That's Paris for Ya!

Our first day in Paris we woke up and went first to Notre Dame! I really liked Notre Dame the first time we went there so I was pretty excited to go back. We took the metro there without much difficulty other than the weird metro machines that wouldn’t give us tickets so we had to talk to the info desk to get them. But we got ourselves over there and then walked over to the Cathedral. There were less people there than the last time that I was there and I appreciated that. They also had a Christmas tree right in front of it so that was cool as well. I again liked the church and I liked that Cassidy had a nice camera so that she could take nice pictures in there. I later stole the pictures from her so now I have nice Paris pictures. 

 

Then we walked around feeling hungry and found a little café where we got the best breakfast ever. We got fresh squeezed orange juice, a café au lait, and a very nice and buttery croissant for like five Euros. It was very good and nice to sit down and relax for a bit. We felt very French and the coffee was very delicious. I was very happy until the stupid Royals song came on the TV and got stuck in my head for the rest of the day. But it was a nice quiet little café and I really enjoyed it. 

 

Then we decided to walk around and eventually end up in the Latin Quarter for a while before making our way over to the Louvre for the free for students night.  We walked over and found the lock bridge and I counted my twenty five bars and looked down and found Thad and Mines lock! That was pretty cool that it is still there!:-D I was happy. I took a picture which is scary to do because I have to lean out over the water and I have to be sure to NOT drop it. 

Then we continued walking and ran into a little jewelry store so that Cassidy could find some earrings for her grandma. We thought it was closed but then the guy let us in anyways. He spoke English and was super nice and really friendly but not overly. He told us where each jewelry was from and that some were designed by a furniture designer in Paris and such. He was a super nice guy and I was thinking I should buy something just because he was so awesome but then Cassidy found both a ring and the earrings. SO we were good. But then! When she paid for them with her St.Helens Debit card, the guy knew that Mount Saint Helens was in Washington!!! WOW! Someone who knows a. Where Oregon is b. Where the mountain is (aka not Oregon) and c. that it exploded! That was really cool. That is better than most American east coasters here! We were pretty shocked. Then we said bye to the nice guy and departed. 

We found a store with some cheap post cards and so of course I bought some. Then as we were walking around we stumbled upon a bookstore called Shakespeare and Company which was apparently super famous! We just found it on accident! Apparently Earnest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Ford Madox Ford. The real store was closed during the German Occupation in the 40’s and never reopened but the same store was moved and then opened where we found it. It was pretty cool and also you can see it in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris! So we walked around there and then while we were upstairs the bells of Notre Dame started ringing and sounded really cool. I thought that was a fun moment. I also found a cool looking book when I was at the store which had a funny title so I was going to get it for Robyn but then when I read the back of the book I said wait this actually sounds awesome. I want this. But it was really expensive and I decided that I could wait and get it in the US where it would not be anywhere near as expensive.

From there we walked over the bridges of the Seine and found ourselves in the Marais and no longer in the Latin Quarter. We walked around and went shopping!

Cassidy was sort of looking for a black dress and I was looking for maybe something nice to wear for Christmases. Since I don’t have anything I don’t think really. I found a cute Christmas scarf later which was nice. But while Cassidy was trying on a dress I was poking around and saying I am really sick of this stupid wool hat that I am allergic to. And I thought to myself, “Why do I even own this hat when I am allergic to it?” So I went and looked at their hats and found a dark blue one that I liked and the matching scarf for not too much money. So when Cassidy bought the dress, I bought the hat and scarf and then as soon as we left the store, I tossed my wool hat in the trash. And put on my new one which is 100% Acrylic so Yay! I decided to splurge for the scarf so that it matched because I figured when was the next time I would find one that matched? Maybe never so might as well go for it. We also stopped at a patisserie and got a desir de Manon which was a chocolate fudge cake which was heavenly, to celebrate my dads Birthday the day before. It was super good but it was also a good thing that we were splitting it because we would have never been able to eat two of them. It was so rich and delicious.

Then as we were walking around the streets I noticed a lot of Jewish stores and such and Cassidy told me that this neighborhood was about 75% Jewish at one point before World War 2 happened and that was pretty much over… But it still seems to be largely a Jewish and gay population that lives there. I actually just googled a bit more about this area to explain it and stumbled upon a picture of a place that Cassidy and I actually went on accident.

