Paris!
Ok, so I told you I'd talk about Paris,
We arrived in Paris Friday morning and found our hostel, to the north of the city. While the neighborhood and proximity of the hostel to the metro are nice, the metro itself is pretty shabby, but it's ok, considering the fact that one uses hostels only for sleeping and the occasional update for hygiene. We immediatly embarked for the Arc De Triumph, then the Eifel Tower, and spent eh better part of Friday walking around until we could check into our hostel and take a nap (after an uncomfortable night-train and subsequent lack of sleep, the hostel was calling to us.) Paris is an amazing city. I was not expecting it to be as great as it's been, but the city is simply beautiful. The Parisians tend to be pretty friendly, though I try and keep my obviously American accent down, which is tough for someone with the naturally loud volume that I have. Rather than doing the bus tour we decided to just buy a pack of metro tickets and see Paris that way, which has proven the better way to go..we've already found the best places to eat cheap in Paris (in the Latin quarter, (enter useless triva:) named because it's in the university area where most of the classes used to be conducted in Latin, hence the name.) Getting full off of awesome food for 8.50 euros is amazing. Lovely stuff. We also saw Star Wars, Episode III that evening which was thankfully in English with French subtitles. I was very happy with the film, and felt that finally Lucas has redeemed himself for butchering the last two.
Another thing about Paris (and really, the past three cities in general) has been the PDA. No, not a personal digital assistant, I'm talking about Public Displays of Affection. In America, making out in the street or in any public space is considered bad form..this is due to our "morals" instilled in us by our Puritan ancestors, people so uptight the British kicked them out. Anyway, it makes me really go.."..ahh..if only Jilian were here" when I see two Parisians on the Seine river at night looking into eachother's eyes and applying the PDA.
Yesterday Will and I spent the whole day in the Louvre, a well spent trip. Saw the Mona Lisa and a bunch of other paintings. You really can't put the Louvre into words..it's emmense, and the paintings and artifacts are unbelievable.
Today we went to the Army museum, which had a great exhibit on World War II and the Nazi occupation of France. There was also a great imperial exhibit, but since it was all in French, I had some troubles understanding what was going on. The musuem was housed in "La Hotel Invalides," the military hospital founded in Paris (which also houses Napoleon's tomb). After spending most of the afternoon there, we had some crepes for lunch..(lovely stuff) and now I find myself updating my blog and talking to mom in a nearby net cafe. Tomorrow it's off to Amsterdam, with a quick stopover in Brussels to take a few pictures. I'm excited for Amsterdam, the original "Sin City." If I can remember my time there, I'll be sure to let you know. Hard to believe there are only three days left of my epic adventure.
Au-revoir!
-Nate
We arrived in Paris Friday morning and found our hostel, to the north of the city. While the neighborhood and proximity of the hostel to the metro are nice, the metro itself is pretty shabby, but it's ok, considering the fact that one uses hostels only for sleeping and the occasional update for hygiene. We immediatly embarked for the Arc De Triumph, then the Eifel Tower, and spent eh better part of Friday walking around until we could check into our hostel and take a nap (after an uncomfortable night-train and subsequent lack of sleep, the hostel was calling to us.) Paris is an amazing city. I was not expecting it to be as great as it's been, but the city is simply beautiful. The Parisians tend to be pretty friendly, though I try and keep my obviously American accent down, which is tough for someone with the naturally loud volume that I have. Rather than doing the bus tour we decided to just buy a pack of metro tickets and see Paris that way, which has proven the better way to go..we've already found the best places to eat cheap in Paris (in the Latin quarter, (enter useless triva:) named because it's in the university area where most of the classes used to be conducted in Latin, hence the name.) Getting full off of awesome food for 8.50 euros is amazing. Lovely stuff. We also saw Star Wars, Episode III that evening which was thankfully in English with French subtitles. I was very happy with the film, and felt that finally Lucas has redeemed himself for butchering the last two.
Another thing about Paris (and really, the past three cities in general) has been the PDA. No, not a personal digital assistant, I'm talking about Public Displays of Affection. In America, making out in the street or in any public space is considered bad form..this is due to our "morals" instilled in us by our Puritan ancestors, people so uptight the British kicked them out. Anyway, it makes me really go.."..ahh..if only Jilian were here" when I see two Parisians on the Seine river at night looking into eachother's eyes and applying the PDA.
Yesterday Will and I spent the whole day in the Louvre, a well spent trip. Saw the Mona Lisa and a bunch of other paintings. You really can't put the Louvre into words..it's emmense, and the paintings and artifacts are unbelievable.
Today we went to the Army museum, which had a great exhibit on World War II and the Nazi occupation of France. There was also a great imperial exhibit, but since it was all in French, I had some troubles understanding what was going on. The musuem was housed in "La Hotel Invalides," the military hospital founded in Paris (which also houses Napoleon's tomb). After spending most of the afternoon there, we had some crepes for lunch..(lovely stuff) and now I find myself updating my blog and talking to mom in a nearby net cafe. Tomorrow it's off to Amsterdam, with a quick stopover in Brussels to take a few pictures. I'm excited for Amsterdam, the original "Sin City." If I can remember my time there, I'll be sure to let you know. Hard to believe there are only three days left of my epic adventure.
Au-revoir!
-Nate
posted by Nate at
11:43 AM
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