Paris 2013, Uncategorized

We Made it to France

So, we did indeed make it to France.  I haven’t made a blog post in a few days, because I’ve been too busy being in France.  By the way, did you know that I am in France?  Why yes, I am in France.  Since my last blog post, I have traveled to France.  Ok, ok, I’ll shut up about being in France.  Because France is so boring.  It’s terrible.

Whatever you do, don’t ever come to Paris.  Paris is a terrible place to be with its savory food, its delicious wine, its wonderful architecture, its beautiful art…  In fact, it is so terrible that I have simply been too busy to stop and make a blog post.  However, I have recently found myself in the midst of a lazy afternoon with time to stop and reflect on things.

We arrived here a week ago after a long but uneventful flight.  We left Atlanta at 11:20 pm on Saturday night and landed at 2:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.  I’ve discovered that this is the ideal schedule for traveling to Europe, folks!  First of all, you get on the plane, eat a little something, and then fall asleep.  If you’re lucky, you get a few hours of half-sleep.  The best part, however, is that you land early afternoon and can go immediately to your apartment (or hotel).  Almost every other time I’ve come to Europe I’ve landed at 6 or 7 am and have had to kill a few hours wandering the streets with my luggage before I could ditch my bags and freshen up.  This schedule also means that, if you didn’t sleep on the plane, you’re even closer to the local bedtime.

That first afternoon in Paris, we checked into our apartment, spent some time in the cafe downstairs for some wine and snacks (of course), and then went for a long walk through central Paris.  We’re staying in Le Marais neighborhood which is centrally located, and our walk took us past La Mairie (city hall), over the river Seine to Notre Dame cathedral, and then back towards home past the Centre Pompidou.

 

Chad and Michele in front of the Mairie

Chad and Michele in front of the Mairie

There’s a bridge behind Notre Dame where people have locked padlocks onto the railings.  Each padlock has 2 names and a date written in permanent ink and declaring either 1) undying love or 2) undying best-friend-ness.  I don’t remember this from other visits to Paris.  I’m wondering if this is a new tourist trend in the city center.

We've seen a couple of bridges in Paris where couples or BFFs have noted their devotion to each other.  Reminds me of that one part of the Cinque Terre path.

We’ve seen a couple of bridges in Paris where couples or BFFs have noted their devotion to each other. Reminds me of that one part of the Cinque Terre path.

 

Late afternoon we popped into a small bistro for some more wine, escargots, and huitres.  “Escargots” is French for “snails served in delicious sauce,” and “huitres” are oysters which are in season right now.  We’ve seen then on the daily specials menu in a few restaurants.  We finished the day with a nice dinner at a crowded restaurant in our neighborhood called Les Philosophes.  I ordered Boeuf Bourgignon (stewed beef and vegetables) and I don’t even remember what Chad and Michele ordered because as soon as my food arrived, all I heard was “blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.”  Comfort food + full belly + jet lag = sleep.

Since last Sunday, Chad, Michele and I have been busy playing tourist.  On Monday, we visited the Musee d’Orsay which was a former train station converted into a museum in the 1980s.

Juli and Chad at the upper terrace of Musee d'Orsay

Juli and Chad at the upper terrace of Musee d’Orsay

The museum features art of the 19th century, and there is a great exhibit of van Gogh.  Remember that van Gogh “Starry Night” poster you had in your college dorm room?  Saw it in person.  Remember that van Gogh “Self Portrait” that is so famous?  Saw it in person.  (Well, turns out there are 2 that are famous and saw them both.)  Since our last visit to Paris in 2009, the museum has declared photos to be “interdites” (forbidden) so we weren’t able to take photos.  However, if you want to check out the museum’s amazing collection, you can reference this link from our visit in 2009 when I was able to take photos of some of my favorite pieces:

http://chadzilla.com/site/travelog/article/musee_dorsay

The day we visited the Musee d’Orsay was also the day we started taking the metro.   There’s only so far that excitement can take you when you’re on foot.  You quickly reach a point where you say, “Well, I can walk the 3.4 kilometers (2 miles) back home and continue to admire Paris, or I can take the metro and be sitting in a cafe near my apartment drinking wine and eating snacks (hopefully snails) lickedy-split.”  And metro tickets are way cheap.

Stay tuned for the next “catch up” blog post.  It’s been an eventful week…

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