Pre and early Paris

(Lesley)  It turns out that despite some attempts at planning we will end up in Paris on a long weekend.  Places are usually closed on Mondays in France so I suppose it won’t make that much of a difference anyway.

Pre-Paris -It has been an exciting week of Chateaux, Cathedrals, etc.  But, compared to life in Winnipeg, it has also been odd.  While travelling, we pour over guidebooks for ideas then decide on things to see or activities to do; that is something that never happens at home.  In our regular lives, if we have a week off, there would be 50 things that need doing and at least 20 things that we’d love to do. We would then pick a few from each list. It is an odd thing to have no list of must do’s.  It is odd, being on holiday still after two months.  Although I am not complaining, we are enjoying our relaxed lifestyle.  We have many challenges ahead of us; Paris may even be one of them.  Then later, in countries where none of us has the language, things may prove to be more complicated. 

Speaking of languages: I got second hand French books for the kids.  Sam has begun one.  I will read them too. 

The kids are doing the dishes tonight and there is no complaining!  Well, they don’t usually complain.  We had chicken soup with carrots and rice and a pasta dish with shrimp, avocado, tomatoes and lime.  It is a variation of the lovely meal Peter fed us in Bristol.  John has done most of the cooking in our gîtes.  The first night here, the farmer, who owns the gîte, noticed John in the kitchen while I was out chatting and complimented me on my good find.  John met the farmer’s wife at the grocery store the next day and said in his broken French :Je fais le groceries aussi!  Knowing that she would have heard about his prowess in the kitchen. 

Paris

John had researched routes into Paris and then navigated us flawlessly into the capital: directly to our hostel.  Only snag was we weren’t aware of the daylight savings hour change, so we arrived early and had to kill an hour in the neighbourhood until check in. 

Paris!! Yes, we are enjoying Paris!  It is such fun.  We are like kids in a candy shop.  That first night we went out and saw Paris at night.  There were more people out in the streets than I remember seeing anywhere.  It was of course, the Sunday night of the Toussaints long weekend, so no one had to work the next day.  We really had to work hard to make our way down the Champs Elysees.  We saw the Arc de Triomphe all lit up.  It was great.  The Metro was quite exciting and not at all intimidating.  Since that first night, we have been out going steady all day long.

A metro station made to look like the submarine from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Less than 24 hours from our arrival in Paris we had spent over a thousand dollars and had not bought any souvenirs, gifts or anything tangible.  However, we had accommodations for 4 (for 5 days, breakfast included), unlimited Metro, RER and bus transport for 5 days and we had prepaid our Indian visas!  Pretty good really, although paying for so much, so quickly, was daunting.

Our first full day, we went straight to the Indian Embassy to sort out visas for India.  We had checked the Internet and planned to be in Paris for a week allowing us time to put in for the visas, have a look around, retreive the visas, then leave.  Well… The three day turn around time is actually 2-3 weeks, so we may just need to head back to Paris to pick up our passports another week.  The Indian consulate didn’t have paper visa forms for us to fill out either; instead they had a laminated form attached to an ancient overpriced photocopier.  We did manage to get the forms copied, filled out and turned in without glitches, (except for the later pick up time).  After that was accomplished, we were free to see the city.  We went to the Louvre (outside only, as there was a very long hour plus wait to get in because of the long weekend), ate our picnic lunch in the Jardins des Tuileries in the comfy chairs provided.  It was entertaining to watch the joggers go round and round.  We went wandering around to Place de la Concorde and past the Ecole Militaire.  We did some more Metroing and went to Père Lachaise Cemetery.  John had a good guidebook chapter about that, and All Saints is a great time to head to the cemetery.  We had loads of company, as many French were out paying their respects, and many tourists were there to check out famous graves.  For the record, Chopin’s grave was the busiest and most respectfully looked after.  We got some neat photos there. 

In general one doesn’t need to be shy about taking photos in Paris, it seems everyone has a camera and takes photos constantly.  I really enjoy watching the tourist couples set up their photos.  They are not shy.  I guess when you grow up with little space and lots of people you just learn to get on with things despite the audience.  I have seen countless women pose for sexy, serious, cute, obviously posed photos in front of countless monuments, buildings, etc.   It would be easy to mock but they are clearly having a good time so there is something to learn from that.  We are beginning to get a little less inhibited with our own picture taking. 

(John) With regard to Père Lachaise Cemetery; it was interesting that Jim Morrison’s grave had security guards posted.  Presumably, this was to ensure that people did not go over the barriers or graffiti the nearby tree anymore.  Oscar Wilde’s grave did not have guards but it was clearly a busy place. 

A tree near Jim Morrison's grave.