Journal Entry: Leaving Paris

I am at Orly. Way too early. I’ve been here for a while actually. I used the lady’s room, saw about getting on an earlier flight (I would have had to pay) and about getting an exit row seat (no-go there either). 

 

Dawn in Paris

I got a Cappuccino and a Pain au Chocolat from the Illy stand. There is that and a couple other shops beyond security, but that’s about it.

I took the RER-B train here. There were very shady young men hanging around the platform at Gare du Nord. In fact, I was crossing the bridge not 10 meters from the hostel and a couple picked something up off the ground (sound familiar) and then started talking to me. I don’t even look at them.

While on the train, a young, healthy looking male came by passing out cards begging for money. Usually it’s a woman with a baby.

Oh, and when buying the ticket for the Orly shuttle, which was an exorbitant €8.40 for a ten minute ride (if that), the machine spit out what I thought was the ticket, but it was a receipt. I had selected “non” for the receipt. The gate wouldn’t take it, and the man at the gate didn’t speak enough English to tell me it was a receipt. I went to the window and the man there explained it to me. So stupid. 

Also, I nearly got on the wrong train at Gare du Nord. It said track 42 for the train that goes to Orly (RER-B) and track 44 for the RER-D. Well guess what train was on track 42? Not the RER-D you say? Why yes it was. The screen was thoroughly confusing. I only realized it after boarding the train that the map said “RER-D” I hopped off a half second before the doors closed. 

Looks like the 8:10a flight is a little late leaving. I only have an hour and a half at Heathrow. I few come into Terminal B or C, I will have to go back through security. I don’t want to miss my flight home. I want to be in my own bed tonight. 

Paris from the Air

Journal Entry: The End of Another Trip

Well, here we are. Almost done and time to go home. I have the alarm set for 5:15a. I’m going to leave earlier than I think I need to, just to be on the safe side. I guess it’s better to be sitting around the airport than to miss my flight. 

This morning I waited around the hostel until it was time to check in for my flight. I then went to the “Tour Eifeel”. I walked down to the Laumiere stop, so I’d know where to go in the morning.

I mailed my post cards from the Eiffel Tower. They have no postmen any more, just a machine. I was going to pay to go up the tower, but only one elevator was working, so the line was backed up to Timbuktu. I decided to skip it. 

 

Eiffel Tower

I went to information, and asked how to get to the Louvre. The girl told me which bus to take, and that it was an hour walk. Well, I’m an idiot. I decided to walk it. I looked at the map at the bus stop and decided it didn’t look that far. Kinda like how Roquefixade didn’t look that steep.

It was not an hour walk, but about forty minutes. It was still pretty far, and I shouldn’t have done it, because my legs have been hurting pretty badly for some days now. It was a pleasant walk though, with some nice views of the Eiffel Tower and other buildings. And two gypsies that tried to pull the “ring scam” on me. They pretended to pick something of the ground, usually a “gold” ring, and then try to sell it to you. It’s probably plastic. I thought it was too bad V. wasn’t with me because we could have had some fun with them. 

Tried to pull the Gold Ring Scam on me - vanished when he saw I was photographing him

The Louvre was nice. I went up to the 2^nd floor (the 3^rd floor in the States) and saw some nice paintings, Dutch, Flanders, etc. Poussin, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Ruisdael, etc. It wasn’t too crowded because I think most people start on the ground floor and work their way up. V. and I did not see that floor. Actually, I only really saw one wing of it. 

 

Poussin's Shepherds of Arcadia

I then went downstairs. I was going to look at the Etruscan stuff, but it was bedlam, so I left. I was only there about two hours. It would have been longer, except , my batteries started dying in my camera, so I went and bought some. I got upstairs and they didn’t work! I put them in and they had no charge. I had to find a Tabac shop to buy some more. Luckily they didn’t mark my ticket, so I was able to come back in, no problem. When I was done, I went back and told the shop where I bought them what happened. The lady remembered me luckily and she gave me my money back! I was expecting them not to do anything for me.

In the Louvre, I took pictures of all the Poussin (sp? I can’t remember how to spell his name, I don’t think that’s right) paintings. I really like his paintings. “The Shepards of Arcadia” was there. I didn’t know that it was.

Bedlam at the Louvre

One of his other paintings I really liked was of his “seasons” paintings. There were the farmers carrying grapes and they were the size of apples! It struck me as amusing for some reason.

After I left the Louvre, I went shopping. I bought Andy a brass squirrel I’d seen in a shop window. It’s so cute! I hope he likes it. I also bought Oliver a stuffed Eiffel Tower, and his yet born sibling a pair of cute purple socks that say “Paris” on them.

