Sunday, April 06, 2008

Robin's Europe Trip Journal Pt. II

When we left my epic journey, I was unsure of whether I was going to get a meal, and I was realizing my own invincibility. Part II of this incredible story:

3:49 PM Paris Time
8:49 AM Saskatchewan Time

Joseph's dad got us some dirty German newspapers. Okay, not really. There's just one random picture of a half naked girl. There's this guy near us who lived in Manitoba. [At this point I was on the plane from Frankfurt to Paris]. The French lady beside me asked if Canada was near Seattle. Random. I saw the best person ever. He was wearing a black top hat, black trench coat, black pants with random buckles, and black combatboots and he had really long hair. I wanted to take a picture but I was advised not to. In retrospect, this was a good decision. The French lady has a hypnotizing ring and interesting shoes.

4:36 PM Paris Time
9:36 AM Saskatchewan Time

They impressed upon us that France is full of thieves and this is why we take money belts and keep our possessions with us all the time. But what do people who live in France do? Do they worry constantly about pickpocketers? They must live in constant fear, almost as if they lived in a totalitarian state.

Lufstana (or whatever) [it was actually Lufthansa] is a pretty good airline. They came by right away with little sandwiches and chocolate (I got the French lady's chocolate). They even served booze. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to imbibe. I'm not gonna lie; I stink. I've been in the same clothes for 24 hours and my hair and makeup are a mess. I want a shower and/or a change of clothes. [Reader's note: this didn't happen until about midnight the same day.]

We are currently in cloud cover, so it looks like we're above Hoth again. I wonder if we shall see a UFO. I live in hope. The cutest little baby is looking at us, and I am reminded of the time I went on the bus to Saskatoon and this little kid spit on the guy behind her. It was so funny. After that, the guy had his face back as far as it would go. I love mass transit.

Mar 21/08
12:52 AM Paris Time
5:52 PM Saskatchewan Time

So we arrived in Paris, dirty, greasy, and smelly. Our hotel is pretty good, it's almost like an apartment. There are two bedrooms, a toilet room, a room with a sink and shower, and a little kitchen. We went out for supper to a restaurant called Panorama and we had an awesome waiter, but I can't remember his name. We had some weird pastry thing filled with cheese, chicken cordon bleu, and fruit salad. It was good. We then went walking around Paris. The streets are really narrow and cobble stoned. We also went on the metro, a super fast subway. We saw a church called Sacre Cour (Sacred Heart) and some random started talking to Laken with his arm around her and he wanted her to kiss him on the cheek. It was so funny. then we went to Moulin Rouge, which was on a street filled almost exclusively with sex shops. My favourite was a little place called the Sexodrome and I got a picture of it. We passed all these little shops [not on Sex Street] and I saw a reproduction of the Mona Lisa and I wanted to get it for Mar but we couldn't stop and shop. I'm hoping they'll have some at the Louvre [which we didn't go to.] Anyway, I'm so tired even though it's only 6:00 in Sask. Crazy!

Mar. 22/08
12:25 AM Paris Time
5:25 PM Saskatchewan Time

Jet lag is a funny thing. It shows up at the randomest times. For instance, today at 4ish while we were on our way back from Versailles, I was hit with exhaustion. I could feel my eyes close of their own accord. Then on the boat ride on the Seine I wanted to sleep again.

So here's what we did today. We went to Versailles, which was amazing. Words cannot describe, which is why I took pictures! However, while exploring the gardens, it started hailing and the wind was so bad it broke my umbrella. After Versailles, we went to the Eiffel Tower, then I believe we had supper. We had salad, this weird pizza type thing which was a specialtiy from Alsace. and for dessert we had the pizza crust thing with chocolate or cinnamon apple. C'etait tres bien! Oh, before that we went shopping at Galeries Lafayette. I got earrings for Lindsay at a place called Etam. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower at night when it was lit up, and then thirteen people (including me) went on a boat ride on the Seine.

