Paris, France 9-21-09

The Sunday morning train ride from Switzerland to Paris was short and sweet. After only four hours I was hopping on metros and making my way towards my friend’s stop. I decided to go to Paris just a few days before I left, and immediately started asking around to see if I would know anyone there. Turns out, one of my friends from UF, Logan, just moved to Paris about a week and a ½ ago to study Landscape Architecture abroad through UF. Logan lives with two other Gators, Kristen and Michelle, who are in the same program,

Logan met me at his metro stop, Duroc, and I met his roommates and settled into my corner spot on the floor. I had a few blankets to sleep on and a pillow- sweet. We all went out to a Greek kabob/gyro restaurant, had chicken curry sandwiches with fries and France’s version of Orange soda (but it had a little pulp in it). Probably my unhealthiest meal yet, but it was cheap and it was good. On the way home we picked up some groceries for the week and watched a movie before going to sleep.

In the morning, I got up bright and early to get to the Chinese Embassy in Paris. China requires you to purchase a Visa before entering their country, but it must be done in person and also within a couple months before you will arrive. So, I wasn’t able to get the pass before I left on this trip (I tried), so here I am getting it in Paris. I got to the embassy around 8:00am, waited in the long line for the embassy to open and at 10am I grabbed a ticket and waited for my number to be called. For the China Visa, you have to fill out where you are going in China and where you are staying and also have all of your flights and train reservations with you. Well, I know the rough draft of my trip… I fly into Beijing… maybe take a train to Shanghai? Then maybe a train or a flight to Hong Kong. And as for sleeping arrangements.. I’m either going to get very lucky and stay with friends of friends, or just stay in hostels. So, for that portion of the visa I just sort of bluffed my way through it. Well, when I got to the embassy counter, the guy wasn’t buying it and said I needed to print out my itinerary. I didn’t have my flight information with me and tried to show him on my phone, but he said that I had to go back home and get it.

To get back to the apt it would have taken me 30 minutes and another 30 to get back to the embassy. By the time I waited in line again, the embassy would have closed. I started walking down the street of restaurants and bakeries, searching for any place that looked like it might have a computer or printer. I saw a little office with three professionally dressed ladies inside and asked, “Parlevux English?” One of them said yes and she became my new best friend. I explained to her that I really needed to print something for the Chinese embassy in order to get my visa. She agreed and as I dictated my email address and password, she typed in each letter, hitting the wrong one almost every single time. By her third failed log-in attempt she passed the keyboard to me and I logged into my gmail account and printed out my golden ticket. I thanked her a million times for helping me, grabbed my itinerary (which had a flight from Munich to Beijing on it) and ran back to the embassy.

The Chinese guy waved me over, looked my itinerary up and down and then started asking questions. “Who are you visiting? Where will you be staying?” He spoke fluent Chinese and French, but not too much English. I tried to explain to him that I was traveling and backpacking and staying in hostels. Frustrated, he sighed and said he could give me a one time entry visa (instead of a one-year multiple entry- which is what I wanted because it’s the same price) and I could pick it up in one week, on Monday. “Alright, Thanks”.

I walked out of the embassy, ecstatic, and stopped in a chocolate shop I noticed earlier to buy my “new best friend” a little gift. She was very happy with the chocolate and I think the world would probably be better place if every time you helped someone, they brought you chocolate. Hey, just a thought…

When I got back to the apartment I met up with Kristen and we headed out to shop in this wonderful city. It was freezing here and I desperately needed warmer clothes (I had only packed for summer weather!). The search was on for scarves, gloves, a coat, leggings, and closed-toed shoes. Together we found scarves and gloves, had some lunch together and then met up with Logan, Michelle, and the rest of their class at the Louvre. A couple times a week, their Architecture professor takes them on 6-7 hour walking tours around the city, points out interesting places, and fills their heads with his knowledge of the history here. Terry, their professor, has been teaching this abroad program for over 10 years and has also lived in Paris for about 7 years. Luckily, Terry invited me to join in the tour, but I was a bit tired and agreed to go around with them tomorrow. I met up with my roomies back at our apt later for dinner. We had chicken and pasta in a pesto sauce and watched a movie before going to bed.

