I woke up just before 11am. I took my time eating breakfast, drank 2 cups of tea, did some research online. Took a shower, got dressed, danced around to some MJ... it was already close to 4pm when I was finally ready to leave, but just as I was grabbing my stuff, I noticed that my phone was dead, despite having charged it all night.(Something is definitely wrong with my battery/charger.) So I waited until I had a couple of bars and was finally out the door by 5pm.
I walked to the train station at Alésia and tried to buy a weeks pass. But the woman was extremely short and said I had to use the machine. After many unsuccessful attempts, I gave up and went back up stairs to catch the bus. I decided to just buy a ticked onboard. Again, the driver was extremely unfriendly. I mean, I understand that it's a bit annoying that I didn't have anything smaller than a 10 Euro note, but come on. You have the choice to let it anger you that much!
I got off at Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées and I was able to find the museum, Grand Palais, without much difficulty. Pierre was already in line when I arrived. He was talking to some people and when I approached, they gave us a spare ticket! It took a while to get inside, but it was well worth the wait. It was the last day of the exhibit and we both didn't want to miss it. It was actually a much bigger collection than I anticipated. Really cool.
After the museum, we were both hungry, but we were in tourist central, so we decided to move. P called a head to reserve a table. Luckily he had an extra helmet, so we jumped on his bike and zipped across town back to a place somewhat nearer chez moi. The restaurant was right next to the Denfert-Rochereau train station. We were seated on the hidden, back patio. I never would have guessed that this place I had passed by several times would be so nice! And the food was delicious. Pierre was so generous: as I was looking at the menu and we were talking about the different options, he said, "And of course I'm inviting you, there's no question about that. You should get to experience some of Paris' good food, not just survive." I ordered some sort of fish (that I don't remember the name of) with risotto, we drank so rosé and for dessert, I had a crème-brûllée. YUMMY.
After the wonderful dinner and delightful conversation (Pierre's English is very good, thanks to his American girlfriend. And even though I want to speak as much French as possible, it can be quite exhausting) he gave me a ride home. Travelling by motercycle is definitely the best way to get around Paris. You get where you need to go quickly, but you can enjoy the city in the process. I've been thinking for a while now that I eventually want to have a Vespa back home, in NY, and it really reenforced my desire.
Back home, I took of my shoes and settled down infront of the computer. That was when I noticed I had a new text message: It was from Charlotte, a girl I got in touch with through my French teacher. The message said that she and some friends were going out to a discotheque and that, if my night didn't end too late, I was more than welcome to join them. It was already close to midnight and she had sent the message almost 2 hours earlier. But I wrote back to see where they were at. Luckily, they weren't even there yet. So I grabbed my bag, put on a pair of flats, quickly wiped off the smudged make up under my eyes and ran to the subway, thinking I had already missed the last train. But, as I found out later, they run until about 2am. So no need to splurge on a taxi! =)
It took a little while to find them, I had no idea where I was going and started wandering in the wrong direction until I asked a couple where Club Rex was. They pointed at a huge sign behind me, I blushed, said thank you and turned around. They shouted after me, and after a minute of confusion, I realized they were asking me if there were going to be any drugs at the party. I said, sorry, I have no idea, goodnight, and left. I met Charlotte and her 3 friends outside the club.
We introduced ourselves, and started chatting in French. My French is still quite shakey, mostly because I get nervous and can't think straight. But I understand almost everything, as long as it's not spoken too fast. She told me that we were actually going to go to a different club, just a few blocks away, called Le Social Club. There was a bit of a line, but it went fast. While we were waiting, a guy came up to us and asked if he could escort 2 of the 4 girls in the group in. Apparently, it's really difficult for guys to get into clubs in Paris if they aren't with any girls. So we went in, 4 girls and 2 guys.So we danced. And danced. And danced. Until 4am. At one point, this guy came up and started talking to us... and then he whipped out a little notebook and "sketched" a picture of Charlotte and me. Oh, my God, we laughed so much. I still have the drawing =)
Around 4am, we left. We attempted to get a taxi, but it proved absolutely impossible. We were going to continue to a friend's house, so we sat and waited for them to pick us up. We sat on a bench and watched the unavailable cabs pass by and
all the late night partiers on the street. After at least an hour, they arrived, but there was only space for 2 more people in the car. So the 3 of us left over, walked against traffic to see if we could find a cab. It actually wasn't that difficult once we got infront of the big croud of people waiting for cabs. So we jumped in and drove through the city to this guys house. Once we were all there, we sat in the livingroom as the sun came up, eating bad pizza (which tasted so good at such a late, I mean early hour). There was stuff to drink as well, but I just took a glass of apple juice and enjoyed my cold pizza. At 7am, I could hardly keep my eyes open. They asked me all kinds of questions about NY and Sweden and let me tell you, it's SO hard to speak in a foreign language when you've been up all night. We wandered over to the train station and, after saying our goodbyes, I got on the tram and headed home. I really love the early morning and, despite the drowsiness, I enjoyed the tram ride. It's like a fast, smooth, street level subway. I walked around Parc Montsouris (I would've walked through it, but it didn't open for another hour.Finally back at the apartment, I stumbled around, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and fell into bed. I was out within a couple of seconds. Good thing Sebbe's bedroom has such dark curtains.
We wandered around for a bit, passing by the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris...
And L'Hôtel de Ville...
We crossed the Seine and eventually parted ways. I continued wandering around, I even passed by Notre Dame for a second time. It looked like it was about to rain, so I bought some ice cream (Pistachio & Violette) thinking I could duck in if the sky suddenly burst. But it held up, so I kept walking.
At 8:30pm, I got on the train to Trocadero, the best place to watch the fireworks. It was crazy. There were so many people trying to get there by train, there were policemen at the train station, letting people onto the platform in groups. Once I got to the plaza, I patiently made my way towards the front, where you could best see (and take photos!) of the tower.
Getting home was scary. There were so many people trying to get back on the train, it was dangerous! While being squashed by all the people, I met two guys and we decided to walk a bit to a nearby station. I hesitated, thinking it maybe wasn't such a good idea to go off with two strange men at night. But I decided they seemed harmless, and besides, all of Paris was roaming the streets. So we walked for a bit, and I felt I was getting pretty
far with my French! At the next station, there was still a crowd, but it was manageable. So we got on the train and eventually parted ways, connecting to the same train, but headed in opposite directions. At 2am, I was home. And so exhausted, my legs were aching. I ate a late-night snack, drank some water.
Finally, sleep!
The show was scheduled to start at 11:45pm. So there was a lot of waiting involved. I'm sure some of the people there had been waiting all day. People had snack bags and beer with them. Finally, it began. And boy, was it beautiful. Here are some of the best shots I took.
far with my French! At the next station, there was still a crowd, but it was manageable. So we got on the train and eventually parted ways, connecting to the same train, but headed in opposite directions. At 2am, I was home. And so exhausted, my legs were aching. I ate a late-night snack, drank some water.
Finally, sleep!
Sounds like you're having a fabulous time.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear that you're using your street smarts.