Paris

After the train arrived in Paris, I took the metro and had no trouble finding the Cambronne area to meet up with my couchsurfing host. Ronan was really nice and helped carry my things to his place. He had a nice small apartment with a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Once settled in, he then took me to the Eiffel Tower and showed me around his area of town. We had an ice cream over the canal, La Seine, and got to know each other a bit better. , he left me to wander around a bit with plans for me to meet him in front of the Champ de Mars for a premiere film at UNESCO.
I walked along the quay to Pont Alexandre III bridge. Lovely walk with beautiful statuary and monuments all along the way. One of the tings I really enjoyed were the lamp posts. Extremely decorative!
After crossing the bridge I admired the Hôtel des Invalides. Very big place with a golden dome roof. Already getting close to Ronan and my meeting time, I walked to our meting point for the film.
The film was called “Rising from the Ashes” and was about a cycling team in Rwanda. I didn’t recognize the name of the producer, Forest Whittaker, and couldn’t understand after the film why people were crowding this man in a nice suit, constantly taking pictures. From his profile, I had know idea who he was. Even when he walked past me down the cinema isle. Once out in the lobby, I asked Ronan to take a photo of me with the coach for the Rwanda team. He couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t interested in having my picture with Forrest Whittaker, who again, was just 2 people away from me. It wasn’t until I finally made eye contact with him, and really got a good look at his face (and ear!) that finally dawned on me who he was. I had seen him act in a couple movies, like “Last King of Scotland.” But by then, he was retreating to the VIP room to escape the hordes of people and their flashes. Lol, leave it to me to be ignorant of celebrities. And to be standing beside them the entire time too, haha. Terrible! Ronan thought that was pretty funny when I finally figured out who he was.
From there, we went back to his place, made dinner and talked out on the balcony until late. We watched the Eiffel tower light up every hour for 5 minutes in a sparkly array of glitter lights. Loved it. The rest of the time, it's illuminated. Cool to watch! What a great day!
Next morning, I started my day by visiting the most popular, 324 m tall monument with the first to ever broadcast radio transmissions... the Eiffel Tower.
I took the stairs up to the second floor as there was no queue for that. Looks like most people prefer the lifts.

Once on the 2 floor, I had to buy a second ticket to get to the top. Took about 1 hour and a bit to finally get to the elevator to take me up. It was really busy. Once at the top, the view was amazing. I could see all the tourist sights and follow the river route through the city. It also allowed me to get a chance to see some of the areas closed off at the time for preparation of the Bastille Day holiday.
After, I walked to the Arc de Triomphe. Fantastic engravings encompassing it in honor of those who fought for France, mostly the Napoleonic Wars.
Next, I scoped out the shops along Avenue des Champs Élysées, a main shopping street. Everything was very expensive along here. Mostly eateries and clothing stores. Though, I made sure to get an ice cream as I made my way to the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.

I then walked back to Ronan’s after grabbing some dinner. He had some friends over for the evening. They were all really nice, but I couldn’t socialize too much with the language barrier so I sat out on the balcony a while reading to let them have their visit.
The next morning, Ronan took me to the Musée du Louvre. We arrived at 9 am and already a long line just to get in the entrance was formed. He only had about an hour with me before he had to go to an appointment, so once inside he navigated through the chaos to a couple popular pieces.
One popular one he chose was the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo de Vinci. Which for surprisingly smaller size than I expected, was all alone on a wall to itself, and the crowd was unbelievable! People were pushing, elbowing, stepping on your feet and kicking your shins to squeeze past you to be in front to see the portrait. It was insanity. I told Ronan that I’d be a black and blue girl by the time I got out of the mob. Holy cow! All that over a small painting. Honestly, the museum should have a system in place. Like the crown jewels in London. You stand on a moving sidewalk and it takes you past the jewels. If you want to see it again, you can. Just go back around. No need for rioting or people getting injured. But, as for now, visitors beware!

