Paris

After Barcelona I made my way to Paris, France. Yes, another sudden language shift. Luckily Camille taught me a few useful phrases to help guide me through. The only one I remember is the following: Je suis etudiant pauvre. Translation: I am a poor student! :)

Lourve

Paris was, different than I thought. Paris is the place where you have a romantic encounter under the Eiffle Tower, fall in love, and bike around with a beret on your head and a baguette in your bike's basket. What an idealized idea. The real Paris was cold: the weather and just the overall attitude/feel of the city. Not to mention that every corner of Paris was swarming with tourists (myself included) and the city smelled! (the subway especially) Despite these things I did actually enjoy Paris a lot but I had a mix of good experiences as well as bad ones.

Notre Dam

Let's start with the bad so we can end with something good. Well, I spent pretty much the entirety of one day trying to navigate the subway system in Paris. By the time I finally found my host's house it was late and I was beat. The next morning I woke up bright eyed and ready to see this dreamt about city. My first stop was the Louvre given its central location. I spent a good amount of time trying to peek into the museum, as a budget traveler actually entering the Louvre was a bit outside of my price range. I know that I will return to Paris one day, and at the time I will see the Mona Lisa. But at the time it wasn't a huge priority.

Alex & I

The architecture of the Lourve was absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing. Paris, and Europe in general has so much history, I love being surrounded by both the old and new. Anyways, after looking around a bit I flagged down a very nice looking women, presumably a tourist, to take my picture. Let's be real, a selfie at the Lourve was going to cut it! She kindly agreed and held out her hand for my camera. I gently placed it in her hands and watched as she attempted to grasp it, but missed. Next thing I knew my camera went flying towards the pavement. I picked it up only to see the lens smashed in... I stood there speechless and devastated. The women also looked shocked and preceded to say: "OOPS! I am so sorry!" and then she quickly walked away. That one hurt. Luckily I met some other nice tourists who let me put my memory card into their cameras while they took a picture for me. I was very grateful for their kindness. Also, later in the day I met up with one of Camille's friends, Alex. This girl was a complete doll! We ate chocolate crepes together, went to Notre Dam, and just walked around the city chatting the day away. She was a sweetheart and let me borrow her camera for the rest of my stay! I was so incredible grateful to her and got some very nice photos as a result :) So despite the morning's mishap, everything worked out & the day ended on a positive note.

Moulin Rouge

The next negative thing (and last for the purpose of this blog), happened when I went to check out the Moulin Rouge as well as Cafe de deux Moulins, the cafe from the movie Amelie. After walking around and seeing the sites I followed my nose to a cute little bakery with the most delicious looking goods. Unfortunately I was out of money so I went on a search to find an ATM. Luckily, there happened to be one just across the street from the bakery. I got out my card, punched in my pin number, and waited for the screen to load so I could withdraw the money. Suddenly, I felt a big push from the side which nearly knocked me over. Startled, I regain my footing to see a teenage boy fumbling at the ATM. I started screaming at the boy and shoved him right back. He looked at me equally startled, and ran away. At the ATM, 600 euro was typed in, and thankfully the boy didn't have time to press the withdraw button. I cleared the ATM of that amount and proceeded to take out the amount I needed. I stood there with a mix of emotions. First, anger. I didn't do anything to hurt this guy and I work hard for my money. What makes someone think that they can take from others? Second, sadness. If I am to be honest, I did shed a few tears. I think I was in complete shock over the situation. Looking back I am surprised I shoved him back. I guess I thought when it came to it, I would shut down in those situations. Well, I guess I am braver than I thought.

After getting my baked goods, I saw him hanging out with his friends. I gave him a death stare while he gave me an apologetic look. People aren't sorry until they are caught.

Breath Taking View

Pit Stop On Our Bike Ride

Besides my near robbery, I met some lovely people within the city. My couchsurfing host, Pierre, was one of those great people. Pierre took me on a 10 mile bike ride around the city at night to get a different view of the city. It was one of the best things I have ever done. We used the Velib system, which I definitely don't think I would have been able to figure out if it wasn't for him. Also, we didn't spend a dime on it! You do have to punch in your card information to take out a bike, but you can ride those bikes for free for the first 20 minutes. So, we changed bikes every 20 minutes in order to ride the entire time for free! I think that part added an extra fun layer to our ride. Most of the time it was easy to find a Velib bike rack, but at one of the times we definitely were on a race against the clock to find one. I remember we had less than a minute left as I was putting the bike back, what a rush! We biked under the Eiffle Tower, the Arc De Triomphe, down Champs-Elysees, and through so much more. We ended our ride at a bar for a couchsurfers meetup. Overall, it was a great night :)

Montmarte

Of course, I saw a lot more things than what I mentioned in here, but these just happen to be the highlights. It is funny how the tourist dropping my camera sticks out so vividly in my mind, but visiting Montmarte.. not at much. I mean I remember the beauty of the area and wandering through the Christmas market, but I don't as much remember how I was feeling / who I talked to. Overall, I think I warmed up to Paris throughout the duration of the week. Maybe it wasn't exactly how I imagined, but there is no doubt about it that is still a picturesque city that has a lot to offer. I do hope that my path leads me back to Paris someday.

xoxo,

Becca