Paris Je T'aime

10 weeks of travel and it was bound to happen- this blog has been a little neglected lately. Rest assured, we are still alive and well, we have just gotten very comfortable here in London and have been busy meeting up with friends from across the world and making new ones. So here is the product of me writing this one blog post over about 7 days.... Settle I'm for the long haul, or if anyone is looking for a shortcut out of this then just enjoy the pictures! 

Paris is one of those iconic European places that have so much hype, it's hard not to have really high hopes. (On that note, we heard from people in our hostel that this is actually a big problem for Japanese tourists- apparently so many of them go to Paris and then feel like it doesn't live up to their expectations that they suffer from 'Paris Syndrome'- they become so disappointed that they get physically ill. We even heard they had to set up an entire 'suicide hotline' in Paris to help them deal with it...we met a Japanese girl but she was very happy with Paris so we didn't get to ask whether it was true).

That aside, even though I came to Paris hoping it would be just as beautiful as it seems in the movies, I wasn't disappointed. We stayed at Le Regent hostel in the area of Montmarte- on the Northern side of the city. Depending on which way you look at it, Montmarte is either the 'real Paris' and the heart of the culture scene, where all artists and writers such as Van Gogh and Hemingway lived (and where the film Amelie was set); or it is the sketchy end of town where the neighbouring red light district of Pigalle is full of adult shops and unsavory people. I like to think it was the first one, because the surrounding area had the big church- the Sacre Coer- on the hill and smaller streets filled with bakeries and cafes where there was lots of people watching by the Parisians. Plus the hostel was located just across the road from a metro stop meaning you could get anywhere in Paris in an instant with their efficient rail system (you never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a train!)

But really, the hostel was great because of the people we met. We arrived late afternoon on our first day and went into the kitchen to check out what facilities were in offer. Within 5 minutes, a friendly American (Jordan) was inviting us to take part in 'Canadian thanksgiving', since Aaron (the Canadian) was away for his celebrations at home. Within a few hours we had rounded up a big crew of about 15 people and we all pitched in to make food. Mike was awesome and became chef for the evening- when he started cooking he thought it was for about 6 people, and before we knew it he was cooking up a pasta feast for the hostel! We had a nice homely meal with all these amazing people, and over the next few days we has our own mini family with Jordan, Aaron and Liam (an Aussie guy).

After a night of celebrations, our first full day in Paris was spent doing a free waking tour with our friends from the hostel. We saw the sights of the Notre Dame, the Louvre, the head of courts where Marie Antoinette was held before she was beheaded, and learnt a bit of French history (and realised that basically Napoleon was a guy with a huge ego, and his 'N' symbol can be seen all over Paris). We also saw some sights made famous by movies and tv- the bridge where Carrie and Big get together in the last ever episode of Sex and the City; and the fountain where Anne Hathaway throws her phone into in the Devil Wears Prada. It almost counts as seeing someone famous if I know they've been in that spot before, right?

The rest of our day was spent having lunch with our group (and the tour guide from our free tour) at a traditional Parisian cafe- complete with expensive prices and a snooty older waitress who had about as much personality as a sack of potatoes. Our group went separate ways after that, and Mike and I went to explore the area of Montmarte. We visited the Sacre Coer which is on top if a hill so it had some views over Paris, so it was nice to sit and watch all the people and buskers in the area. There was one busking soccer man who was amazing to watch- he climbed this pole and then balanced a soccer ball and did all these tricks while he was up there. Here's a photo (it doesn't really capture how good it looked).

Our afternoon in Montmarte also included a visit to see the place where Amelie works in the French film (I was very excited to see that because I really like that movie):

A sampling of a French waffle with icecream:

And a walk past the house where Vincent Van Gogh lived with his brother:

Our second day in Paris and the rain was still set in, so our group from the hostel decided it was perfect weather to visit the Louvre.

On our tour the day before, we had heard that there is a lesser known entry to the most famous museum of Paris that helps cut the notoriously long waiting lines- underneath the big pyramids, there is a shopping centre (Carousel) that links up with the gallery with an extra entrance there. When we arrived at the so called 'secret entrance' we were greeted with a line snaking around the corner and a sign saying '45 minute wait from this point on'. So much for a quicker entrance.

