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.