Ronan departed after that and I ended up spending the rest of the day there. Went through 4 floors and even then, didn’t see it all. I heard that if you spent 10-15 minutes looking at each piece of art, it would take 22 years to see it all. Therefore, my mad dash to see as much as I could was warranted. Since I don’t really understand art, I didn’t mind going so fast. Just stopped to enjoy the ones that really interested me. Couldn't possible see it all in 1 day, but I was happy with all I got in.
I found out that I absolutely love statues. For some reason, the carving of stone really interests me. I enjoyed seeing the famous Aphrodite ("Venus de Milo") as well as "the Winged Victory of Samothrace." Though, there were many lovely paintings as well. Hard to know where to look really. Some of the hallways had both walls and ceiling lavishly decorated with paintings, frescoes, engravings and statuary.
Art dated to the 14th century and from all over the world. Amazing collection! Greek and Roman pottery and antiquities, Egyptian art and sarcophagus, engraved ivory or shell pieces, European paintings of woman like "the Turkish Bath J.-A.-D Ingres," "The Lacemaker, J. Vermeer" or "Gabrielle d'Estrées and Her Sister,"  colossal war or religious paintings, Napoleon III apartment furnishings, Islamic art (tiles, mosaics, tapestries and wooden doors), African works and even some medieval decor. Overwhelming beauty!

After that, I picked up some groceries and made dinner for Ronan and I. It was a good day to do it as he was exhausted from his meetings.
I had a later start the next day, and went to the Catacombs. But by 11:00 am, there was a 3 hour queue to get in and I was supposed to meet Ronan and his son at 2:30 at Notre Dame so I had to skip it. I checked to see when was the best time to go and the attendant said they open at 10 am, be here by 9 am. Sigh, another long wait.
I walked to the Louvre and took some photos of the outside of the museum, since I spent the day before on the inside and the grounds themselves are beautiful. The gardens especially with the nice fountain. Good place for lunch. I crossed one of the many canal footbridges covered in love locks. The idea is that you and your significant other purchase a lock, engrave or write your names on it and lock it on the guardrail of the bridge before throwing away the key in the river, so your love will be everlasting. Aww, how romantic.
Funny thing though, while I was on the bridge, I had a couple try their best to rob me. The woman tried to distract me by asking if this ring she just found on the ground was mine. It was a fat, masculine, metal ring...clearly not mine as it was huge. I had my backpack on one shoulder, hanging on my side and shifted it more to the front of me and tucked it firmly under my arm. I of course knew what she was up to since she kept looking behind me rather that at me, so I played along a little. Told her it wasn't mine, but I'd be happy to take it and pass it to the police officer up ahead in case someone was looking for it. Ha ha, her eyes widened at that and she quickly turned around. Ha ha! Gullible. Once she realized there wasn't a cop, she gave me a dirty look and grabbed her boyfriend before rolling the ring to another person's feet and trying the
scam again. Tsk tsk. Luckily, the other couple suspected her as well and the thieves moved on. Too many people watching them.
Checked out the books,artwork and knickknacks as well along the quay with the many Seine River booksellers.
I made my way to Notre Dame and met up with Ronan. His little boy was only 7 months old and was a happy little tyke. Either sleeping or smiling. Very cute. And a ton of hair! Could tell he's French, ha ha!

The cathedral interior wasn’t as grand as I thought it would be. However, the exterior was beautifully decorated and made up for it. Being one of the first Gothic cathedrals built (back in the 12th century) it took about 200 years to finish. Lovely engravings, gargoyles and flying buttresses. Inside, there were some nice stained glass, arched portals a few paintings and a treasury to see. I paid the 4 euro to see the treasury, but unless you really like religious relics, you could bypass it. Unfortunately, the bells were being restored (just my luck, *sigh*) so if I paid the tariff to go up the tower, I’d only see the view and a closer look of some of the gargoyles. Figured I’d save my money on that one. The view from The Eiffel was the only one I really needed. And I got a good look at the gargoyles with my camera lens.
Ronan left to drop his son off and I roamed around the area a bit more. Saw the Conciergerie (first residence of the kings of France before partially converted into a prison and now a museum and used for law courts), the well known Hôtel de Ville and Saint-Jacques Tower (52 metre bell tower from a demolished church). I walked along Rue de Rivoli and looked at the stores.
After, I took the metro up to Abbesses station in Montmartre district to see the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart).  It's located at the highest point in the city and is known for great views. Therefore, I had to go up a lot of stairs, and it was a hot day. Whew, that was tiring. Once there, I walked around it, enjoying the architecture. The building itself is beautiful! Then, I popped inside. Again, not much in there to see. A nice painted ceiling. But mostly a place to pray, as it is.
Ronan met me there and we had a nice picnic on the grass in front of the basilica with snacks and rum. We watched the sunset over Paris. Lovely!
Satisfied, we walked to the Place du Tertre. Lots of artists sketching people’s portraits. And of course, plenty of restaurants and tourist shops. Love checking out the artistic areas of cities. Neat things to find while exploring.


