Chapter 3: Paris and all the expensive stuff
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2008
1
3
12
Trip End
Jun 03, 2008
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Monday, May 5, 2008
So, when we finally arrived, we were so exhausted but we were determined to get something done so we ditched our packs in the hostel and hit the streets. How cool! Paris, with your best friend on a hot day, walking through St Michel and eating crepes with nutella and banana on them...we went to the Louvre and looked around (didnt go in yet) but it was the number one thing on Andy's list so decided we should do it!! Saw the Notre Dame and ate the crepes, got our head around the underground (not so different from Tokyo, except we could actually pronounce all the names....almost...
The next day we got up early, still jetlagged, and went to the Louvre to do some serious damage to our feet. And see some art. I'll let Andy tell you about the Louvre, and her take on those first two days.
Andy: Well Ladies and Gents, it was the most awesome experience.....walking through the ginormous gate, with details up to the last nail used to keep it up, what a sight! I couldnt help myself when i say the glass pyramid inside!!! I had to look up and pretend I wasnt gonna cry or anything,...I thanked the Lord for this great opportunity (again) and we just had fun looking stupid in the middle of the court yard taking ridiculous pictures of ourselves looking haggard from our flight! All worth every second spent and every cent, though we wished we could have paid less.... The Notre Dame was a sight! We were so dead by the time we got there (around 10, 11pm and still bright) that we ended up spending more time there than needed admiring the general splendor! Gargoyles galore!!!! Some were really scary.....others had no more teeth left! Ah! The crepe, I recall, was the best Ive ever had....it ws loaded with Nutella!!!! hohoho!!
Back at the "Peace & Love"hostel, we discovered that there wasnt a toilet in the room, just a shower....kinda weird, but ok I guess; though Becky mentioned that every time she had to get the soap she would hit her "head" somewhere!!! kkkk
Becky: The shower was small, ok? Really small. and the door of it was right next to the door of the room, so you couldnt open it while someone was taking a shower or everyone would see the showering person! But, we made it! That night we went to the Tour Eiffel!!! Which was twinkling its lights for us, and got harassed by black guys trying to sell us mini towers and twinkling ones, and keychains...Andy got some souvenirs but I tried to stop her from buying too many as we are going back to Paris anyway and we are gonna have to carry everything!
We also went to the Champs Elysees and by that time our legs were so sore I thought mine might be slowly breaking...we rubbed some ointment that night and everything was ok the next morning! WOW we went to Versailles along with half of America and also unexpectedly Brazil! So naturally that whole day we pretended we were Japanese. The people in front of us in the seven mile long line were Brazilian, so Andy had to listen to that weird conversation while I was laughing at the minimal Spanish I could understand behind me...we played a Japanese game (which I lost) and got a bit sunburnt even though we put sunscreen twice!!
Im out, I will leave Andy to tell you about Versailles (she might mention the impossiblitiy of using a toilet) and I will just tell you how awesome it is to be travelling together, even though half the time we dont know what we're doing, at least we can laugh!
Andy: ah-hum, let me rephrase that!!!! Half the time Becky doesn't know what she's doing, but I do!! I'm a superior being and my pure Lisboa blood gives me superpowers....Becky always knows WHERE we're going tho, her DNA composition is different, but not inferior, she's a superior being in different ways. Ok, back to our trip! Versailles....ah! What joy! Every room was filled with beautiful art, all those rich people wearing the dresses I wished I owned! Each wall had a different style, each WALL people! Not just the decorations! There were so many things to look at at once that we got dizzy and had neck pains from abruptly turning around to see everything! The bed rooms were to die for and made you jelaous of anything you ever passed for as a bed! Zillions of golden utensils and ceiling paintings, and when we got to the room of mirrors, the candle light and sunlight just filled the room with a feeling of whatever you might imagine as glorious (wonder what heavenis like!!) and again, I had to look up to prevent tears from falling,....but was not that successful, since the paintings above me were breathtaking!!! It was all better than I had imagined!!! Mission accomplished! ....THO, as Becky said,....it was like 2 whole nations decided to inhabit the castle, and we had to dodge people everywhere, run for seats, and there was no way on earth that we could have used the toilets, cause the lines were from the door to Abudhabi! And frankly, we should just have gone there cause there were no toilets anywhere else! We did have free water, which was a plus, coming out of a lions mouth situated in the vicinities of the castle, and we drank as much as we could, and left to find a toiletless Mc Donald's.... and got on the train to the Eiffel Tower again to take some day pictures this time! It was crowded again, cause it was a Sunday, and we left for shelter after a while due to exhaustion, missing our train stop, and taking the metro back to the hostel!
A plusse! Les filles!