But lucky for us, there was a 'secret' to the secret entrance: while our friends were waiting in the line, Mike and I wandered off and noticed a tobacco shop advertising Louvre tickets. It seemed too good to be true, so we went and double checked that they were legit (and lucky for us, they were the real deal).

So for mum, dad and anyone visiting the Louvre, here's the inside scoop: go to the carousel shopping centre, go inside and down the escalator and you will see the big upside down pyramid with a line snaking out of it. Go to the right instead, and find the tobacco store with no line on the very end of the right side, and buy a ticket for €11. Then, go upstairs to the big pyramid above the ground, skip pass the massive line with a big smile on your face and get straight in through the express line-all in under 5 minutes!

The Louvre is an overwhelmingly huge place- from our tour we learnt there are over 35,000 exhibits, and the building stretches on for a good few kilometers. Since we were with Jordan (the American) and Aaron (Canadian) and none of us really were art experts, we decided to scope out the highlights of the gallery for about 3 hours. The Egyptian art section was really interesting, and Mike, Aaron and I had a fun time making up stories for the hieroglyphs to make them more exciting. The first 'big' art piece we saw was the Venus de Milo and there were a lot of people crowding around that, which meant only one thing- we were dreading the line to see the Mona Lisa. We made our way upstairs to see it, and entered the room with a crowd from the door all the way to the picture. It was good to see something in real life that you had heard about for so long, and I was pleasantly surprised because a lot of people I have spoken to talked it down and said 'it's so much smaller than you think', so I was happy to see it was bigger than the size I had imagined. The best bit about it though was watching the crowds battle through to take a photo at the front- Mike developed a hatred for all people and was out of that room in a second, and it wasn't too long until I had enough of the pushy people and escaped as well.

After that our group all split up, and so Jordan, Mike and I had a little supermarket lunch on a park bench, then made our way over to the Notre Dame.

On the way, we watched a hilarious incident with the local pickpockets of Paris. To set the scene, Paris is notorious for its pickpocketing and apparently is the third-worst city in the world for it. Most of the pickpockets are actually gypsy kids, but they aren't your average hand in the pocket thieves (though on metros and busy places you basically don't let go if your bag).

When they put in the extra effort, the gypsy kids actually have really elaborate tricks that we were warned about:
*The 'gold ring': a person will come up behind you and say 'miss- you dropped your ring'. If you stop and put your hand out, they will shove it in and then say you owe them money. Sadly didn't get to see this one in operation.
*The 'bracelet': near the Sacre Coer, a group of guys hang around making bracelets out of string. Seems harmless enough, until they ask for help making it, put one around your wrist, and then make you pay for it even though you never asked for it. Sneaky.
*The 'petition': this is the most common one we saw and it is surprising how many people actually fall for it. Near all the major tourist sights, a group of kids will hustle with pieces of paper and ask 'do you speak English'? When you say yes, they try and make you sign a petition, and then either make you pay because you signed their paper, or while you are distracted with the signing their friend will come and go through your pockets/bags. When we were on our way to the Notre Dame, we sat and watched the kids work this one for a bit of entertainment. Turns out we got the best show ever, because a second later the police turned up, searched the kids and took all their money and then took them away in the back of the cop car. Justice!

After taking pleasure in watching the gypsy kids get done, we spent the rest of the day sightseeing at the Notre Dame cathedral, Mike doing a bad impersonation of the hunchback of Notre Dame, and listening to a choir that was inside and so peaceful it almost put us to sleep.

Later Mike and I went to Pere Lachaise cemetery, a place that has become a popular tourist destination because of the iconic people buried there. We visited the graves of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison (which had a fence around it because apparently people would visit his place and try to carry on the 'sex, drugs and rock n roll'..on top of the grave), and also the grave of Oscar Wilde (which was also surrounded by a fence because too many women would plant a red-lipped kiss on his grave that it was starting to erode).

