La Ville Lumière (City of Lights)

 Thursday night Chloé and I jumped on a train to Paris. In two hours we were there! We'd had a few minor dramas in terms of finding accommodation. This was because originally Chloé and I were going to stay at her friend Aurore's apartment in Paris which is vacant...though we were unable to get the key because Aurore's uncle had it. Anyway! So we then talked to all of our contacts...nothing. We'd already bought our tickets too. Chloé ended up telling me not to worry, that Steve would find something...so on arrival Steve found us at Gare de Lyon (which confusingly is in Paris) and took us to the hotel he'd found. In brief, it was an experience. We arrived at a building that we thought could fall down at any given moment. The stairs sagged, the bed creaked, sort of slanting on one side and there was a rather uh...'passionate' couple in the room next door. But hey, we paid 20 euros each for the night and then moved into a slightly larger room with a bathroom the following day...10 euros more - but hey, it was worth it.

The evening we arrived I insisted that we go to Place de la Bastille as soon as possible as we were so close. Steve had a beer (of course), Chloé a majito without alcohol and I had a hot chocolate. I had a great time sitting, sipping my hot chocolate at 1am and gazing at the monument where the Bastille stood so many years before. Perhaps Chloé and Steve thought I was mad but I just couldn't get over this overpowering emotion knowing that so much history took place in that one spot...an event that changed France forever and influenced the modern world.

I also made sure that we came back in the daylight...

From Place de la Bastille we moved on to the Champs Elysées. I felt so frustrated that I couldn't see the Eiffel Tower anywhere...seriously! What was this all about? In every film, book, story the Eiffel Tower was clearly visible from every single street of the city. Haha oh clichés and stereotypes. How easily we believe them. I soon saw l'Arc de Triomphe though and a heap of American tourists (like every other place in the world).

We had lunch near Hôtel de Ville, and then had to run off to see Chloé's cousin and his friend. From Saint Germain we went to le Jardin du Luxembourg in his Audi...with leather interior of course (this is Paris after all). As the weather was beautiful, the garden was full of hundreds of people...flowers, chairs, benches, fountains..and the autumn leaves were starting to poke through as well...and there was of course, a view of the Eiffel Tower.

That evening I was eager to go to Notre Dame..so that's what we did. We ate in a café right next to it and then looked at the fire twirler out front. There were only 50 million people. See, I had always understood that Paris was a tourist haven. Obviously it has a lot going for it (I'm a tourist myself, we've all seen the pictures)! I was just utterly amazed by the number of tourists there actually are. It's ridunculous. And so I joined the 300 Americans out the front..

We went off to the Eiffel Tower afterwards...we thought we'd take the Metro. It wasn't that late...One of the things I noticed in Paris is that the Metro seems really dodgy at night and well, in general. At some stations there are barricades that prevent people from getting onto the tracks in any way, which was great (we don't have that here in Lyon). Anyway, anyway - back to my Metro adventure. So we got onto the Metro, and there was blood on the floor. Not just a little....a LOT of blood and we hadn't realised before getting on. I was so freaked out that we got off at the next station and forced Chloé to agree to take a taxi. Another metro experience was the following day when we were sitting, waiting for the train. Chloé then turned to me and said "You have to be really careful with the Metro in Paris...the other week there was a guy not far from here who was pushed onto the train tracks and died. It happens often, so always stay seated if you can before the train comes..." I flipped. I'm not sure how much of that is true but needless to say I was glued to my chair.

Saturday

This is what I did on Saturday. I think you must know all of the places

Notre Dame de Paris

Inside Notre Dame

Sacré Coeur

Amélie Poulain's Café

Saturday evening I met up with Miss Nettra. We had a lovely informal dinner at her aunt's amazing apartment in the 2ème arrondissement (which of course was beautiful, traditional Khmer food) and we then nipped off to meet up with some of her friends from university. So we made our way to Place de la République and then walked along till we found the 'quai' which was more of a canal. There were people everywhere. I think that it's the 'cool' place for young, hip Parisians to hang out and get drunk in. There were even public urinals that were...well...very public.... So we walked up and down trying to find a bunch of well-educated Americans drinking spirits. Nowhere to be found...we eventually, somehow met up with them. So, it was only slightly intimidating mixing with people my age who work for the European Union, the UN, people who are doing Masters and PHDs at some of the world's best schools, oh yeah, and throw in an amazingly beautiful British girl who is a reporter in Paris (currently covering fashion week). It was interesting none the less! I stayed and chatted for a while and we had a drink (orange juice for me) and then I took a taxi back to the hotel. Chloé was at a friend of a friend's.

Sunday

Chloé was still gone much of Sunday and alas I needed to wait for her before leaving the hotel, as we were going to have brunch at her cousin's place and leave our bags there. Alas, brunch took place at 2pm...by 5 I decided that I needed to get out. Besides, how often was I in Paris? PARIS??? I had a couple of hours, so I took the metro and jumped off at Le Louvre, which by that time had closed - but I wanted to see it all the same.

Then a quick stop to the opera...

and then one last time to the Eiffel Tower! (Here's my Eiffel Tower photo series)

So what is it about this tower that draws thousands of people to it every single day of the year? I mean...I knew why I was there. I was in PARIS, it was part of seeing Paris, part of believing that somehow I arrived in what's supposed to be the most iconic city in the world. That I understand.... but all the people! Really. I was impressed with the Eiffel Tower. Impressed by its history and impressed by how iconic it is...but I wouldn't sit down and stare at it. It seems ridiculous...stare at a tall metal structure? And then to think that couples go there to stare at a metal thing and find it utterly romantic? What a construct. I couldn't help myself. Look at this:

Interesting thoughts. Anyway. After my little trip around town I metro'd it back to Chloé's cousin's place, had dinner, and then we got on the train home... As I was leaving this amazing city I couldn't help but wonder why I'd chosen Lyon. Although, I think that living in Paris would be completely different to visiting. Needless to say, I think I fell in love with it...

Back to reality now and no more staring at towers for a while...