The Place des Vosges is considered by many to be the most beautifully built square in Paris. It was built by Henry IV and soon became one of the most exclusive areas to live. Napoleon himself considered it the jewel of Paris. Victor Hugo lived at # 6 while he wrote Les Miserables but during the 19th century much of the aristocracy had abandoned the neighborhood and the area was taken over by shopkeepers and immigrants, vagrants, artisans and artists and Jews. SAY WHAAAAT! We were right there! We were right where Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables!!! WHAAAAT! Mind = Blown!!! We actually ducked into this place because I saw people looking in and decided there may be a short cut to get through the big block instead of going around it. But then when we got in, we said hey this is gorgeous so we should sit here for a bit. So we did that for a while and Cassidy took some pictures. But I had no idea it was famous! But I guess that is Paris for you! So much history that everything is something awesome!

Then we left there and tried to go to a café that Cassidy had found that looked interesting in her guide book, but then it was closed so we kept walking until we ended up by the Louvre and found a place.

I got a burger and when we asked for tap water the waiter was a complete jerk and brought us a 6 euro bottle of water which wasn’t even that big. What a jerk. I know what is said was correct. And so that was just stupid. Most expensive water ever. We didn’t tip him anymore than we had to. But in the end Dinner was on Thad! He had given money to Cassidy to take me out to dinner so that was nice of him :-) My burger was delicious and really hit the spot.

Then after dinner we were going to wait around another two hours for the free Louvre tickets to start but we were so bored we decided to just pay for it and go in. It was pretty cool. This time we went to the sculptures which I found pretty exciting. They can really do a lot with marble! I really liked one which was of Mars and it had a big sea shell and such. We also saw the Michelangelo sculpture but I was kind of unimpressed. We also went and found this sculpture of a lady with five kids and because of time she only had one hand so I made a joke about it. Then slowly over time I got into a funny mood where I started taking pictures of things that I didn’t understand or didn’t like or found funny. I later put them on my Instagram so if you have me you can check that out for some hilarity. But I was having a good time and in all seriousness there were a lot of really cool stuff there. We also went and saw the maybe Aphrodite statue which was only found in like 1980 in Greece. But it doesn’t have enough detail to really know if it is her or not but I guess now it is super famous. I tended to like the not famous works more than the famous ones. They seemed to not be as interesting to me. I really liked a sculpture of Venus and Cupid, the two gods of love. They were cute.

After that we went and looked at the Napoleon Apartments which were SO luxurious. I really liked them. There was so much detail and furniture and fabric and gold and richness. Cassidy and I decided we wouldn’t mind living there. Except that then there would be people looking at us living there all the time. That would not be the best thing ever. After a while we got tired and went and got some Starbucks in the lobby. We were sitting there and decided to call it a night because we were so tired and had to be up for Versailles in the morning. So after buying croissants at Pauls, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. 

We took the subway back which wasn’t too complex and then when we got there I took a nice long shower. It was the best. Cassidy uploaded some of her pictures to Facebook and then I kept the rest. I instagramed a lot of pictures and laughed at myself that I was on such a roll that day. Sometimes I will admit my humor is pretty stupid but then sometimes I can actually be pretty funny. This was just a night with a combination of the both. OH! Also at the Louvre we saw my history teacher with his girlfriend. I didn’t say anything and he didn’t see me I don’t think but it was super weird. I hate when that happens and judging from talks with my mom teachers hate when it happens too. It’s just sort of awkward.

Then after my shower I had to edit my Literature paper and send it to Cassandra which was my entire point for having to bring my laptop (It sucks to carry around with my back.). I finished it and fixed some bizarre sentences or sentences that didn’t really say anything and then added a little note to my professor on the bottom thanking him for his dedication and work. I have heard rumor that he is getting fired which kind of sucks… But then after that I talked with Cassidy for a few hours until we decided we should actually go to bed. Then she went to sleep and I wrote some blogs but I didn’t actually write this one because I was behind still! It is constant now to be behind!!! Ahhh!