Paris

Bonjour,

I've finished up Paris and have not had much time recently to drop a line on how my first Parisian experience went, we'll see if I can remember all the craziness and tell you my thoughts.

Well the last time I stepped into France it was in the southern coastal city Nice, for the largest carnivale celebration in Europe. I had a blast during the celebration but I wasn't too fond of the French people I encountered. So I was interested in how my views would vary/differ.

We were only in Paris for 3 nights and I realize now that there is no way to do Paris in 2-4 days. Thank god the metro was so accessible, we used it everywhere we went (shame there's no day passes tho, they could learn a thing or two from other major euro metros). One of my favorite pieces of public art/architecture would have to be the few forms of metro signs across Paris. The art-nouveau green and red, metal, wavy, curly, and somewhat creepy metro signs are so well done and have so much character in both form and typeface choice, they really compliment each other. With these metro stops we hit most of the major stops; Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triumph, Louvre and my favorite - Sacre Coeur and Montemarte in the north. We also tried to see the catacombs, twice, but first time they were closed and the second they had super long line and we were unable to get in before last tour. We were excited to see the catacombs (2 km walk in an underground crypt), but at least it's another site to see, whenever I make my return. We were unable to climb the Eiffel tower nor notre dame, nor go into the louvre, but like I said, hopefully I find time for those major Parisian activities if I get a chance for a return trip.

Now, the main reason we were really in Paris was for their national holiday on July 14th (in America you hear it called Bastille Day, but to my surprise, no one used the same terms there). This is like an American independence day on steroids. First it starts off with a morning parade down the main drag from the Arc de Triumph. Every group of every branch of police and army are represented. They are accompanied by many, many fly-overs of helicopters and planes, as well as tons of armored vehicles and tanks. Both before and after the parade the crowd gets time to mingle with all the soldiers as well as climb on some tanks. It was a pretty cool sight. The parade went off really well and it was one of the largest gatherings of people Ive ever been a part of. Lots of fun, until the rain. It was sprinkling on and off jus enough to make u run for temporary cover for a few minutes and then comin out again to continue watching, until it really started to fall, but thank god by then all the cool stuff had gone by and just the firetrucks were left. Nothin too big to miss and we headed out. It was a shame it had to rain. I had taken Rob's advice and was planning to picnic all day with bread wine and cheese in front of the Eiffel tower until the fireworks later in the evening.

It didn't clear up till 6 pm but it was enough to have our nice meal on the lawn in front of the tower for dinner. We also were able to cut up plastic bags and put them under our picnic blanket, which helped fend off against the newly moist ground. Dinner was great. Well over enough cheese, sausage, bread, and wine for the three of us. To top it off the sun came out the whole time and made for some great pictures in front of the tower.

Before the fireworks we met another American girl from Philly, named Joli. She was very nice and gave us another player in our never-ending rummy games for a while. She has one of the best setups for traveling I've ever heard. She is actually an art history major and teaches children at a museum in Philadelphia, but she also has a part time job with Delta. Which means she travels for free! All for jus checking people into flights few times a week. So jus for weekends here and there she jus packs up a bag and heads somewhere new. She also has many friends on couchsurfing.com (a website for people to rent out guest-beds or couches to fellow travelers for free), which means she also usually has accommodations for free as well. I suggest anyone to try this lifestyle out if u have the capability to do so. We all got along very well and had a lot of fun waiting for the fireworks.

As it got later, it got darker and colder and Jolie was getting cold, she had a light pink longsleeve button up shirt over a tshirt but it wasn't enough. So Aaron being the gentleman that he is, decided to trade her for his jacket and he wore that beautiful, pink, and very frilly shirt until late in the night, with pride.

The fireworks were some of the largest ive ever seen and very beautifully paired with music. It was a great show, but I was somewhat saddened that they shot them off from behind the tower and not off of the tower like they usually have done in the past. I thought the Eiffel tower exploding with fireworks would have been an unique experience. But still I was entertained and made for a good show. Getting home took quite some time using the metro lines that, of course, every one was using as well. But no harm done and I had a blast on Bastille Day, despite some rain.

Not too much nightlife really, although we did shop down the main drag for an evening and provided a little change of pace. I highly suggest it to whoever goes to Paris, there's some great stores.

We ended up eating very well (steaks as big as our plates) and loads of pastries to boot. The people were also surprisingly friendly and I never had a problem. I would definitely come back again to see all the sights still left to visit and also to return to my favorite part, the Montemarte hilltop towns and their beautiful view over Paris.

Au revoir,
Etienne Diebois


Rummy Scores
S- some points
A- less points
T- much more points