That night was one of the best parts of our trip to Paris: since it was the last night before a few of the people left the hostel we decided to go and watch the Eiffel tower sparkle at night and see the hourly light show. We gathered up a group from the hostel, bought some champagne, and caught the metro to Trocadero where there is a big lookout square on eye level with the tower. We sat for about 2 hours before we had to rush back to the metro before it closed, and it was a really great way to spend a last night with new friends.

Our final day came, our last chance to fit in all the sights we still needed to see, and it was no surprise the rain clouds were still around- which for us meant that our plan to go up to Montparnasse tower and get a view over the entire of Paris was ruined because the top of the building was lost in the clouds. We originally wanted to climb this tower instead of the Eiffel tower, so that we would actually see the tower as well in our view. So with that plan out the window and the Eiffel tower off in the foggy distance, we walked towards it to take some photos underneath it. On the way we passed the tomb of Napoleon with the big gold dome on top, and saw some coloured bears lining the street to the Eiffel Tower that were part of some United nations exhibit (we couldn't help but think Australia's bear was decorated by a bunch of kids and was not nearly as impressive as the rest):

When we arrived the top of the Eiffel tower was actually visible, and we saw the lines were really short (people were smart enough to stay out of the rain). The ticket price to walk up the tower was only €3, so we thought 'that'd be fun'. And then it started pouring. When I pictured visiting the Eiffel tower, I never imagined I would be climbing 43 storeys in the pouring down rain. But not all romance was lost- mike lent me his big rain jacket so at least I could keep dry. We finally reached the second floor platform and had this to look out on:

So maybe not what we originally imagined, but I'm still proud to say we climbed the steps of the Eiffel tower, and I will always remember that experience.

The rest of the day we spent crossing off all the last things we wanted to do: visit the Arc de Triumph- the roundabout with 12 roads coming off it and no road lines marked. Apparently there is an accident on this roundabout every minute or something, and car insurance in Paris covers you everywhere but this one road. Crazy!

We then took a stroll down the Champs Élysées, the ridiculously expensive shopping street, and imagined what it was like to have money and shop there.. The place looked so fancy that we didn't even step foot in a store, though it was cool to see.

We finished off walking back through the main avenue, taking some photos that had a small glimpse of blue sky in the background, before tracking down this super- elegant and famous bakery called Fauchon, Before leaving home a lovely friend who lived overseas last year made me a list of places I had to visit, and this one she recommended for the macaroons. At €1.70 each they were the cheapest thing on the menu, and they came served in this packaging with gold writing and everything. Even though we were eating the cheapest possible thing they served, it was nice to be in this really suave cafe alongside people paying €10 for a slice of cake.

Our last night came and it felt like we were only just getting acquainted with Paris and then we would have to leave it. We deliberated going to see a show at the Moulin Rouge (something I wanted to check out) but in the end we decided that for €95 per ticket, maybe it was more of a thing to do if I was with a group of friends rather than a boyfriend on a backpacker's budget.

So instead we went to check out Paris by night time- a great way to say goodbye to such a nice city. We went to a little creperie in the Marais neighbourhood (mum and dad take note for your trip- this area is really lovely to walk around and feels really Parisian). We enjoyed some savoury crepes and a jug of cider in this cute little cafe and then took a tour along the Seine by night and saw all the sights lit up. We visited the love lock bridge which is completely covered in locks, and continued our tradition of leaving a 'lovely' dreadlock on it instead (good luck to whoever comes across that in the future.. It's a bit of a hide and seek to find it in this picture).

Paris really is even more magical at night time, and we got to see the Eiffel Tower light up again, and the Louvre by night as well.

It was about then that I realised I will definitely be returning to Paris one day: despite having high hopes, it was one of those places that I really fell in love with. Sure, it's a real money burner and not so great for the budget traveller; and yes the Parisians aren't the friendliest of people. But even still I would be back there in an instant. But not this time around, or Schengen immigration will probably have us deported.... More on our conundrum with visas and the fact there is so much more we have left to see and not enough visa days next time.

For now, we are on safe soil in the UK, and have settled ourselves in nicely in London. So much so that we originally booked 3 nights here and we are now coming up to 10..... I think we are becoming proper English now- we are sitting in a cafe in Camden while I am writing this, drinking a pot of tea. Perfect.