Wednesday 29 May 2013

Oui Paree

                


In all the time I’ve lived in London I never managed to go to Paris so as part of my European farewell trip I decided to fly to and from Egypt via Paris, leaving me a day and a half each time. People say that you either love or hate Paris. I still can’t decide. There were many beautiful things but also, sadly a few unfortunate things.

My first trip to Paris was from Amsterdam where I stayed at St Christopher’s hostel (which I do not recommend) and met up with Tracy, the Kiwi girl I had just met in Amsterdam. Here, I had one day and the weather wasn’t too nice so we headed to the Lourve and took some typical tourist shots, pretending to hold up the pyramids just as we did in Egypt (I’m getting better at actually being in photos these days) then saw how long the line was so brushed it for the Musee D’Orsay which they say is better. This line was much shorter, only a 40minute wait, spent chatting about our upcoming adventures, excited for Egypt.

The interior of this museum was beautiful and we strolled through the rooms admiring artworks from Van Gogh, Claude Monet and all things French. I’ve seen so many paintings of naked people with just a cloth which ‘just so happens’ to be falling in front of the private area quite a lot and it made me wonder, are these artists sex fanatics, creeps or did everyone just walk around practically naked back then? Mary Magdalene is certainly another obsession for many artists and there is only so many times you can look at a painting of her. There was however a very beautiful collection of paintings and they were all presented so elegantly with exquisite frames. Some paintings even took up a whole wall; it was crazy! Since living abroad I’ve found a new love of museums and I suppose it has a lot to do with the fact that there are so many in London and they are all practically free. I know Australia’s ones won’t be as good but it is one of the many new things I would like to do upon my return home as I vow to see Sydney with new eyes and venture outside of the Eastern Suburbs bubble of Sydney that everyone so comfortably stays in.

Next was Notre Dame and for anyone who has seen Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame I was rather excited. It was free entry and at first I thought this was just going to be another church but it truly was grand and surprisingly, it is still a functioning church with mass held twice daily, we even saw people lining up for confession (although it looked more like they were having a job interview). We didn’t have any guided tours in Paris so anything we knew was from our combined knowledge (which wasn’t much) or if we eavesdropped on a nearby tour guide but unfortunately there were no English speaking ones around that day.

We ended our day with a walk along the riverbank where I caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel tower but it was rather hazy so I thought I’d leave it to the next time I was in Paris. The sight of it was beautiful as it towered above the surrounding buildings and at that moment it really felt like I was in Paris. It might sound silly saying that but for anyone who has travelled you may agree with me that sometimes when you are on the other side of the world, you look around and its almost like you couldn’t tell where in the world you were, but this view oozed with Parisian symbols; From the riverbank, to city view, to the artists lining up artworks to buy along the riverside and to the black men walking around with countless Eiffel towers on a massive ring. There are patisseries, flower shops or fruit shops on every corner and everyone speaks just French, expecting you, a foreigner, to be able to as well. So we headed to a patisserie and brought a fruit tart, croissant and a snail (the bread kind) and had a feast! I was in French heaven as it was so delicious. Being on a budget we brought our dinner from the supermarket; a salad, some chicken and a bottle of wine, then had an early night as my flight for Egypt was at 8am meaning I had to get up at 4:30 so it was an early night for me and lucky I did because turns out, in Egypt a good night sleep was rare.


















Paris round 2 was experienced after Egypt and was again only a day and a half. St Christohper’s Inn was too far out of the city and for its price of 38 euros per night I wasn’t impressed with what they offered you so instead I managed to find Aloha hostel, walking distance from the Eiffel tower and only 30 euros a night. Looking back I didn’t actually do much in Paris last time so I was determined to make a full day of sight seeing, beginning with the Eiffel tower. The night I walked to my hostel I could see the Eiffel Tower lit up and it was picturesque so I was rather excited to see it in daylight. Again, like the pyramids, no matter how many pictures you’ve seen it definitely is something different witnessing it for yourself the first time. At first sight, it wasn’t as tall as I expected but I loved the scenery of the long grass patch opening it up as one of the world’s most famous monuments. It was here I wished that I were on a tour so I could know why it was built and so on. I later discovered that Gustave Eiffel built it as the entrance arch to the 1889’s World’s Fair. Apparently it is controversial as he intended to build it out of steel but iron was used instead.

I didn’t climb up it then and instead wanted to come back at sunset and then take pictures at night but this would later be my biggest mistake in Paris. On to the Arc De Triomphe and I don’t know why I was eager to see this because I knew nothing about it but it has always been on my list of things to see. Turns out it has the tomb of an unknown soldier underneath and marks the victories of the French. Once there I knew that I wasn’t the only one and plenty of people were taking photos so I asked one guy to take a photo for me and I quickly regretted it. A very nice person, but could not for the life of him take a photo. First it was just me, then when I asked for the background he took half of me and half the building. I was only asking for a tourist picture with the monument and myself together, I didn’t care if I was full body, close up, waist up or anything, just for both of us to be in it. After the fifth go I just thanked him, waited for him to leave and asked someone else. I feel sorry for what his holiday photos are going to turn out like.