3:34 PM Paris Time
8:34 AM Saskatchewan Time

The first day in Paris I ordered water at a restaurant and the dude thought I was ordering mineral water for the whole table so I got two big glass bottles of water that I didn't want to drink and had to pay 8 Euros (12 dollars). I wanted to take one of the bottles home so I put it in my bookbag and we went to Versailles and was planning on smuggling it in even though we weren't allowed to have glass bottles but I had to dump it because we had to put our bookbags through security and I didn't want to go to a French jail. Anyway. Today we got up super early, after like five and a half hours of sleep. We went to Musee D'Orsay, which was amazing. I'm not an art aficionado or anything, but I enjoyed it way more than expected. I really like Renoir, Rodin, and Van Gogh. I almost wrote "et" for "and." I've been in France too long. Anyway, we saw those three, Cezanne, Monet, Manet, Whistler, Degas, and others I can't remember. For awhile we amused ourselves by posing like the people in the paintings and sculptures. There was on sculpture by Rodin that I loved, called "Porte de l'Enferne" or something, based on Dante's Inferno. He had a couple based on Dante's Inferno. I am currently on the TGV train, heading to Avignon in the south of France, where hopefully it is warmer. [It was, but not by a lot. At least it didn't hail there.] It rained pretty much the whole time in Paris, and it hailed twice. As previously mentioned, my umbrella broke from the wind. It looked at it this morning and it couldn't have been saved. The spokes were all twisted and some were snapped completely. Cheap Wal-Mart merchandise.

We're travelling too fast to really see any landscape. However, I'm pretty sure I'm seeing snow right now. This does not bode well. Snow aside, France is insanely green. We even saw flowers. IN Saskatchewan, there are still snowdrifts everywhere, but who knows, perhaps it will be gone when I get back. I live in hope.

Yesterday there was a busker playing accordian on the Metro and I got a video before I remembered I didn't have audio on my camera. Anyway, I have the video and he's hamming it up for me. I also got a picture that looks slightly demonic, but that just adds to the charm of France.

For lunch today we ate in a little bistro and I had a cheese, lettuce, and egg sandwich. C'etait bon. We couldn't eat for long parce que we had to catch the Metro. Our lunches are always so rushed. At Verailles I had a mixed salad with lettuce, tomato, ham an unidentified cheese, and an unidentified dressing. I could only eat like half of it becuase we had to make our reservation at Versailles Palace.

Random subject change: There was a saxophone busker at the Metro station. I wanted to watqch but he was on the other side of the tracks and we had to catch our train. I got a bad picture of him though. France is super green, did I mention that?

Paris alone has 3 million people, which is like the whole population of Saskatchewan. The Quebecers' school has 1500 people, more than the population of Foam Lake. It makes me feel intimidated.

We've passed other TGV trains two or three times now, and it's kind of scary.

There is a semi-hot guy sitting across from me on his laptop. Well okay, he's not sitting on his laptop, he's typing on it. His feet are really close to mine. I'm debating stretching so our legs are parrallel because they are starting to hurt, but what if he pulls his feet back and hits mine? that would be awkward. My ears keep popping. I wonder if we're really low. We're heading towards the Mediterranean, so I guess we're near sea level. The guy just touched my foot, ha ha.

I forgot to write something before. At the Eiffel Tower there were peddlars selling touristy stuff. Most of these peddlars were black. I think we only saw one or two that were white. Anyway, one guy was selling lighters that lit up with bright colours, and he was like, "Bling bling lightah?" They always said "bling bling" when something was shiny. Mme. Helene said no to one and he's like, "You nice lady. Want bling bling? You really nice." This is actually illegal, but Thomas (tour director) said the police look the other way b ecause it brings in money and the tourists like it.

I keep seeing livestock, but they all appear to be in the same position and unmoving. Lawn ornaments? I think I'm seeing sheep but some of them look like white buffalo, which I'm pretty sure are extremely rare.

Being able to pop my ears at will has been a convenient skill this trip, what with the plane rides and low elevation. I don't recall actively trying to acquire this skill. I remember going to BC, which is at sea level so I had to pop my ears all the time. I did this by yawning, then yawning but stopping righ tafter my ears popped, and then I just learned to get that yawning effect without opening my mouth, because I am lazy. Anyway, now I cam pop my ears whenever I want. It's kind of like when I learned to raise my eyebrow. I recall practicing (by holding one eyebrow down, ha ha) but I don't remember the "aha" moment when I could raise one eyebrow. I do, however, remember Bryce always telling me to cross my arms, raise my eyebrow, and say, "Can you smell what The Rock's been cooking?"

To be continued...

4 comments:

Devonmonster said...

this is boring.. im not reading all of it!

Anonymous said...

bling bling lightah!

i always buy the things people describe as "bling bling" and are shiny...don't you?

-heidi

Anonymous said...

can't you smell what the rock is cooking!?! bling bling. good stuff
-stay c h

Anonymous said...

ps, devo's mean. you're boring devo, take that, sob