Paris, December 2001
Bonjour!
Well, Paris was great. We got to see a good amount of stuff and relax and kick back a lot of the time, too. So here's the
stuff we did:
Climbed the tower at Notre Dame. Wow, that was a hike. An amazing view though. And amazing flying buttresses. Kind of
a joke...sorry.
Went to the Louvre. Had a massive line. We went to the front and paid for someone's ticket if they would buy us our
tickets. Worked like a charm. And we got right in. Jet lag kicked in at this museum. Went back to the hotel afterwards to
take a nice nap. It was also raining this day so that made it not-so-pleasant to walk around. The nap was wonderful and
much needed. We were going to a cabaret show at midnight that night. We almost missed this show because we were
having a really good time at dinner. (oh-the night before we had a foul, expensive French meal-we were just too excited to
be having really good food this night). Eddy paid the guy at the door at the cabaret (Le Lido) so we could get right in since
there was a huge line. We didn't have to wait and we got VIP seats. Not bad...Sundayunday morning we went to the
catacombs. They're a bit outside of Paris. They say not to go if you're claustrophobic. I was hoping this wouldn't be a
problem. Well, at first it was. I started walking down the stairs and they kept going and going. I then had to run upstairs
because it was starting to freak me out. I finally spent a minute or two telling myself I could do it. Finally i went back
down and ran to catch up to everyone. It felt like walking through a cave. After a little bit, we finally got to the stuff that
could make your stomach turn. Basically, the cemeteries in Paris were totally over-occupied so they started throwing all of
these bodies into this space. Apparently there are now 5-6 million skeletons down there. They have them neatly lined up
so that they're almost the walls. Needless to say, we were all happy to get out of there. They actually have someone there
as you're leaving who checks to make sure you didn't take any bones. The crazy thing was that there was a skeleton head
and a bone when we were leaving. I wondered if someone tried to take that...and sure enough, someone did! What a sicko!
We also went to the Musee d'Orsay that day. Had tons of cool stuff in there- Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Seurat. We went
and did other stuff but this was declared our "early night" (of course it didn't end up that way) so we didn't plan to do
much that night-especially since new year's was the next night.
On Monday we were going to go to Versailles. Except for one thing. Versailles is closed on Monday. Just our luck. Instead
we went to the Eiffel Tower. We walked to the second level (not hard at all) and then took the elevator up. The Eiffel
tower looks like one big erector set to me. It was neat to see the view from up there. That's definitely something to do
once and never worry about doing it again. We also went scoping out the champs Elysee to find a place to go for new
year's. No luck. We were just hoping that Mitch and Ann were having luck in their search. On the way back to the hotel i
stopped off at the Montmartre area where the Moulin Rouge is. Spent a whole 5 minutes there. It sure didn't look like it
did in the movie! And all i could do was sing "hey sister, soul sister, better get that dough sister..." while i was there.
(Michelle-you probably know just how painful this can be- does "tell me what you want, what you really, really want"
come to mind from London? Then i went back to the hotel to get ready for New Year's. Ann and Mitch found plans! A
great restaurant they went to the first night they were there and then a club in the Bastille area. Perfect! Some people
were still torn as to watch the fireworks at the Eiffel tower or go to a club. For others of us, it was an easy choice. I'm sure
most of you know what i opted for. Dinner was great. Then it was off to the club. Very fun. Later in the night a few of us
headed down to the champs Elysee. Tons of people. Pretty cool. None of the metros were working so we had to walk
home. It was a very fun new years. Then i hear a car alarm go off from my hotel room. When i heard Ann and Mitch get
back next door they tell me that eddy was jumping from car to car and then an alarm went off-it was him who set that car
alarm off. He's crazy. He also walked by our favorite sandwich place at 4:00 am that night and the guy gave him about 10
baguette sandwiches. We were in Ann's room eating sandwiches until 5:30 am. I had to wake up early the next morning. A
bit painful. But i made it to the train station and soon after I was off to Bruges......this is where the "just Jen" part of the
trip begins. I'm actually tired of typing right now so I'll have to email about it tomorrow or something.
Let me just also say that the heated baguette sandwiches in Paris are absolutely amazing!!! and the crepes off the street
beat the crepes in a restaurant by a mile! It's time for me to say "Au Revoir"!
(Second part of the trip...on my own...)
My trip from Amsterdam to Paris took MUCH longer than it was supposed to (about 8 hours total). First I was supposed
to get on this one train. The guy who worked there told me and these other two American girls that it was canceled. Crap!
