues... not a good thing.
European Tip of the day: Markus, wrestle the camera out of Brians dead hands.... that will teach him. Burry his rotting body in a shallow grave by the railroad tracks.... just deep enough for the animals to find, and the police to miss.
Cheers.
Md.
Sorry to say this glicker, but i have to agree with the mick, he has a point. What's this about a couple of polish ladies in Paris, yummy, next time get a few shots for the boys back home. Or better yet, when a girl actualy talks to you Brain take her picture, that way you'll have proof. And do you hear this big miker, they couldn't find one ugly girl in Paris, and yet no pictures, just crappy photos of buildings and art. Even if you have to pay them to take their picture, do it, m-prime will reimburse you i'm sure. I need to give you a bit of credit though, a lady walking in a fountain is a start, go get em tiger,.....raaaah.
Dr. Leonard, over and out.
Dude, you look like you've been wearing that same shirt for the whole trip. I'm also a bit skeptical about these supposed 'women'. Maybe the beer is just getting to you, and when they turn tail and flee, screaming 'Pervert!', you hear something more flattering. Or maybe you're just jealous that Markus is just so much more popular there than you are, with your two week old unwashed shirt.
Word out to the B-diddy and Mook Doggy Dogg,
D-izzle
Haha, you guys are huge jerks. Kinda hard to just take random pictures of women on the subway and the streets, though, but we'll get to beaches 'n stuff eventually...
And those Polish girls were from high school; I know you like 'em young, Steve-o, but let's not get ridiculous. :)
And holy crap, I had no idea it was going to be this cold for the first week, so I had to wear that blue shirt every day; it's the warmest thing I have. But I washed it pretty often.
We've got a picture of ourselves with Lindsay and Carrie, so we'll post that soon; they definitely outclass us backwater Waterloo hicks!
Later,
-Brian
Posted by: Brian at May 29, 2003 08:21 PM
