Oh Mona, you're making me blush!!

Day 15. I slept in a bit this morning to try and regain some of my missing sleep, plus I am always going to bed so exhausted it was nice to catch up a little. I really wanted to see the Louvre today, so I bought a croissant and a sandwich for later at a bakery and then jumped on the metro (which I have now mastered!) and was so excited to be at the Louvre. There are 3 glass pyramids, 2 smaller ones and one large one where the entrance was. I was shocked to see there wasn’t a queue as I had slept in, but then I realized why…. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Failblog, I totally knew that but my days have blurred together and I never know what day of the week it is anymore. So I decided to walk through the gardens in front of the Louvre and sat around a fountain and read my book for a while. I am so close to finishing it and it is so good! I ate a bit of my sandwich and then continued towards the Champs Elysees. I tried going into the Musée de l’Orangerie but that was closed on Tuesday’s as well. Double failblog. So I instead went to the Musée d’Oray which was awesome. I got to see some of Vincent Van Gogh’s work (amazing), including another of my favorites, Starry Night. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures, but there were several pieces that were just so amazing it made me involuntarily move my hand to my chest, take in a breath and say “wow.” The stroke work, the colors, the sheer size, it was an excellent experience. I didn’t get a chance to see all of the museum  as it closed at 5:30, but I bought I ticket for both the Musée d’Oray and the Musée de l’Orangerie, so I am planning on going back to finish seeing what I missed on the upper levels. After the museum I headed towards the basilique du sacré Coeur, which is a striking cathedral on top of a huge hill that overlooks the city. I went inside and a sermon was going on so I half listened (it was in French) and walked through the cathedral and enjoyed the beautiful statues, stained glass, candles, and its architecture. I walked back outside and decided I wanted to read my book again and enjoy the magnificent view. Along the steps leading up to the cathedral were lots of street vendors, and a large amount of them were trying to sell Heineken on the cheap. They kept coming up to me and pestering me while I was reading, so I finally gave in and bought some for a very good deal. Another guy was juggling a soccer ball and balanced it on his head as he climbed this crazy high light post and did tricks with it at the top hanging from one hand. Very cool. As it started to get darker I got to see the city of lights come to life; it was magical. Another man started playing the guitar and sang Backstreet Boys. Yup, that’s right, I am in Paris, seeing this amazing view of the city, thoroughly enjoying the ambiance and then, “You are…my fire…” hahaha, it made me laugh out loud. I also wanted to see the Moulin Rouge Theatre, so I started walking towards it and found myself in a very neon, very adult section of town that I did not want to be in. I was getting offers and calls to come inside what i am sure would have been strip clubs, but I just looked straight ahead and kept on walking. I saw the theatre and right in front of it there was a circular grate blowing up air (The kind girls stand on and hold down their dress, I thought it was very fitting, haha). It was already dark and I was getting hungry so I popped back on the metro and headed back to Emmanuel’s flat. Dinner was good and I decided I was getting up early to try and beat the queues at the Louvre. I can hardly wait to see that Mona Lisa smile!

Day 16. The Louvre!! Today I went to the Louvre (and it was actually opened, win).  I snagged a pain du raisin and a quiche for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch and was on my. I was so excited to see the Louvre and all its masterpieces, but was not excited at all for the queue to get in. It was ridiculously long and it was just the security check! I noticed a small gap as the line twisted around one of the smaller pyramids, and noticed they weren’t paying attention so I went ahead and swooped on in (I know, I know, cutting in line is bad… I will slap my wrist for you, but it worked.) Security line down, I just had to wait in the queue for my ticket. That took a little while but was over soon enough and away I went. My first stop was a super awesome Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition they had going on for his piece The Sainte Anne. Wow was that cool. The amount of detail and work that he puts into even his sketches is mind boggling. He is SO good. And what was even cooler was being able to admire them up close and to take my time about it (I will explain why further along). After the exhibition I was super stoked to see the Mona Lisa so I followed the signs to make my way there. The museum was extremely crowded with signs everywhere to watch out for pickpockets (oh boy), so I was already put off by being around so many people. When I got to the Mona Lisa I was pretty disappointed. There were tourists everywhere, cameras raised high, pushing and shoving to get to the front, zero room to actually see anything. And it was so small, and so far away, and behind so much reflective glass that it just didn’t have the same effect that the previous Da Vinci exhibition I had just came from did. But I got good pictures, and even made her smile a bit in a picture with me because I’m a G6 (that’s what’s up). I was feeling so hot and gross from being so close to so many people and a little discouraged about the Louvre, but I wanted to see more so I kept moving along. The Louvre is HUGE, MASSIVE, like a 3 story maze where you get lost and instead of riddles and tricks or traps its art, artifacts, galleries and different era’s. It’s wonderful. I got lost even with my map, but enjoyed its grandeur (The amount of people thinned out too). After a while my feet hurt from walking and I grew hungry, realizing I had been wandering its halls for over 4 hours. I kept saying I would leave after seeing just a bit more, but my feet had a mind of their own and were determined to see more. I eventually found the exit when the paintings started blurring together and I stopped being able to appreciate the art and could only think about food and sitting down. Outside there was an old man feed birds from his hand (also a G6 for the record), so I sat in the grass and watched the little birds fly right up and perch on his fingers (I was uber jealous). After relaxing for a bit and recovering my strength I went to the Musée de l’Orangerie (Yay more art!). But it was actually really cool; the downstairs is a smaller exhibit with some amazing artists and paintings, but the best part was upstairs. There were two quite larger, plain white oval rooms that were each pleasantly lit. All along each of the 4 walls was an incredible mural that covered almost the entire wall. They were Monet. They were stunningly beautiful and relaxing, enthralling you and simply pulled you into the art. I had to sit down. I didn’t want to leave. But there was another room and I was sure (and was right) another stunning mural. It’s titled Les Nymphéas and I loved it. After The museum I went by Concord square and then caught the metro to Gare De Lyon, a big train station, so I could figure out how to use my Eurail pass. I waited in line for forever, got sent to information desk, was referred to come back to the exact same desk, went back to the information desk, back to the same line (which had grown significantly) and waited again. Lovely. But  got it all worked out in the end and only had some minor issues working out the French/English barriers. Ticket to Lyon, check! At this point I was supposed to meet up with a friend, but he cancelled and rescheduled for tomorrow night, and it was getting late and I was tired form standing all day. SO I went back to Emmanuel’s flat… and waited outside the door for someone to come home, haha. I didn’t have the key today since I thought I was meeting up with a friend and would get home until later. Luckily his roommate got home about 45 minutes into me sitting by the door. Louisiane is from Lyon (which is where I am heading on Friday) so she was excited to give me some pointers on where to go and what I should do in both Lyon and Paris. We ended up chatting with her boyfriend the rest of the night and sampled some Belgium Beer’s and had delicious cheese and bread/crackers, pasta for dinner, and pomme chataigne for dessert (almost babyfood like in texture, very sweet and very good). Today was the first day it was overcast on my trip, but I was inside museums all day so it was fine by me. I had another fantastical day!