So he told us to get on the one next to it, stop in Dordrecht and then wait for the Brussels train. Well, as we're on the train
waiting for it to leave, we see the train we were SUPPOSED to be on come and go. And that one was going direct. I'll spare
you all the details but once we got to Dordrecht a couple more trains were canceled, yada yada yada, I got to Paris at 10:30
at night. Let me tell you all this--I do NOT recommend getting into Paris at night! This station was scaring the begeezers
out of me! I mean straight ghetto. I did find a nice man who spoke Dutch (and no English) to lead me in the right
direction. (As long as you give them a metro stop, they can't point to where you need to go). Finally got to my hostel. And
of course this late hour didn't stop me from getting a crepe. :) This time it was chocolate. So I suffered through the night
listening to this girl hack her brains out and snore the whole time. For those of you who know how disgusting and
unbearable I find this stuff, you can probably understand the misery I was in. I knew that I couldn't stay there another
night. In the meantime I thought maybe I should just pack it up and go home. But United had no seats left on any of their
flights. So this wasn't an option. So I had an address of another hostel that was nearby. I went and checked it out and it
was like a Bed & Breakfast which was cute. Plus it was almost half the price of the one with the hacker in it! So I moved in
for the next two nights. I decided to go to Versailles since it would be my last opportunity to see it (since it's closed on
Mondays). I met a cool family from Pasadena at the train station and I hung out with them all day. The girl was 15, but
she seemed older. And she had a younger brother who was 11. The whole family was just really funny and great. There
were these guys who got on the Metro with accordions (you know, the ones that want money) and her parents decided to
get up and start slow-dancing to the music on the subway. They got some weird looks but we just couldn't stop laughing.
So then Kate (the girl) told me who she saw at the Musee d'Orsay a couple days before....Harry Potter (Jen and Christina-I
think you guys will appreciate this!). She asked if she could get her picture with him (she used the line "my best friend is
the president of the Harry Potter fan club at my school, etc") and he said "okay, but quickly" with his little accent. Her
parents were quite impressed (note the sarcasm) that this was the only thing she remembered about the Orsay-she was
unable to name any of the pictures that were there. It was pretty funny. So we finally got to Versailles. The gardens are not
as pretty at this time of year. No flowers. :( I also had a different image in my head of what the Hall of Mirrors was going
to be like (call me an idiot, but I thought it was going to be something like a fun house at the fair where they have all
those mirrors and you keep running into them....I don't know why I would think a Palace would contain this but I
did-What a vivid imagination Jen has! Yeah, that's it! It's just a wonderful imagination, not just being clueless :) ). We
finally called it quits there. Then I went with this family to the Marais quarter. I am so happy I went with them! This is
the area in Paris where my fellow Jews hang out. The shops there are incredible-tons of great boutiques! And since it was
a Sunday, the Jews were out in masses. We went and got falafels. Delicious! I'm going to have to eat this stuff more often!
This family also told me about a circus (Cirque d'Hiver) that was right near there that they went to the night before. They
told me that I HAD to go. I guess it's one of those totally underrated things in Paris. So the circus was going to start
shortly after our falafel stop. So I left the family at this point since they were going to a museum (I had officially declared
the rest of my trip museum-free so this was not an option for me) and I started walking to the circus. On my way, they
had little bands playing Jewish songs on the side of the street and tons of people gathered around. It reminded me of
those times after Sunday school. It was cool. I guess despite my receiving presents for Christmas and Easter, I still have
my Jewish pride. :) The whole area was just such a happy, festive scene. I think this would be a great area to check out if
you're ever out there. Then I got to the circus. Only 9 Euros! And the inside was so cool. Everything was in French so it
felt much more authentic than the cabaret we went to. They had giraffes, monkeys, horses and ponies, flying trapeze,
Cirque du Soleil type of people, dancers, acrobats, comedians (I couldn't tell what they were saying) and other cool stuff.
At intermission, you go backstage and they have the typical circus stuff-souvenirs, cotton candy....and crepes! The decor
was just great-so much cleaner than I recall our circuses to be. I'm extremely happy that I went to this. It was awesome!
It's probably one of the best bargains in Paris. (of course you can get more expensive seats, but there really isn't much of a
difference).
The next day I went up to the basilica of Sacre Coeur (I kept thinking that this was the term that the little French artist
Smurf used to say...But then I thought it might have been "sacre bleu"..Does anyone know this? The answer would be
greatly appreciated). Beautiful view. Not a bad walk either. Beautiful inside. I said a prayer for the New Year for all of
those people who were directly affected by everything that happened last year. Are Jewish people even supposed to pray in
a basilica? Hmm...Anyone can feel free to answer this question as well. After this, I walked from the Louvre to the Arc de
Triomphe. I figured I might as well get in EVERY possible tourist activity. So this was going to finish everything off. Hiked
up to the top. Saw that on the inside is a museum before you actually get to the top! Uh oh! This totally went against my
"no museum" policy. Luckily, I couldn't read any of it since it was all in French. Then I saw the sunset which was
beautiful. After that, I thought of something I saw the day before on the train ride from Versailles. (okay Michelle-let the
envy begin....)--France's Statue of Liberty! Unlike some people who go looking and looking for it and never find it, I was
never looking for it but DID find it. So I decided to take the subway over there to take a picture of it (this was especially
for your benefit, Michelle). Only problem is that it was nighttime so I don't think you will be able to see it. Bummer. I
hope it turns out a little bit. We'll see...So this was really my last adventure in Paris. On my way back to my room, there
was a new girl there who was French but had lived in San Francisco for a while. She was actually a masseuse at La Belle
(Jen and Tara -- I told her I was going there right after this trip and using the gift certificate!). How cool is that? What a
small world, huh? She totally misses the States, but had no green card or work visa. She also told me about a class she
took at the Home Chef in SF on Laurel. She learned how to make sushi. I guess for $70 you take a 3 hour class on how to
make it and you get to eat it as you're going along! Sarah? Ali? Heather? Any takers?
Well, that's it for my trip.