Tuesday morning I went on the walking tour with my roommates and their class. The class of 15 met at 9am and we started briskly walking. First to a park that was sunken down about 2 feet (to create a sense of intimacy and privacy) then we went to another huge space next to the Seine River. This park was redesigned in 1993 after an architecture competition took place to see who could come up with the best design. The board called it a tie between two famous architects in France. The architects didn’t understand how a competition could end in a tie, but the board wound up splitting each drawing in half, so one half of the park is designed by one architect (full of stone, mineral, and waterfalls), and the other half is designed by the other (lush with trees, flowers, walkways, and greenery). Both were beautiful, yet very different from each other.

After the park we grabbed some lunch and headed towards the Eiffel tower. This is my third time in Paris, but my first was when I was 13 and too young to appreciate all of the museums and beauty of the city, and my second was two years ago when my mom and I were in the city for about 5 hours. This time, my goal was to enjoy Paris as much as I could- walk around, go to museums, go out, and tour the city.

The Eiffel tower is stunning and spectacular and I don’t think looking at it could ever get old. We took pictures as we walked towards it and then turned up the street to check out another building and park. By now it was 6pm and I was pretty exhausted. Luckily, this park was our last and we all were “dismissed” from class. We went back to the apartment and I started cooking up some stir-fry. Onions, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, and chicken with Chinese rice noodles. We ate till we were stuffed and watched some TV shows on Kristen’s computer before calling it a night.

On Wednesday I was determined to finish my shopping and find some warm clothes. I found some leggings at a shop around the corner from our place, found a jacket at H&M and some closed-toed shoes in a little shopping district. After 5 hours of shopping I was exhausted and headed back to the apartment to meet up with my roomies. It was Michelle’s birthday so we all went out for Sushi at a restaurant just down the street called Sushi Eiffel. From our apartment we can see the Eiffel tower (amazing location), so this restaurant was named accordingly. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and a couple friends came over from the UF program. James and Byron live a few streets over and hang out all the time. We all had wine together and then we surprised Michelle with a card and a delicious key-lime pie. We sang happy birthday and drank some more wine and eventually ended the night.

While my roommates were in class on Thursday, I headed to the Musée d'Orsay. One of the best art museums I’ve ever been to in my life. Van Gogh is one of my favorites and this museum had more than two rooms full of his original works. The museum also had tons of Monet and other great impressionist artist. I loved it. I spent almost four hours in the museum and was exhausted! I grabbed some food and then headed back to the apartment to meet up with my group. We were celebrating Michelle’s birthday tonight too, by having everyone in the program come over for drinks first and then to the bars later. We were up in the apartment for a couple hours and then our group of 15 made our way to the metro and switched till we were at the right stop. We arrived at an American bar where an American flag was on the outside of the bar and the bartenders spoke perfect English. We had a great time there and at around 2am the bar opens a door to “the cave” which is a downstairs room that looks like a cave. It was awesome and we danced till the cave shut down.

In the morning my roomies had work to do and I was off to explore the city. I went to the Arc de Triomphe first, which was beautiful and covered in stone sculptures and engravings. From the top, I could see the whole city. After checking out the arc and climbing to the top of it, I jumped on the metro and headed towards the Eiffel tower to take some more pictures. It was beautiful outside and I spent some time lying on the grass under a tree next to the tower, admiring it. When I was hungry I stopped by a bakery and picked up a baguette and a pastry. On the walk back to La Tour Eiffel I think I fed all of the birds and ducks in Paris with my baguette. There is a pond next to the tower and I had fun sharing my bread with the little kids around me so they could feel the birds too.

