Admittedly, Tracy and I had a rough couple of days adjusting to the 7-hour time difference, but we were troopers about it and decided to to a ton of stuff the first full day we were there. We walked to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elysees, through the Tuileries to the Louvre, to the Centre Pompidou, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, and the Sorbonne. Phew! It was a long day and our dogs were a-barkin'.
Along the way, we bumped into our other assistant friend Emily, who was on our flight, and set off to look for a good place to find phones. I was successful, Tracy and Emily were not as lucky. It is definitely difficult trying to explain to someone (in French) how your unlocked phone should function after a new SIM card is put in. We left feeling slightly downtrodden. Next, in an attempt to actually be productive, we parted ways from Emily and went off in search of train tickets. So we hopped on the metro and headed over to Gare d'Austerlitz to see if we could catch someone at a counter before they closed. Unfortunately, they had already closed upon our arrival, so we decided to try to purchase them at the automatic machines. I couldn't because my US debit card doesn't have the magic "chip" that all of the cards here have. Zut! Then Tracy tried to buy hers but the machine asked her for her pin number, which she didn''t know. Merde.
After all of that hulabaloo was finished, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to take some obligatory tourist photos and marvel at its size. Unfortunately the stairs were closed and the lines for the elevators were ridonkulous, so we decided to forgo the observation decks.
Next we began our walk back towards the St. Michel area (by Notre Dame) for a well deserved pint at my old Irish pub haunt: The Galway. A lot of people say that Irish pubs are overrated because you can find them everywhere and they aren't anything special. I beg to differ. I love the laid back ambiance, the quick-witted bar tenders, and the fact that most people who frequent these establishments aren't pretentious. Plus they tend to almost always have live music. Good beer, good people, good music. Irish pubs, you just can't beat 'em!
So we grabbed a couple pints, listened to some live acoustic versions of everything from The Beatles to Buddy Holly to Muse to Lady Gaga, and decided to call it a night.
Good News Bears.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
First days in France: Return to Paris!
So it has been over two years since my last blog post...I am a certified dead-beat-blogger. So I will now recount my (most recent) first few days in France!
The Plane:
We took off from MSP in the evening around 7:30. There were, surprisingly, 3 assistants including myself on my flight. We were all nervous and feeling apprehensive, which was strangely comforting. On the flight I was seated next to a truly fascinating person and we chatted about pretty much everything for most of the flight. He is currently on a mission to bike around the world and takes odd jobs here an there along the way. His passion for life, for meeting people, and for making real friends all around the world was inspiring. I always enjoy it when someone can figure out a way to live outside of "the system". Awesome.
The next plane:
In Iceland we had a lay-over for about an hour. We had to go through security again and they confiscated my newly purchased, almost full water bottle that I bought in Minneapolis. Doh. The flight to Paris was uneventful as I slept almost the whole time.
The arrival:
We arrived in Paris and discovered that our connecting flight contained at least two more assistants. That said, we had more people trying to navigate the airport which was definitely helpful. After about two hours and seemingly endless struggles through the metro, my friend Tracy and I arrived to our destination: my old host family's home. We needed to wait around a bit so we grabbed some sandwiches and a coffee and spent about two hours relaxing and people watching. When it was time to go, we picked up a bouquet of flowers as a gift and went on our merry way!
Chez les Persiaux:
The family that I stayed with is named Persiaux. I stayed with them when I was studying in Paris in 2009--they are very, very nice people who are accommodating and helpful. When we arrived, the kids and Alain (the dad) helped us take our things up to the chambre de bonne (maid's quarters) that I stayed in the last time I was there. It was here that I got my first "bisous" in France. This is their version of a hug, so it made me feel all warm and fuzzy!
We freshened ourselves up a bit and then went down for what we thought was going to be a simple dinner. Turns out they were entertaining another friend from Japan for the evening. We had a 4 or 5 course meal and then were served traditional matcha tea from the Japanese visitor. It was nice to catch up with Alain and his wife. I learned they are in the process of buying a new house (an actual house in Paris, not an apartment). They also just asked us about what we would be doing for work in France and gave us some ideas about where to visit while we're here. The company was very mixed and all in all at one table we had: 1 Japanese, 1 Bulgarian, 2 Americans, 1 French, and 1 Russian. I guess that's Europe for you!
First Excursion:
After dinner we went on a little bit of a walk (15 minutes) to the Arc de Triomphe to ensure that Tracy would start to believe that she was in Paris. It worked! :-D
Part II of my days in Paris are to come!
The Plane:
We took off from MSP in the evening around 7:30. There were, surprisingly, 3 assistants including myself on my flight. We were all nervous and feeling apprehensive, which was strangely comforting. On the flight I was seated next to a truly fascinating person and we chatted about pretty much everything for most of the flight. He is currently on a mission to bike around the world and takes odd jobs here an there along the way. His passion for life, for meeting people, and for making real friends all around the world was inspiring. I always enjoy it when someone can figure out a way to live outside of "the system". Awesome.
The next plane:
In Iceland we had a lay-over for about an hour. We had to go through security again and they confiscated my newly purchased, almost full water bottle that I bought in Minneapolis. Doh. The flight to Paris was uneventful as I slept almost the whole time.
The arrival:
We arrived in Paris and discovered that our connecting flight contained at least two more assistants. That said, we had more people trying to navigate the airport which was definitely helpful. After about two hours and seemingly endless struggles through the metro, my friend Tracy and I arrived to our destination: my old host family's home. We needed to wait around a bit so we grabbed some sandwiches and a coffee and spent about two hours relaxing and people watching. When it was time to go, we picked up a bouquet of flowers as a gift and went on our merry way!
Chez les Persiaux:
The family that I stayed with is named Persiaux. I stayed with them when I was studying in Paris in 2009--they are very, very nice people who are accommodating and helpful. When we arrived, the kids and Alain (the dad) helped us take our things up to the chambre de bonne (maid's quarters) that I stayed in the last time I was there. It was here that I got my first "bisous" in France. This is their version of a hug, so it made me feel all warm and fuzzy!
We freshened ourselves up a bit and then went down for what we thought was going to be a simple dinner. Turns out they were entertaining another friend from Japan for the evening. We had a 4 or 5 course meal and then were served traditional matcha tea from the Japanese visitor. It was nice to catch up with Alain and his wife. I learned they are in the process of buying a new house (an actual house in Paris, not an apartment). They also just asked us about what we would be doing for work in France and gave us some ideas about where to visit while we're here. The company was very mixed and all in all at one table we had: 1 Japanese, 1 Bulgarian, 2 Americans, 1 French, and 1 Russian. I guess that's Europe for you!
First Excursion:
After dinner we went on a little bit of a walk (15 minutes) to the Arc de Triomphe to ensure that Tracy would start to believe that she was in Paris. It worked! :-D
Part II of my days in Paris are to come!
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