Moving on with sight seeing, I ventured off to see the Moulin Rouge, just the outside as I definitely couldn’t afford to see the show but for some strange reason it never occurred to me that I should have just booked a different, lesser known place but oh well. I came here to also walk around the surrounding area where people had told me was very lovely and very Parisian. With it’s cobbled roads, street artists and coffee shops or patisseries everywhere Montmartre was a fantastic place to just wander around. I looked at the information of a walking tour and tried to find all the places myself, hoping to latch on to a tour but had no hope. I did find the last remaining windmills in Paris and after buying another fruit tart sat on the steps in front of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, joining hundreds of other people as we overlooked the view of Paris which was so pretty. It made me think of other places in Europe I’ve been to where I see city views and now that I have left time between last seeing Europe I realise that this is a very typical setting for Europe; hills, buildings, cathedrals, churches, castles and famous monuments, all man-made and very, very different to Australia.

The afternoon had neared and I thought that it was best to make my way back to the Eiffel Tower as the lines would be long but first I needed some money so found the nearest ATM. No one was in line so I walked straight up and pulled out 200 euro but just as I went to put it straight in my wallet a man grabbed me from behind and frightened me. I don’t know how I didn’t drop my wallet or the money but he managed to grab half of the notes from my hand and run away. I was shocked. I had been robbed in broad daylight. I had been having such a fantastic day then something like this happened. I couldn’t afford to be robbed and stood there for at least a few seconds wondering if that really happened. A lady then approached me and told me it was common for all sorts of crime to happen from pick pocketing to people having knifes pulled on them. I’ve always been cautious, particularly because I have my DSLR and guard that more than my passport sometimes but this happened out of nowhere and so quickly.

Determined not to let it get to me I headed to the Lourve to say hey to Mona Lisa, with a British passport I gained free entry and headed straight there. The room was packed and everyone was pushing to gain a selfie with the famous lady. As people say it is much smaller than you imagine but it still is pretty awesome. I was however in no museum mood after recent events and left pretty much straight away, heading for the Eiffel Tower, hoping it would cheer me up but my day was only going to get worse because as I walked out of the station it began to rain! I looked at the menus of nearby restaurants and couldn’t afford the standard price of 20euros most meals cost so instead headed to a caravan near the tower and brought a chicken sandwich and water. I found shelter and watched the rain simply get heavier and began to wonder what I should do. Thirty minutes passed and the rain just got worse so I sadly made the decision to run back to my hostel and come back later when the rain had stopped. By the time I got back to the hostel it looked like I had stepped into a bath fully clothed so it was straight to the hot shower for me.

Sadly, the rain did not stop so my hopes of climbing the Eiffel tower and photographing it at night were diminished and my lovely stay in Paris had taken an unfortunate turn. Nevertheless, Paris was great, full of things to do and I can still see myself returning one day to climb the Eiffel tower and maybe even going to Disneyland, something I also wanted to do but with the weather and solo travelling didn’t feel right at the time. So for now it’s auvior to Paris and until we meet again. 






















Monday 13 May 2013

Amsterdam Bound


                                 

The time has come to end my stay in London, with mixed emotions about how I felt I knew that once I was on the plane I’d get excited. The week before was filled with catch-ups, farewells and tears as I finished up work and said goodbye to the many friends that I have made along the way. I realised that I had been focusing so much on going home lately that I forgot what I was actually leaving and now it hit me hard, the 4 days I return to London to pick my bags up will definitely be tough. However, the next 6 weeks ahead is filled with travelling to a few countries I still haven’t experienced yet and taking some time to view the sights, learn the culture, get back into photography and ultimately just relax. First stop- AMSTERDAM and what better person to experience this with than Lozzy, who coincidentally joined Toma and I on our first Euro adventure to Turkey.

We met at St Pancras and made our way to the airport, enjoying a few drinks before we boarded, toasting to a long awaited holiday! 45 minutes later we landed in Amsterdam and then made our way to Bob’s Youth Hostel. Forgetting to change our pound to euro we attempted to check in at 8pm and were informed that unless we paid in euro we weren’t checking in. Loz couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t accept the pound or our passports until the morning but the guy was pretty rude and shut her down, clearly telling her that there was no bed for her unless she gave him euros, like a total meanie he then made us panick saying that we had 10 minutes to change money over in the exchange near the canals, providing little help with directions or any care factor-great first impressions.