Day 17. Hello Shopping! Having accomplished almost all of my “Tourist To-do List” I decided to see some more of Paris’s shopping centre’s districts and not so touristy areas, starting with the Marais. I wanted to find a Paris shirt, so I grabbed some breakfast from the bakery and was on my way. It took a little bit to walk to the right area, but once I arrived there were plentiful shops on every street.  I was looking for a more secondhand, but still tres classy shirt and after a while of searching I finally found some promising stores and even awesome shirt. Satisfying that desire I found a Café and sat outside, ordered a crepe and finished my book (The book was so good Mom, not at all what I was expecting!). I ordered a dessert crepe (crepe with lemon juice), and with my crepe they brought me a thick white substance in a small glass pouring jar. Assuming this was some sugary substance I generously applied some to my dessert crepe… about 2 minutes later my waiter came out look aghast and this is what I understood. “Im very sorry…something something…dessert crepe…something something… not for… something…salade… something something something.” Apparently they had brought out a salad dressing even though I had only ordered a crepe and I just went right ahead and poured it all over my crepe. Haha, I’m awesome. Assuring the server that it was alright (the citron juices hid the salad dressing quite well) I finished my crepe and then my book (I am sure they thought I was a stupid American, which is true, to be sure). Afterwards, I made my way back to the Notre Dame area in search of a different kind of shop. It’s called “Shakespeare and Co” and it is a really old bookshop with typewriters and old books and new, covering every square inch of the walls. Something awesome about this bookshop is that you can write notes to other travelers and leave them on the walls (Thanks for the suggestion Tom!), so I wrote my note and left it for whomever may cross its path, hoping it might provide some wisdom or guidance. Upstairs there was a reading/piano room with someone playing quite well, so I found a nice spot and curled up to relax. A little while later I wanted to roam the streets, maybe do a little more shopping, and wanted a bite to eat. With lunch in hand, I came across 2 stores that were next to each other. One was called Jules and the other Jennyfer. I stopped right in my tracks, haha, are you kidding me? Jules was actually a really nice men’s clothing store (don’t worry Jules, I bought a shirt) and Jennyfer was just your style Jenny, you would have loved it. I walked through the Luxumbourg gardens on my way to the metro to meet up with Hens friend along the Champs Elysees. Unfortunately we must have missed each other, as the streets were very busy and we both had never met before so didn’t know what the other looked like. As I don’t have a phone or internet access just standing there I waited for about 45 minutes before I decided, C’est la vie, and continued on my way. I went into several more shops along the Champs Elysees and saw the height of French fashion (and prices!) before I caught another metro to see the Eiffel Tower at night. What better way to end my stay in Paris? I got some Juice and cookies and sat in the fields below the grand structure and basked in its glory. It’s even more beautiful lit up at night. Thinking this was what I had come for I relaxed and watched as the night got darker and the Tower seemed to glow more and more. Suddenly, out of nowhere it was as if a thousand different tourists were all over the Tower itself taking pictures rapidly and at random as the Eiffel Tower burst into life. It was fantastic; I was not prepared for how stunning it was! 4 minutes later it was over and I was breathless. Knowing I had to catch an early train in the morning and seeing that it was already fairly late, I headed back to the flat…to another locked door. This time it was a 2 hour wait before anyone came home, lovely. Exhausted as I was I didn’t even take my coat off before I crawled into bed and fb messaged a bit before falling asleep. Paris was a grandeur adventure and the city was absolutely magnificent, but I am ready to move on. Good night world.