Paris

Wow. What can I say that hasn't already been said about Paris? I guess I'll start by saying that my expectations were set extremely high and I did not expect to fulfil them. After some googling a few days prior, I discovered it was the most visited city in the world for the last 20 years. That is one big achievement. Either way, I was expected to be disappointed as I had this predisposition that Paris would not be as good as everyone says. How very wrong I was...

We arrived at 9am on the train from Barcelona after a good sleep on reclining seats. We navigated the metro with ease and arrived at our hostel about an hour later. Where do we go first? Louvre? Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame? We were overwhlemed by the sheer number of attractions on the tourist tract. It was decided that we would spend a few hours in the Louvre followed by a visit to the Eiffel Tower.

One of the most enjoyable experiences we had in Paris was the observing the looks Hugo received from Parisians. As if he didn't stand out enough with a singlet, thongs and a hippie headband, he also had the addition of a cane. Some faces were pure shock, others bordering on disgust. The metro wreaked havoc on Hugo's knee as he constantly hopped up and down stairs as we always seemed to have to swap lines.

Upon arriving at the Louvre, Huey and I stumbled upon ticket machines by chance. This meant that we skipped an hour of waiting in the queue. The rumours of constant waiting in Paris, was something we were yet to experience. Off to a good start. We spent hours roaming the Louvre. I was astounded at the sheer size of the place. Ridiculous! We visited the Mona Lisa and of course were fairly underwhelmed. Hugo and I then spent a few hours trudging around the rest of the museum, which is in all honesty a lot more interesting than old Mona. Still, I guess she's someone you have to see...

After the Louvre, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower, grabbed some baguettes and a Tropicana smoothie (my new favourite thing) and had lunch with arguably one of the better views you could have while lying in a park. After refuelling, it was time to do the Eiffel Tower climb. It took me ten seconds to decide; do I wait in a line for twice as long and pay twice as much to get the elevator up? Of course not. I said goodbye to a disappointed Huey who stayed at the bottom. I don't think his knee would have enjoyed over a thousand steps. The ascent was surprisingly swift, and before I knew it I was overlooking the one of the most visited cities in the world. The first thing I noticed was that Paris is definitely the flattest city I have been to. Unfortunately, the wait for the elevator to the top was going to be 90 minutes and with Hugo sitting at the bottom, I had to pass on the opportunity. But how much more can you see really? Probably don't answer that anyone...All in all it was a great (stereotypical, yes, but still great) first day in Paris.

Lunch by the Eiffel Tower

The next day brought with it a visit to the Conciergerie (prison where at one stage Marie Antoinette was kept), Notre Dame, Sorbonne University and my personal favourite - the Pantheon. Huey and I spent at least an hour marvelling at the interior of the Pantheon, in regards to the scale of the building but also the incredible detail for all the inlay and carving. We returned to our hostel to discover our 10 bed dorm had become a 14 bed dorm, severely cutting down everyone's personal space. I think it took me at least 5 minutes to try and get my pack out from under my bed.

While in Paris, we made futile attempts to meet up with Loui and Scarra. At one stage Nic,Loui, Scarra, Huey and I were all in Paris but no one knew where each other was. Loui and Scarra were lucky enough to score free accommodation with some Parisians while we paid our 18 euros a night (still pretty cheap for Paris). We eventually caught up with the boys on our last night in Paris. By the third day I had the metro sorted. I think I had a mental picture of the whole metro map in my head which was handy. We headed to the outskirts of Paris to visit one of the more solemn attractions the city has to offer: the Catacombs.

The Catacombs originated due to the plague in Europe. The cemeteries in Paris were overflowing to such a degree that there was nowhere to put the bodies so it was decided that they would be placed in the old abandoned mines on the outskirts of the city. Initially, the bones were literally just left in disorganised piles. It was later decided that the bones should be placed into patterns and left in an orderly fashion to better respect the dead. As I descended to 20 metres below ground - below the sewers and the metro - the eeriness of the place was immediate for me. The cool air and the sound of constant dripping added to the effect. The catacombs we visited was a network of 2km of tunneling. After walking for about 10 minutes we arrived at the place where the bones are kept. Each area of bones has an inscription in French and the year (or years) of when the people in that area died. Huey and I were discussing that the people that organised the bones seemed to have a less than favourable job. The sheer number of bones was astounding. As I would approach the next corner of the tunnel, I expected the collection of bones to end, but it seemed to go on endlessly. After about an hour, we resurfaced. I'm still undecided about what my feelings were towards the Catacombs. It was part informative, part confrontational and part amazement. It was definitely worth visiting though.

While in Paris, I also got to visit Centre de Pompidou where we were treated to a wide range of modern and contemporary art. The building itself is art. The architecture has been focused on the idea of building it "inside-out". An interesting concept, and I though it looked pretty cool really. That night Loui and Scarra came over and we decided to go see the Eiffel Tower by night. As with Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I knew that at different times of the day you can get a completely different perspective on the same building. Plus Huey hadn't had the chance to go up yet. We arrived around 10.30pm, and quickly learnt that the tickets to the top are only sold till 10pm. Prior research necessary. We decided to go up anyway as it was a perfect night. At the 2nd floor (still fairly high), we ate peanuts, bananas, apples and Scarra munched on some uncooked two minute noodles. I got asked to take photos for people multiple times and was beginning to wonder if I had some kind of photographer look about me. Loui pulled out his iPhone, played a bit of MJ and we sat there munching on our food.
"Hard life, huh guys"
"Yeeeeeeep. Real tough."
In the end, we stayed up there for at least 90 minutes, got to see the lightshow that happens every hour (luckily no one suffered from epilepsy) and were one of the last people down. We had to get to the metro and get home by 1.30am according to Ben and Loui. No one told us it closed an hour earlier on Sunday night. Bummer. After running (Hugo hobbled and hopped) between lines we ended up stuck at a station and had to bail on the metro for buses. When we came out, what did we see? None other than the Arc de Triomphe, one of the only main attractions Huey and I didn't have time to see. Talk about a fluke. We also got the chance to walk down the famous de Champs Elysees while searching for a bus. It was the perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable time in Paris, though as per usual it wasn't long enough.


Blurred Paris by night

The boys on the Eiffel Tower

The next day Loui, Hugo and I got on the train to Lille, and by the end of the day we were in Brussels in Belgium. How plans change... We have another night here before heading to Bruges (can't wait to go there as In Bruges is one of my favourite movies), then onto Antwerp for a festival called Tomorrowland. Not sure when the next blog will be, but I'm glad I got Paris out of the way before the memories from that great city were interrupted by some new experience. Au revoir