Paris, France
(part 2)
June 1st, 2010
Well I haven’t blogged in almost a week due to exuberant prices to access the Wi-Fi at my last hostel, so I have a lot to catch up on! After the rainy-day walking around the Latin District, I headed to a bar and met a very sociable South African couple. We chatted over beers and discussed of all things, soccer and the African AIDS epidemic. They told me the story of how their President, Jacob Zuma, was quoted as saying that he had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive prostitute but it was ok because he showered afterwards. It is beyond shocking to think that the man in charge of the nation is so completely ignorant to the transmission and spread of HIV. It was depressing to hear the stories they told of how entire villages are comprised of the young and old; the generation in between has been entirely wiped out by the virus. Working in the sciences, I know all too well that these poor African communities don’t have access to the expensive drug cocktails currently available. I was getting gloomy with this conversation so I switched subjects; the World Cup! Their eyes lit up as they explained how they are allowed to wear their country’s soccer jersey to work and the parties that would ensue in a few weeks. I expressed how jealous I was, so they extended an offer to stay with them whenever I felt like visiting South Africa, an offer I might just take them up on someday…
I headed back to the hostel delightfully buzzed, and walked into my room to find several girls standing naked in towels! I swiftly closed the door and profusely apologized, but they let me in after a few minutes. I was staying in a 6-bed dorm, and would be sharing it with five shy and reserved Hungarian girls. Unfortunately, there was a fairly pronounced language barrier, and as a result, I didn’t really get the opportunity to talk to them much. They seemed wary of an American at first, but could see the merit in my trip. I enjoyed lying in bed hearing them speak in their native language, which sounds so different than anything I had heard before. And one that I found very endearing was how they read short bible versus aloud just before falling asleep. I look forward to possibly seeing them again when I get to Budapest.
I awoke early the next morning and headed to catch the train to Versailles. Holy opulence Batman! That place is ludicrous. I joined a tour group and soaked up tons of information on King Louis XIV and his predecessors, the insane amount of dough they blew to build that place up, and the wine-fueled orgies! I explored the gardens and hall of mirrors, indulged in a picnic by the fountains, and reveled in everything else that amazing castle has to offer. But the time came to leave and head back to Paris to meet my girlfriend! I was stoked because Amy was heading over from Madrid where she and the rest of the UF solar decathlon team are working this summer. It would be great to have her in Paris with me, and it would afford me the chance to see what it is like to travel with a partner.
The next couple of days were an absolute whirlwind of touristy sight seeing. Many claim it takes well over a week to take in all of Paris’ sites, monuments and museums; we did it in two days!
We plowed through the Louvre in under four hours.
Rode bikes to Pont Neuf and Notre Dame.
Went to Hotel des Invalides (great museum) and checked out Napoleon’s Tomb, the ancient armor exhibit, and the WWI & WWII museums.
We strolled through the Champs de Mars and met a few thousand rugby loons; the French national championship was being played that night and they were tailgating hard right in front of the Eiffel Tower.
We attempted to get back in time to watch a daredevil jump off the Tower on his rollerblades, but unfortunately just missed the spectacle. We ascended the Eiffel Tower and marveled at the enormous size of the city and its sprawling suburbs.
We hit up the Egyptian obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, the Hotel de Ville, peered up at the Arc du Triumph, and meandered down the entirely too commercialized Champs Elysees.
We climbed the hill to Sacre Coeur, and took in Moulin Rouge.
And all of this was due to the freaking awesome metro system they have there! It’s a blast catching your connections and being able to hit up all these sites one after another.
The next day was the first truly big let down of my trip. I am absolutely fascinated by all things related to the Second World War. So when I knew I would be in Paris this summer, I started to plan a day trip to the Normandy D-Day invasion beaches. Amy is also a big WWII nerd, so she emphatically joined me. We took the train from Paris to Caen and went to the Memorial Museum which was incredible. It was a very tasteful display of the build-up, consequences, and aftermath of the war from every imaginable point of view: French citizen, American Soldier, Hiroshima bomb survivor, Holocaust victim, etc. We unfortunately had to leave a bit earlier than we would have liked, because we had to catch the train to Bayeux where the actual beaches and American Cemetery are located. This is what I so eagerly anticipated, and to give you an idea of my excitement, I had brought a small American flag with me from home and carried it all the way to this tiny town in the middle of nowhere to be placed at the cemetery to honor our fallen soldiers (it was also the day before Memorial Day). Well, you can understand my utter dismay when after disembarking the train, we realized that the buses weren’t running due to it being Sunday. None of my pre-trip planning had indicated that the buses wouldn’t run on Sunday! So as a last ditch to get to the beaches which were about 15 miles away, I called a cab and inquired to the price to bring us there and back. He wanted a staggering 90 euros; far more than I had in my pocket. I had come all this way and endured 4 hours on a train to pay my respects, and I was thwarted by the French bus system. We glumly headed back to the train station and rode back to Paris. I swear that I will one day make it to that beach and cemetery!
We spent our last evening in Paris downing cheap wine in plastic bottles and dancing as the Eiffel Tower light show set the night ablaze.
All in all, Paris definitely lived up to the hype. On my first day when I emerged from the metro in the suburbs, I thought to myself “wow this city is rough.” But once you get to explore the city center and the sites cradling the Seine, it is a marvelous city with gritty charisma and an appealing attitude. I most certainly look forward to a return visit someday, but for now, we are boarding our overnight train to Barcelona. Yay for sleeping on cots with four total strangers in a 6 x 6 foot train couchette! (this will be a very “European” experience)
-Batty