We then walked to the Red District in Pagalle near Place Blanche and saw the Moulin Rouge. Could watch the most famous cabaret here. Of course for me, a little out of my budget, but the outside was cool. Still had the old windmill icon. And of course the neighbourhood was fun to check out. One restaurant cracked me up, there was a sushi restaurant right by a sex shop and place called Pussy's. Couldn't stop laughing. I had to explain to Ronan why I though the idea of food tasting like fish (and smelling like fish) was funny beside a store called Pussy's. HA HA HA!
Some wild imaginations out this way when checking out some of the shops or sex museums. And of course the best part, people watching! From staggering drunks to embarrassed giggling tourists, there was an entertaining display of characters.
We got the metro to the Eiffel Tower so I could get some night pictures and then went home.
My fifth day, we both got up early in the morning. I went off to the Catacombs and Ronan had a meeting. This time, I was there at 8:30 am, and I still had about 25 people in front of me. By 9 am, the queue was half around the block. I entered by 10:20 am and took my time going through.
2 kms are available to explore out of the 350 km long tunnel of over 6 million bodies of bones. It was incredible! Initially due to health risk from one particular closed down cemetery, the decision to build the ossuary in the underground quarry was decided. Many bodies transferred down here from cemeteries all over the city in the late 1700's until 1860.
Once I entered, inscriptions on the walls in the corridors marked the street names above ground as well as details of conducted works. An area called "the workshop" had many stone stacked pillars used to support the quarry ceiling. The Port-Mahon corridor had a neat sculpture of the Port-Mahon fortress from Minorca. I passed the "footbath" where the quarrymen used the groundwater to mix cement for building the catacombs.
Then came the entrance to the ossuary, marked by a diamond on either side of the opening with a lintel reading "Stop! This is the empire of death!" Dramatic, I know. From there, the bones formed a decorative facade with skulls and long bones, where the remaining bones were piled behind. The occasional plaque or a tombstone was incorporated into the works, a pillar surrounded by a "barrel" of bones and a fire burning lamp once used by the workers to create air circulation by the draft was also exhibited. The bones were also arranged in patterns like a heart shape or cross. I couldn’t believe how it just kept going and going. Amazing!
After, I went back to Ronan’s to take an overnight bag for the hostel I was staying at for the weekend. He had a birthday trip to go on with a bunch of friends and said I could come back Sunday if I wanted to leave my belongings at his place. So, I did (and yes, I trusted him with my things). He invited me to join, and it would have been a ton of fun with the canoeing, but I really wanted to go to the Château de Versailles so I had to pass it up.
Once my little backpack was ready, I headed off and took the metro to Sabine’s House which was the last stop on the metro line. It was a short walk to the hostel in the small town. It was also very quiet, which surprised me as it’s still on the outskirts of the city. The hostel was more a large house really. A Korean family lived upstairs and had a basement with two large rooms (one a 10 bed dorm room for girls, the other for boys), 2 toilets and 2 showers (again, separate for each gender).
The owner was very kind and gave a full breakfast each morning that included eggs, ham, fruit, baguettes with jam and juice. Then she made us all a baguette sandwich for lunch to take with us. Seeing how you get 2 meals for free, it was a great price for both that and the accommodation. The only downfall was the lack of security. Only one key for the room. Last one leaving locks the room and gives the key to the owner. But at night, it’s left unlocked and anyone from the street can come in. But, it was a quiet neighbourhood, so at least we didn’t have any troubles while we were there. I met a nice girl named Monica from Columbia and she was thinking of going to Versailles the next day so we planned to go together.
The next morning wasn’t too long of a train journey fortunately. We arrived at the chateau around 9:30 am. Of course there was a long queue already, but it moved at a good pace. Took us about 45 mins to get in. Glad we came when we did. The lady at the entrance said it could take up to 3 hrs to get inside in the afternoon!
We started our tour with the palace. It was pretty crowded, but we managed to see everything ok.
The chateau started as a hunting lodge with king Louis XIII. His son, king Louis XIV, enlarged and embellished Versailles, eventually making it the most beautiful royal residence in Europe. Court and government was located here in 1682 and it stayed as a seat of power until the end of the Ancien Régime.
Antiquities, huge tapestries, vanities, artwork, portraits, exquisite chandeliers, and all the typical furnishings over centuries of royalty were displayed. Amazing. Lots of fancy bedrooms, dining rooms and sitting rooms. Lots of gold, white and red. Mustard yellow and puke green as well. Ha ha, not my choice of colours for wall paper and curtains!
The Hall of Mirrors was really beautiful with the golden statuary lights and hanging crystal chandeliers. The Chapel was incredible with the fresco high ceiling and white pillars. The Queen's Bedchamber was also magnificent with the silky floral colour patterns. Wow! And the Hall of the Battles had huge paintings depicting battles throughout French history. It really is a beautiful palace!