I ate dinner at the hostel. I got an appetizer of chicken strips and another of onion rings. It was a massive amount of food. I should have only ordered the chicken. It cost €14 with wine and a tip. A bit much, but it’s the last dinner here, so there you go. I ate too much!

I have had a shower. I have everything as together as possible. I really can’t pack until in the morning because I want to air out the clothes I wore today. Hope I don’t make too much noise in the morning. 

Well, I think that’s it. Good night!

Journal Entry: City Blues - Paris

Today felt kind of wasted. I got up at 7:30a and had breakfast downstairs. It was free. I talked to a girl from New Zealand, her name escapes me. Amy maybe? Or April? Had a nice chat with her.

I went to the Museé d’Orsay. It was very nice, but it got really hot in there, so I wound up rushing the last bit because I wasn’t feeling so hot. 

 

Museé d'Orsay

Then I went to Les Halles. I ate at a Chinese place and paid way more for lunch than I intended. It was good though. Cost €12 with a drink. Then I found there was a whole underground shopping mall at Les Halles, but my knee really started hurting so I came back to the hostel to rest. I wrote out post cards. I found them 10 for €1.50. 

I may need to withdraw some more cash. The Museé d’Orsay wasn’t taking credit cards as their system wasn’t working. 

I took some more aspirin and then felt some better so I went back out. I went to Notre Dame and it was extremely crowded. I was going to go to St. Chappelle but it cost €8.50! So I skipped it.

 

Notre Dame - Paris

I then came back to the hostel and got a burger at the bar downstairs. It cost €12. I spent too much on food today. Then I came upstairs to the room and called Andy. I need to see about how early I should be to Orly for my flight. Ugh. I have the long flight part of the trip. It is worth it though. Otherwise how could I see all these cool things.

Some new arrivals came after I got off the phone with Andy. They were from New Zealand too. I can’t remember their names either. They are backpacking for three months. They were in Asia for a few weeks. Nice to have conversations with people. 

Dorm at St. Christopher's Paris - Canal

I have a lot to do tomorrow so I’m going to hit the hay.

Journal Entry: Onward Paris

We got up about 7am this morning and cooked some eggs and toast for breakfast. Then we made sure Katy was up because she was going to hitch a ride into town with us.

We walked over to Preixan for the first time. It was very small, not much to see. Just the little church and an ancient tower. The church would have probably been cool to see on the inside, but according to the Scottish girl, who's name escapes me, who was working at the hostel, it is rarely open.


Then we turned in our key, got Katy and drove to Carcassonne. Getting gas was much less of a fiasco than yesterday. Katy taught me how to say “Do you take cash?” in French. “Prenez vous déspece.” I don't know if I've spelled that right. Probably not. She talked to the people for me though. Then we parted ways after finding a parking space.

We went to look for food and I found a patisserie shop on the square de Centre Villa (the new town) that looked good and bought a chicken sandwich and a pastrie. V. bought a brownie to split later on the train.

Then we went back to the car, and drove it to the train station. The “reserve Avis” spot was free, so we parked there, not far from the waiting area. I took the key to the counter and said in garbled French that I needed to return the car.

The man understood me but then said something really fast that I didn't understand. Repeating it didn't help. I need to remember to ask them to speak slower, but I get flustered. “Lentment, s'il vous plait!” V. understood what he was getting at, and she doesn't speak any French.

He was pointing me to a woman in blue, which I should have comprehended but as I said, he was speaking too fast.

She took our keys, signed off on the rental agreement, and we sat down and waited. We were an hour early which was good. V. went across the street to get McDonald's (again!).
I decided to wait to eat my sandwich until I got on the train. It was a very, very good sandwich too. The train ride was uneventful and boring. Stared at the countryside and wrote out some postcards.

We arrived in Paris a little late, a little after 6pm. We found the metro, with the help of a map and a man miming which way to go. We found an information desk, and the man was very helpful and spoke great English. He told us which line to take and where to buy our tickets.
We waited a while in line to buy our tickets and when I got up there the agent said he didn't speak English. Lies! I heard him speak English to an obnoxious Asian tourist. But whatever. It forced me to ask in garbled French for a 'carnet' of tickets, and he understood me! Yay! I was quite happy with myself. So now we are at the hostel. We are staying at St. Christopher's in Paris. It is nice. We ate dinner in the bar downstairs, mine was €13, but we were tired and didn't feel like looking for anything else. The burger and fries were good. I really need to find French food tomorrow.

The showers were nice, they had a place to hang clothes and were fairly private. Now it is bed time, we have a long day tomorrow.

I miss the Pyrenees.