1 August 2008

In Paris, love is always in the air. You can feel it... and see it. It's as romantic as you probably imagined from all of the stereotypes that are out there. ;)

Arrived in Paris where Quentin greeted me with a smile. He took me to his flat where his lovely lady was waiting for us, Ana. We relaxed for a minute and then decided to take a walk to watch the sun set over the city from a park down the street from their house. It was so beautiful! I tried to take pictures, but the pictures don't do it justice. The park was really lovely as well! Lots of people... and lots of love. Awww.

After a quick dinner a la Quentin, which consisted of mashed potatoes and a hamburger patty (he said it was going to be casual and I certainly wasn't complaining), we went for a night walk around Paris. We started off at the Notre Dame and walked along the river down to the Louve and back. It was so beautiful and peaceful. People were out and about everywhere (as it was a Saturday night afterall) and entertainers were drawing the crowds. We walked around for probably about an hour... got some ice cream and went back to the flat. We were all so exhausted! Ana was tired before we left, but she was determined to not go to be before 10:30pm on a Saturday night.

The next day, we lounged around for a bit before making our way around the city. Had a late breakfast and then we were off. Our first stop was Champs Elysee and walking along the avenue taking in the sights and the massive Louis Vuitton store. Just looked. Didn't walk in. Went in to an elegant pastry store where Ana purchased some expensive, yet tasty, cookies. And before we knew it, we were at the Arc de Triomphe where I found the Foy name graced on the walls. Afterwards, we made our way over to the Eifel Tower and then over to Montmartre. Montmartre was awesome! They filmed quite a few scenes from Amelie there, so it was really cool to go to where she worked for a coffee... and to see the park area. When you get to the top, you can see all of Paris from above. It's such a breathtaking view. As we were admiring the view, we noticed the rain was coming our way so we dashed down the stairs and over to the metro to make our way back to the flat. After all of that walking, we were all so exhausted. It was nice to relax for the rest of the evening.

I started coming down with something. My throat was really soar and it was really hard to swallow. Quentin and Ana took good care of me. While Quentin was making me drink nasty drinks and giving me medicine to take (they just had the same thing), Ana was making me tea with honey. It was so sweet!

The next morning, the two of them were off to work, and I was out on my own. Didn't have a map or anything to guide me, so I decided it would be a good idea to start where we started my first night there... which was close to the Notre Dame. I walked in the opposite direction where Ana said there were a lot of really cute boutiques. Didn't see the boutiques, but did run in to a really cool building, of which I can't remember the name. I walked in to a church, which had some beautiful artwork and lovely soft music playing in the background. And then I stumbled on to a book store where I found a tourist map... and I finally had some direction. Planned my route and decided to walk along the river and over to the Louvre to see the pyramids. During my walk along the river, I saw "Papi Dance". He was so cute. He was probably in his early 70's, but in really good health, dancing to Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop the Music". It was hilarious!

I heard that during the Summer, Paris opens a "beach" along the river. I didn't know what people meant by that. I thought maybe they import a lot of sand and people lay out. It wasn't quite that. It was more of wooden decks they put out with umbrellas and lounge chairs... men in speedos and women in bikini's... things that spray out a light midst of water... some Foosball tables... minature golf, etc. It was really cool! Children were playing in the water and on the little slides and such and everybody was enjoying the weather.

When I finally arrived to the Louvre, I was amazed at what I saw. It was so massive! The buildings went on and on. Ana said it took them 200 years to build it and that there are several different architecture styles, but I didn't notice that too much. Inside the square, were the pyramids... made of glass. There was one LARGE one and four small ones. There was also a beautiful fountain. People were sitting on the edges with their feet in the water. It was really lovely.

After that, I decided I wanted to get more pictures of the Eifel tower with the sun and pretty skies, as opposed to the ones I had taken the day before with overcast and not so pretty skies. So, I walked through the back streets to see if I could see something I wouldn't have seen on the "beaten path". Ran in to a couple of museums. It was a really lovely walk. When I got to the Eifel Tower, I just took a couple of pictures and went back to the apartment to clean up. I think that sightseeing for three weeks was starting to catch up with me at that point.

That night, Ana made a really delicious green chicken curry. Yumm! While she was cooking, I was trying to make space on my computer to store more pictures. Somehow, I have managed to use all of the 100+ gigs on the computer for... I don't know what. I discovered about 30 Gigs were just of pictures, as I had deleted them all. The last time I backed up my computer was when I was in Lausanne, so I didn't totally loose everything, but I did loose all of my hard working Paris pictures. I was shattered!

As you can imagine, I wasn't going to leave Paris without the pictures that I wanted. So during my last day there, I tried to go to every spot I had been the previous 3 days. I made it back to Montmartre, over to the Eifel Tower, and then to the Louvre and then back to the apartment to clean up before I went back to London. It was such a quick run around the city... it was exhausting!

Being back in London was a little strange. I forgot how the train system worked and which trains I needed to take to get back to Dan's. Although, it didn't take long for me to get re-acclimated. Looking back on the trip, everything just happened so quickly. It almost felt like a dream! But in the end, it was unforgettable. I will always remember these days... and will be greatful that I had the opportunity to make such a journey.