Until I See You Again

Paris. This post is coming from my bedroom, but I thought this blog would not be finished unless I was thorough and told you all my journeys. We took an overnight train to Paris, so our first day started bright and early right off the train. Yet another adventure attempting to find our hostels, but as always, we get there eventually.

At Colette's insistence (but I didn't resist) we started at the Latin Quarter since you could find the infamous Pita Frite in the area. A pita frite (def'n) is a gyros (donair) filled pita with lettuce, tomato, mayo and topped off with fries. Yes fries. Surprisingly delicious! In Italy our weakness was gelato, and we ate it at least 3 times a day, so in Paris our weakness was crepes. Again, probably 3 times a day. We should be 300lbs by now, but I think we work all those calories off with the walking we do.

Nearby is the Notre Dame, where Victor Hugo's hunchback lived, and there was some pretty intense organ going on inside. The stained glass was pretty cool too. Next we headed to the Louvre Museum. The Louvre is formerly known as the Royal Palace and home to King Louis the XIV until he decided it was too small and dark. The Louvre is the worlds largest museum. A little greedy eh? This is when he began construction of Versaille. Inside the Louvre you can find the Mona Lisa, the Wedding Feast, and Aphrodite among others. The gardens are breathtaking as well.

Leading out from the gardens is Champs Elysees, a famous (expensive) street that ends up at the Arc du Triomphe. Surrounding the Arc is a massive traffic circle - actually known as a roundabout. Teehee. While we were there, some military ceremony caused the police to stop traffic. Allowing us to walk across the roundabout that should be impossible to cross. Their traffic circles work a little differently than ours - there are no lanes. You just go! Wouldn't want to drive here.

Next we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Its a bit of a strange experience, because it is THE Eiffel Tower. We stood in line for ages, but finally got a chance to go to the top. Did you know that when the tower was built, it actually had no purpose? The governement wanted it torn down. I mean, who needs a giant hunk of useless steel? Luckily for us it remained standing, and was eventually converted into a radio/tv tower. And now it is the widest known symbol of Paris. The view from the tower was incredible, and once we returned to the bottom we lay in a nearby park for a while and watched it light up. It is just as pretty at night as in the day.

Tired from a long day of walking we headed back to the Latin Quarter for some more crepes. While wandering around we stumbled across a night club known as the Latin Corner. Sort of a male version of Hooters I think. We couldn't resist. You'll have to check my photos on facebook for those pics.

Day 2 in Paris is also the last day of our Europe journey together. So sad! But here's my thought. This may be the last day of this trip - but its just the beginning of our plans for the next one. The travel bug has bit me hard and I will be back. Today we headed out to the Palace of Versaille - the one the Louis XIV built when the Louvre was not big enough. Technically speaking the Palace of Versaille itself is smaller than the Louvre, but the grounds are much more expansive. Louis XIV was only a child when he assumed the throne so it is not surprising he desired wide open spaces. The Royal family continued to live here until the French Revolution with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette actually, was the only Queen to impose her personal taste on the Palace. She also had the Petite Trianon built as a quiet getaway from the ceremonies of the Palace.

We also headed out to see the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens, although we were unsure who lived in Luxembourg. In the gardens we found a giant statue of a bronze head. Colette attempted to pick it's nose - although our height deficit squashed those plans too. More pita frite and crepes in the Latin Quarter, and back to the hostel to prepare for a fancy last meal. We ended up back in the Latin Quarter for a full course meal - including creme brulee. And being the fat kids that we are we had crepes after supper anyways. We finished off the night in Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart), a cathedral on the hill. The only problem here is that we went too late and night and the hill turns into a party zone. Bad place for two girls by themselves - even in our leather jackets.

Goodbye Paris. Goodbye Europe. Until I see you again.

Street Musicians

So there are street musicians everywhere. I suppose you expected this, but its always cool to see, especially when its something different. Well what's normal I suppose? We've seen hobos with their garbage can drums, instruments we don't have a name for, clarinets, traditional African music, guitars, accordians, a piano (see video) and even a saxophone player. So cool! I'm putting this video up, because when we saw him on the street - in Nice actually - I immediately thought of you Mom.

French Riviera

This one was a very long train ride... I don't know how Colette does it, maybe she is narcoleptic, but she falls asleep within the first 20 minutes of any ride on any moving vehicle! Me, not so much. I doze, but it is never a good sleep. Grrr. When we finally made it to Nice, our first reaction was our misery in the absence of Italian gelato. There are ice cream shops, but we won't eat it. Oh how I miss thee gelato.

So we wandered, found the beach. It was 4 in the afternoon, so we decided to wait until the next day for that. Instead, we found the ancient city, and a park including waterfalls. I love waterfalls, they're just fascinating. This one even included a fun path that led behind, looks like it used to lead to a secret tunnel, but it is blocked off now. Later we met some girls in our hostel that are also from Edmonton, and they took us dancing to a little place called Waynes. Live music and dancing on tables - alright!

The second day started with our immense excitement for the beach, but we had to stop at the reception on our way out. Here's the fabulous thing about France - Colette speaks the language!!! I'm still lost and look like a fool, but at least somebody understands. So little miss bilingual starts chatting it up with the receptionist (male - you flirt) and BAM we have a free room upgrade to a private 2 bed ensuite. SWEET!!!

So eventually we made it down to the beach, and you'd think it would be after noon by now, but apparently our bodies have semi adjusted, because we are up by 9 am most mornings without an alarm. (That's 1am at home - oh jet lag I do not look forward to you) We spend the day lying in the sun, and swimming in the Mediterranean. It was cold and salty, but once you got in there and kept your mouth shut, it was fabulous. Now we figured we were smart and put sunscreen on several times throughout the day. However, apparently we suck at putting it on evenly and thoroughly. Yes ladies and gentlemen, we got burnt - bad. Perhaps the surprising part is how much worse Colette is burnt compared to me. So the last few days after the fact have been a little slow as we despise putting on clothes, and waddle down the street.

Later that evening, while we were cooking ourselves up some grub, we met... drumroll please... our swedish boy!!! His name is Dan and he was very funny. We also met a couple aussies, and a young lady from England/South Africa. So we partied the night away with them, and even ate a whole apple pie (only shared a little :p)

(In the picture, Dan is in the yellow, the one in white is Ben, one of the two aussies we met)

Now we're in Marseille, and honestly wishing we were back in Nice, and hurting a little, but still having a good time. We do alot of wandering, eating, and more wandering. We eventually found a map and some aloe lotion for our burns, so the evening improved. We spent alot of time wandering around the Old Port, which is basically the origin of the city, complete with fortresses guarding the entrance. Marseille is the second biggest city in France, second only to Paris, with alot less to see - unless you are still in the mood for endless museums and cathedrals. In France we discovered an appreciation for bakeries and pastry shops - this afternoon we ate an entire strawberry tart to ourselves. But keep in mind that this tart was likely intended for 6+ people. Later we plan to eat (we're gonna get fat) crepes, and have seafood & crème brulée for supper. We justify the large quantities of food by the large quantities of walking (or waddling) we do each day.