Off we went and managed to stress free change some money and decided to check in later, after finding ourselves some dinner but not before a visit to the coffee shop. Amsterdam is famous for its legalization of weed and one of the major reasons many tourists stop by. I, myself am not a fan of smoking pot, maybe on the very rare sociable occasion, but this trip certainly asserted the reasons why I didn’t and do not like it. However, when in Amsterdam do as they do I guess. The weed is sold in any coffee shop either by itself, as a cake, cookie or joint. This is any pot smokers paradise, you can even smell it just walking down the streets and after a few days it was kinda gross. Loz and I shared a joint then got the highly recommended Wok to go. At 12 euro my expectations were high and it definately met everything and more than I expected. Australia really needs something like this and would surely be my Friday night take out for a while!

Instead of ‘wasting days’ we decided that this trip would also include lots of sight seeing so our next day we hired bikes and cruised the ‘dam’, heading to the beautiful Vondell Park where we laid in the sun, something London was only just beginning to finally get, yet it was still a tad chilly here and lets just say the shorts and singlets Loz packed were sadly, not going to keep her warm. Next we found the Iamsterdam sign and as expected it was filled with tourists. The sign was in an akward position this time and was hard to get a decent photo which included all the letters. Not satisfied with capturing just a few letters I unfortunately had to admit defeat on this sight and give up, realizing that this was definitely not a postcard shot. Loz, however was adamant that these were school children and families, not tourists and if we came back after Queens Day it should be ok (it wasn’t). I wasn’t so sure but was worth a try. We spent the afternoon buying our Queen’s Day outfits ready for tomorrow and then headed to the canals for a few beers and to experience the red light district. The girls were actually pretty and anyone who went to the doors were certainly not shy, I thought they would be more discreet but as we sat in the pub n people watched we saw many people going in and out of the many doors. Curious about how much they make we questioned going up to ask them but soon decided to give it a miss and potentially just google it (as google knows everything!).

The next day was intended as our final sight seeing day before the madness and hang overs begun. Museums are abundant in Amsterdam and you wouldn’t think that such a small place was home to many famous figures such as Anne Frank and Van Gogh. Both these museums had extremely long lines and cost a little too much for our budgets which was rather upsetting as I really would have loved to go to these two and love museums, however we did mange to find a museum with no lines and much more in our budgets…the Sex Museum! This place is odd and definitely an experience for anyone who passes by. Filled with people’s private photo collections and basic definitions, descriptions and examples of various sexual positions, fantasies, fetishes and whatever else it is quite a laugh and after a while you feel like a bit of a creep as you read and look at other peoples sexual encounters so publically.

Queen’s Day had finally arrived and what a special one we went to. Today the Queen was officially handing over the throne to her son, William and his wife Maxima and this would be the final Queen’s Day for who knows how long as next year will mark the first King’s Day since the 1800’s. We dressed ourselves in all things orange (the Royal colour) and brought some of the many silly accessories to get in the mood. The day before Loz informed us about how we should buy alcohol because the off licences had a one drink per person rule so we had stocked up on wine and a bottle of vodka for the day.

We soon hit the canals to join in the celebrations, truthfully we didn’t quite know what was going to happen and when we asked people they couldn’t quite tell us, explaining that everyone just drinks and enjoys the streets. We found a café that had a live band out the front and sat down to join them, filling our drink bottles with wine. We watched as the crowds began to thicken and were envious of the boats that went by on the canal. Moving on to explore the city and what it had to offer we soon ended up at a jetty where all the boats gathered to party.  

It was crazy! By night time we were pretty inebriated and joined the crowds in the streets for the music concerts but once the alcohol ran out and our vision became blurry we danced it off for a bit and decided that it was home time, stopping at Burger man for the best burger I have ever had! This was insane and had the lot, another great recommendation.

Queen’s Day was great but in some ways I do wish we did it with a tour group so there was a bit more direction as to what was actually happening on the day. We also found out that there was a huge music festival with a great headline, tickets only 40 euro and spewing it was sold out! It also heavily reminded me of Distortion in Copenhagen but if I had to choose I’d say Distortion was a bit better. If planning to go to Queen’s Day I would suggest you do some research prior to it and have a plan of what you want to do because for a small group like us (sadly pretty much all the people in our hostel were boring or stoners not participating) you do have to search a little harder I think.

Hungover we spent the next day laying in the sun and managed to fit in a decent steak and veggie dinner (my first non-junk food meal since I left London) and hit the sack ready for early flights the next day. It was here that I said my good byes to Loz and won’t see her now untilshe (finally) returns home (it looks like October guys!) so a sad farewell for me followed by the excitement of the next destination- Paris!

In our dorm we had met a Kiwi, Tracey, who coincidentally is doing the same Egypt and Jordan tour as me and is even flying out from Paris as well so I booked my hostel as the same as hers and it turns out I’ve not only made a friend but a travelling buddy for the next 2 weeks! Brilliant start to my 6 weeks of relaxation…stay tuned for Egypt and Jordan as well as a review of my short Paris stop overs and sight seeing.