Archive for the 'France' Category
I know the pictures are coming a bit late, but I was finally able to upload our pictures from Paris, Andorra, and Spain. To view, select the Gallery link in the top at the top of the page, or following the below links to specific albums. Enjoy.
Avoiding long lines and steep admission to museums and other monuments, forces one to appreciate Parisian life on a different level. Below is a list of a few highlights I enjoyed while in Paris. These aren’t in the guide books:
- A picnic in the park below the Eiffel Tower. Avoid the line and the fee to take the lift. Perhaps even witness a film crew and body guards following the “hip European boy band” we still don’t know the name of.
- Savor each bite of your FREE croissants in the morning.
- Walking through the Latin Quarter on a Sunday afternoon as couples dance in the street to their friend playing an accordion outside their favorite cafe.
- Cimetiere du pere Lachaise (a big cemetery) was recently opened to the public (read: 200 years ago) and entrance is still FREE, who knows how long this will last. Here we visited Oscar Wilde’s grave and counted the number of women who have kissed his large tombstone. I lost count, but the amazing variety of lipstick shades, colors, and gloss is rather entertaining. In case you were wondering, I did not pucker up, it just seemed to much of a bio-hazard. Plus, have you read, The Picture of Dorian Gray? It’s creepy.
- While standing on Pont Neuf (a bridge on the Siene) we spent some time closely looking at the boats individuals permanently live on. Look for the colorful rainbow boat, with the largest collection of rubber duckie’s I have ever seen in my life. I even realized that these floating “households” have mailboxes build into the sides of the bridges, accessible only with a key, of course. They wouldn’t want a curious tourist like me trying to steal their water bill.
- Shopping around for the cheapest crepe in town. Why pay 8 euros for a crepe near the Eifel Tower or Notre Dame, when you can get a Nutella crepe for 2 euros? Oh, and make it look so delicious that a group of French photography students begin practicing through the lense with you, and your crepe eating husband, as their subjects.
- Don’t spend 40 euros on a soup and salad! Instead buy food, at the best bakery, cheese shop and produce markets. Return to the kitchen at your hotel, hostel, inn or other place of lodging and cook your own gourmet meal for around 4-7 euros.
- Walk along the art show’s in the evening. We caught an incredible photography display outside the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens).
- We also discovered a secret little park around Notre Dame that opens only Sunday mornings until around noon when they lock it once more. You can enter, take a few pictures, and smell the roses. Just don’t try to bring your dog in.
If you end up in Paris sometime in the future, I wouldn’t recommend trying to experience the same things we experienced. Instead, have your own incredible Parisian adventure. Be creative, have fun, and try to think less like a tourist and more like a local. But I guess that advice could serve you well in any location
After talking to locals, as well as a few Australians and Americans living in Paris for 3-6 months, we have discovered easy ways to live on $30 (USDS) or less, per person, per day. And still have a comfortable bed, a hot shower and great food and entertainment.
For me, Fall is the best of seasons. I understand that the metaphoric death of the earth as it prepares for winter can be a bit morbid. I am not morbid. Really. For whatever reason, I am drawn to the subtle beauty of the season as the leaves slowly turn into energetic colors (reminding me of Halloween) of orange, red, and yellow. I can stand for hours, entranced by the gentle dance of leaves, dislodged by a soft wind as they fall, spinning and twirling towards the ground.
I cannot vouch for Paris during the other three seasons, but it is wonderful in the Fall. The falling leaves mix with the energetic business of people moving up and down the streets and, for a moment, the leaves appear to soften the harshness of the city as famous buildings and fashionable people alike are caught up in a sudden wind tunnel of falling leaves. I love it.
Our time in Paris has been short (2 days, 3 nights) and there is no way to really experience this city during this brief snapshot. Instead of trying to go into every museum and church (there are many excellent ones to choose from) Natalie and I have spent the last two days walking the city. It is my belief that to understand a city, one must walk its streets and mingle with its people. It is not enough to walk around the touristy areas and to mingle with the vendors who make a living off of selling Eiffel tower replicas to tourists. To begin experiencing the heart of a city, one must wander the streets that tourists rarely venture, talk to shop keepers that are not invested in tourism, and drink coffee at the locations frequented mostly by the locals. Although this approach is hard on the legs, it has never left me disappointed..
So what do I now know about Paris? Well….Paris is as friendly as you want it to be. Most people speak English but only after you try to speak French. Start with English, and you will be disappointed. Start with French, and you will find loads of encouragement. Paris is expensive. Really, really, expensive. Everything I want to eat and drink and do here is mind numbingly expensive. If you want to do anything at all, be prepared to spend double the money you think it should cost. Paris is fashionable. The people here make most average Americans look like slobs who were never taught to dress themselves. Even the school children make me want to buy new clothes to cover my readily visible Americanism. Lastly, the Parisian people remind me of home. Sure they speak French and are dressed better, but when I stop trying to understand what they are saying to each other, I see that their body language communicates the same joy, sadness and disappointment that I see on the streets of America. Even more amusing, everyone is always in the middle of sending a text message. Or reading one. They are talking on their cell phones and listening to their iPods. Although it is a surprise to me (read: I am sure I am the last one to know), we are more alike than we are different.
Tonight is our last night in Paris and I am a bit sad about it. Our time here has been hectic and intense and I will not be sorry to leave that behind. But… I want to come back to Paris and stay for a month or so. I want to wander the streets before the city awakens and spend long hours reading a novel at a street side cafe. I want to know the city well enough to walk around without a map. This is a city of dreams and I hope, some time in the future, to live that dream for just a little longer.
