July 13
I am happy to report there was nothing to fear on the overnight train. I slept ok and woke up in France. I was in Paris and at my hostel by 11. Check in however wasn't until 4. I had been prepared though. I had laundry to do. And after a couple hours, I had dropped my clean clothes with the rest of my luggage and went out for a walk and to find lunch. Kabab of course. Twelve days without french fries called for it. I found a shop and was pleasantly surprised by the attractive young man making my sandwich (twelve days without hotties called for it.) I was also pleasantly surprised that I stumbled into one of the quality kabab shops that have various types of meats that they actually grill. Lunch was yummy, especially since I had the perfect seat to keep an eye on the "chef" during my meal.
After lunch, I recommenced my walk. But I didn't get too far before a man stopped me to chit chat. I humored him for a while and he was nice. Turned out that he lived in Langley Park for a year. We happened to be chatting in front of a bar brassiere so he invited me to sit for a drink. About an hour (and two monacos) later, we parted ways and I took the long way back to the hostel to check in (the long way not because I was trying to knock him off my trail, but just because I had nothing else planned for the day). *French drinks* Monaco = half beer, half lemonade, with creme de cassis. *French drinks*
I checked in, settled into my room and had some internet time. I planned to go to this free concert at Place de Bastille in preparation for Le 14 Julliet (Bastille Day). As I was leaving, I asked my roommate if she wanted to join me. And she did. So we went out and enjoyed free French music. My favorite: Ben l'Oncle Soul
July 14
BASTILLE DAY!
I woke up as early as I could since we got in around 1 after the concert. I had breakfast and was heading to the metro by 8:30. In front of me were a couple of girls that I had seen at breakfast (and I heard their American "accents," actually their southern accents) so I asked them if they were going to the parade too. They were and we joined forces. When we got off the metro we were corralled around the Champs Elysees and after quite a bit of searching, we found a spot where we could see pretty well.
The parade was good. A military parade with tons of troops from tons of French nations and the entirety of the French arsenal. I am sure I saw every piece of machinery used by the French military from tanks to lawn mowers. My favorite part was the opening fly over of the jets. *picture* but the parade in general was fun...Especially when it started to downpour. Somewhere in the middle of the parade the sky opened and dumped water upon the Paris. And kept dumping it. I never thought I would say this but, the French are kinda hard. They just marched on through it. The show must go on I suppose. I was prepared (not only did the kabab shop have a good looking cook, but it was also showing the news so I caught the weather and the threats of rain). I watched the parade from under my umbrella. The two American ladies, who were from Tennessee, ducked into the Sephora that was behind us to wait out the rain. As the parade ended, I rejoined them and we decided to walk around Sephora in hopes the rain (and the crowd) might break enough to use the metro. Both did in time and we ventured back to the hostel to rest up before the fireworks. I was planning on meeting my Strasbourg roommate from American University for the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower at 6 so we planned to meet at 5 to get picnic snacks and metro to the Champs de Mars (the "mall" in front of the Tower).
Not soon after we got back the sky opened again. But thankfully, after hours, the rain stopped around 4 and we continued with our plans. The four of us found a fairly dry spot and set up camp by 6:30. The fireworks didn't start until 11 so it gave us plenty of time to sit around and drink wine. And by the time of the show, we were ready. (Thanks to all my readiness, I left my rain jacket behind. I'm still bitter.)
The fireworks were the best I have ever seen. Really. They had musical accompaniment and they had the Eiffel Tower. It was magical.
After the show everyone was herded to the metro. Our original plan was to go out and celebrate but once we got on the metro, all we really wanted was some bacon and eggs and sleep. There were no bacon and eggs, but we did find sleep.
July 15
I woke up, got ready and went to meet with the Tennessee ladies (they were really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed their company). We had breakfast together and while I went to make plans for Mont St. Michel, they went to explore the city. We decided that we would meet up for dinner around 7. I went to the train station at Montparnasse and was told that there were no reservations to Mont St. Michel until 4pm...and then there were none back. Ok. I'll just make it for when I return to Paris, which I did. I also bought my Eurostar ticket while I was at the station. I spent the rest of the day walking around Paris (quite possibly my favorite thing to do).
I walked north from Montparnasse towards Les Invalides. I happened upon Au Bon Marché and decided to have a snack at Le Grande Epicerie. Tomatoes, brioche, and macarons. mmmm... Then I continued my walk. I stopped at the Rodin museum garden (finally) to see The Thinker and The Gates of Hell. It wasn't free but it turns out it was only 1 euro. It was a beautiful day so I made my stay a long one. Sitting in front of my favorites for a while, just enjoying. After the musée, I stopped on the grass between Les Invalides and le Pont Alexandre III. I sat out and read for some extended time until my snack wore off and I felt the need to eat. It still seemed too early to return to the hostel (about 4:00) so I walked towards the hostel, skipping the metros. I stopped in some shops and came upon rue Matignon. It was lined with art galleries. I finally got to stand in front of things and think, "I don't get it."
My hunger eventually got the best of me and I got on the metro and went back to the hostel where I made myself a chorizo sandwich from picnic left overs with a side of tomato and rotisserie chicken Lays. *Dear Lays* After the fireworks, when we couldn't find breakfast, we settled on snacks. I bought a bag of poulet roti et thyme Lays. They tasted like slices of chicken. Very literally. I didn't finish the bag and the next day I thought that it may have just been drunken hunger that made them so delicious. No. There were just good. I wrote to Lays and asked them why they do not sell them in the States. *sincerely, Stef Brodie* By the time I ate it was 6 and I felt bad since I was supposed to do dinner with Tennessee ladies. Turns out it was best I ate because they came back around 8 and explained that they were actually leaving because the only train to Barcelona they could get for the next two days was that evening. Of course my heart was broken. You meet people to hang out with while traveling, but sometimes you meet people who you actually really like. People who you would actually hang out with "in real life." Saying good bye to the people you meet isn't that hard, but saying bye to the ones you like kinda sux. At least there is Facebook.
I spent the rest of the evening trying to make plans for travel around Spain and the UK. Nothing too interesting at all...Aside from the drama in the hostel common room. There was a love sick Spanish lady who was fawning over this hairy Argentinian man and there was also an argument between the hostel staff. Oh and the most interesting part of the night..Fox News was on the TV. To make it worse, it was Glenn Beck. Once that came on I had to call it a night.
Random French Commentary:
Somebody needs to address what is going on atop the heads of Black women in France. I have seen nothing but bad weaves, bad perms, and bad dye jobs. I have been "roughing it" for weeks now. My hair should not look better than the women who actually live in this country.
They must have stylists in Lyon though. For the first time I saw a girl and thought, "her hair looks nice." But it is completely possible that it was a frame of reference thing after the "styles" I have seen. Styles like THIS!!
So much was wrong. 1. IDK why everyone wants to rock the "Rhianna" 2. Why are there blue patches on your head? 3. Why are your tracks extremely visible? 4. Why are they falling out?! 5. Why is this the second time I have seen such a thing?!
If I am to fulfill my dream of living in Paris I am going to need to take Tyra, Val, or Sandy with me because I cannot let this happen to me!
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