Oh la la...Paris!

From 6/5

Well folks, it's been a while so I'm going to try to catch up on the past week. Since my last post I've been in Paris for three days. On my way there from Mont St. Micheal, I stopped in a city called Rennes for a few hours. I didn't have anywhere to leave my pack so I carried it with me, and wouldn't you know, it was raining! Anyways, as I was walking around these beautiful gardens a complete stranger started talking to me. He is a student named Guy (pronounced Geee) who doesn't speak any English. I was nervous about having him around, but we stayed in public spaces and ended up having a very good conversation. There was a lot of pointing, grunting and akward silence involved since my French is very limited, but it was extremely interesting.

Then I got to Paris and the girl sharing the bunk bed with me had also just arrived and was travelling alone. Karolina from Quebec and I cooked (or attempted to cook) dinner together then met up with some other Canadians who were attempting to see the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Effiel Tower all in one night! What an introduction to Paris for Karolina and me!! We walked from our hostel to all those places only breifly getting distracted at a choclaterie and a couple dress store windows. The Effiel Tower is beautiful at night when they make it sparkle by flashing on and off the lights each hour. But really, the best part of the night was the girls naming me an honorary Canadian!!

The next day Karolina and I took an official walking tour of Paris and learned the history behind what we had run past the night before. Then we headed over to the Musée D'Orsay, a converted train station that houses many of the Impressionists including Degas' ballerinas and even a Gustav Klimt painting that I was very excited to see. It is an amazing collection and I could have spent hours there. We meet up with some other backpackers for a three course French dinner back in the student district. It's great, once I got the hang of meeting people, it turned out to be really easy!

On Friday I accomplished one of my life goals; I climbed all 414 spiraled steps up the bell tower of Notre Dame de Paris! The view is amazing and I got to meet aquite a fex gargoyles face to face! The other highlights of the day were the Sacré-Coeur Bastillica, the Moulin Rouge, and coffee at the café from the movie Amèlie. That night the Louvre was free for those under 26 years old. It was beautiful to see what could have been a crowd from any bar wandering around this amazing museum. After saying hello to the Mona Lisa, I wandered around the scuplture wing. They had an exhibit going on where artists design pieces for specific places in the Louvre. For example, the room that houses sections of ancient Mesopotaian carvings was filled by a large curved mirror; a piece entitled "Vertigo" or something to that effect. It was cool to see the reflections of the ancient stonework distorted with my own reflection and those around me.

My last day in Paris was spent wandering around an english bookstore called Shakespeare and Co. where artists are able to live while they create their art. Then I ate my Paris ice cream in a park near the Louvre.

That night Karolina and I decided to celebrate a successful stay with a night on the town. At the end of the night we found a chill bar with a local crowd and the best drink I've ever tasted! It was called a Grasshopper: crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and fresh cream...heavenly. I'm going to try to make some when I get home and you are all invited!

I left Paris for Taizé (a monastary/retreat center a couple hours south of Paris) the next morning and on a whim saw the place where the Bastille stood. You really can't go anywhere in that town without running into a piece of history. But I must say that the best part about Paris was that I had a friend and realized it really isn't that hard to just start talking to people. Needless to say though, it is very nice to be resting at Taizé after a crazy weekend.