On Saturday we all went to a local market and browsed around before deciding on Turkish falafels. They were very interesting and sort of good. But, afterwards we had the best desserts there called baklava. Our group of 4 turned into 8 as more classmates joined us. Today was the annual techno-parade in Paris and we were going! We took the metro to a stop where the parade was headed and waited…. We could hear the base music coming and soon there were Mac trucks in the street going idle speed, with DJ’s on top with MASSIVE speakers, blasting music as if we were in a club in Miami. I loved it. Thousands of French kids were dressed up and dancing in the street. We joined in and jumped around with everyone. The music was great and the crowd seemed endless. After two hours in the heat we took a metro to a stop further down the line so we could have a little break. As we waited we ate crepes and rested. Forty minutes passed and Michelle and I decided that we should probably head to the Eiffel tower now if we wanted to go to the top of it, to give us enough time to meet up with everyone later to watch the Gator game. We said our goodbyes and headed to the tower. Four-thousand stairs later... (just kidding, we took the elevator).. we arrived at the top. What an incredible view!! The Arc de Triomphe is 200 stairs to the top, and this tower is 4,000 if that helps to give you some perspective. Now we could really see the city! All of the mountains around France were visible, every building, the Arc, it was incredible! We took a lot of pictures and then headed back to the apartment to get ready for the Gator game.

Michelle, Kristen, and I left the Canadian bar around 10:30pm to head over to the American bar; it was a bit larger and nicer than the Canadian one. We said hello to our bartender friends and grabbed seats right in front of the TV to watch the Gators destroy Tennessee. We were the only Americans in the bar and the only people watching the game, but we loved it. Final score, 23-13, GO GATORS!! We were talking to some French locals when Michelle started getting sleepy and wanted to leave. I told her I could help and I’d be right back. A round of tequila shots later, Michelle was alive again, thank you Eddie the bartender. We only stayed out a little bit longer and then headed back to our apt.

On Sunday we went to the South of France market that was only in Paris for this weekend. Free samples galore of cheese, wine, grapes, bread, and chocolate! I was in heaven. Michelle and I split a baby sized apple pie and earlier I sampled escargot too, which was baked with garlic and butter and tasted amazing! This market was right on the Seine River, next to Notre Dame and we spent about two hours there before we had had our fill of heaven. We walked around the area for a while till Logan found the watch store he was looking for. We kept walking and watched some young street performers break-dance; they were really good. Michelle and Logan headed back to the apartment while I stayed a bit longer to explore. I walked around the shops and stopped to watch an artist draw a picture of a boy sitting down posing for him. Similar to a characture, but this artist was pretty good. I watched the whole time and then was talked into having my drawing done too. Ten euros and 30 minutes later, I had a drawing of someone who looked sort of like me. Great, I’ll just keep that in my backpack till I go back to Florida in 9 months.

Since this was my last night in Paris I really wanted to see the Eiffel tower at night all lit up. Byron and James came over to our apartment and the 5 of us walked to the tower. Within 15 minutes we were there and the Eiffel Tower glowed gold. Every hour the tower sparkles with what looks like white Christmas lights (Kristina, you would love this!) for about 5 minutes, and I was excited to take some pictures of it. We had wine with us and sat under the tower and watched the lights twinkle. Incredible. We headed back to the apartment around 11:30pm and I packed up my bags for my train in the morning.

I had to wake up this morning pretty early to get to the China Embassy on time. Everything went very smooth and I’m now looking at my visa into china town. Very excited! From the Embassy I went back to the apartment, threw on my jumbo bag and got on the metro to catch my train to Munich, Germany. The metro ride took a little longer than expected and the whole time I was staring at my watch, watching the minutes tick away as I knew I was closer and closer to missing my train. I got to the station one minute after my train left. Great. So, I’ve been sitting on a bench for two and ½ hours... one more hour to go before the next train will arrive to take me to the promise land. I was told this train was full and the ticket clerk was unable to issue me another ticket, so.. I’m just going to hop on and hope that everything will be okay. My only other option was to pay 200 euros for a first class ticket (which is obviously out of the question) and I figure that the fine can’t be that much, right? We’ll see! Next stop, Germany for Oktoberfest!!