Oh where, oh where to begin? I have so
many things that I want to talk. My day didn't start too early; I was
up by 9:30 and out the door by 10:45. Today we had class in Pere
Lachaise Cemetery. It is a
cemetery where such famous people as Jim Morrison, Chopin, Gertrude Stein,
Baron Haussmann and Oscar Wilde among many many others are buried. It is way
the heck out there; I took two new train lines that I had never taken before.
The cemetery it not that old it was established in the early 1800’s but there
are over a million Parisians buried there. It was a semi-guided tour down by
girls in our group who did a very good job. The cemetery is huge something like
11 acres and it is very hilly (steep hills too) and the paths are cobble stone.
And I have problems with walking normally and then you add in uneven stones as
the walking surface, and I am headed for trouble. Thankfully I stayed mostly
upright during the tour.
After the tour a big
group of us walked around the neighborhood and found this cute cheap café. I
paid 12 euro for steak with pepper sauce along with fries one of their weird
salads and chocolate mousse. I had a wonderful time eating out on the sidewalk.
However I learned that I am terrible at maps. I spent the whole time we were
waiting for our food trying to find where we were on the map and could not find
it. I got the whole group of eight involved and boy oh boy it was a struggle
bus. I was trying to find where we were because there was supposed to be Le parc Belleville nearby that if you
climb to the top there is a beautiful view of the entire city. Well needless to
say I did not go. The delicious lunch took too much time and I wanted to get
back early enough to change and go to the opera.
I got back early enough and changed
and by 5:30 a group of six girls were headed to the opera house, the one where “Phantom
of the Opera” is set. We planned on getting rush tickets. This means we would
buy random seats for really cheap the hour before the show, but that didn't work out. There were only tickets for either 70 euro (not going to pay that for
an opera let alone one in another language) or ones for 10 euro with no visibility.
So I said nope and hope on the metro back to the river or so I thought.
A friend and I got out at what we
thought was going to be right by the Seine on the right bank, but since we were
following my directions (and as we learned earlier, Janice and the metro do not
work well together) we got out at a very random place. We followed the exit
signs which lead us to this underground shopping mall, and we had to wander
around that for a while to find an exit. After we finally found fresh(ish) air
I had no idea where we were. The Seine was nowhere to be found. I still have no
idea where we got off but it was a very happening street. It was crowded with
young people, there were fast-food restaurants everywhere and trendy places to
shop. We ended up stopping at KFC and getting chicken. I have only had chicken
once since I have been here. I think that chicken is fairly uncommon they
prefer their snails. It was kinda nerve wracking because it is fast-food so
they take your order fast and want everything done right away. I got a Pepsi
(!!!) to drink, but even that tasted different. The chicken was also weird; I
don’t think we share the special recipe with the French.
After eating and feeling gross from eating KFC we tried to find the Seine again. But we ended up next to the Pompidou
Museum and sat down next to modern art in a pool and watched some skaters do
tricks. After resting the quest for the Seine continued. We found a main road
but had no idea which way to go since roads are not clearly marked (the street
signs are often hard to read and/or obscured). And as we know I suck with
directions and maps so I was no help. We walked down one way thought we were
going the wrong way turned around and found a city map with the big “Vous est ici” (you are
here) dot. We were told by a kind strange man that the Seine was the other way,
we went that way and stopped and tried to find were where were in regards to the
direction of the map (which had no compass) which then the man came back and
told us the Seine was actually the other way. Eventually we found it along with
a few monuments.
We crossed the river and headed for Shakespeare and Company (the
bookstore). It was wonderful in there. It wasn't as crowded as last time I was
there and upstairs there was a man playing classical piano music from memory.
It was a wonderful experience. I ended up buying a beautiful book. After that
we found a crepe stand (side note, never pay more than 2,50 for a neutella
crepe and only 3 euro for a neutella crepe if there is nowhere else) and meet a
student from San Diego. We kinda freaked her out by saying that in Minnesota 40
degree weather is shorts weather, but she was nice and I always enjoy talking
to other Americans in Paris.
We walked with our crepes to the bank of the Seine and spent the
rest of the evening eating our crepes, waving at kids on tour boats and
talking. It was a lovely way to see the city of Paris become the city of
lights. We took the RER back to the dorms and I ended up spending about an hour
reading in the little lawn/garden in front of dorm the book that I bought
today. I love the book and wish I was reading it right now.
Hope you get to see the sunset tonight where ever you are.
Jusqu'à demain
Bisous Janice
Jim Morrison's Grave, part of the 27 Club
It is so different form grave yard in America
Super yummy and cheap dinner.
Modern art on a pool
Found La Tour Saint Jacques
View for my crepe snack on the Seine,
which we finally found!
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