Next we headed outside and walked to the Grand Trianon and Marie-Antoinette estate. Both were small and quick to go through after seeing the palace. Especially Marie-Antoinette’s house. Half of it was empty with nothing really to see. Great architecture though on the buildings and of course the furniture and paintings inside were lovely. All the beds are so short in length. It's not because people were short... but because people mostly slept sitting up back then so the long length wasn't required. Sure gave more space to the rooms!

The back yard section was great. Nice little ponds, some with fish, ducks and lilies and a few thatch houses there.
After, we went to the gardens to check out the groves and musical fountain show. There were about 27 fountains or so. Lots to try to see in 1.5 hrs. But we managed to get pretty much all of them. Many sculptures, pools and topiary among the groves and fountains. The Orangery had stunning designs in the landscaping.

My favourite fountains were the Mirror and Ballroom Fountains. The first one had a 7 minute show. It was fun to watch the water jets spouting in different patterns to the music. And the second had beautiful cascades.
The grand finale was the Neptune fountain. Not really much of a water display, but a beautiful and impressive sculpture none the less.
Monica and I walked around the town for a while. I managed to find some safety pins to clip my bag closed as my zipper had finally broke on the daypack. Lol, my bag really does need to be replaced now. With the safety pins and shoddy sewing job I’ve done on it… looks pathetic really.
We picked up some food at the grocery store and headed back to the hostel to eat and sleep.
After saying good bye the next day, I checked out and headed to the Louvre. Since it was the 14^th of July, the French were celebrating Bastille day. It celebrates the beginning of the revolution and the unity of the French people.
The museum had free entry, but the line ups were ridiculous. So instead of spending more time in there, I walked around the garden and then to the Eiffel tower to relax in the Champ de Mars (the park at the Eiffel tower). I was hoping to find my friend Ben (from mango picking in OZ) there, but with the crowds, we didn’t find each other. I ended up having the wrong area code for France, so my messages never got through to him. Whoops!
Once Ronan got home, he let me know and I went back to his place. We shared our weekend stories then I decided to go for a run back to the Louvre and get some night photos of it. It was cool enough by 10 pm to run outside.
But, I couldn’t get there. Everywhere near the Eiffel tower was blocked off for the fireworks and concerts so I couldn't get through. And where there wasn’t a wall of fencing, there was a wall of people. So, that idea was moot. I ended up going back to his place and watched the fireworks from his living room. We had a great view of the spectacular light display. Especially with the Eiffel tower beside the fireworks!



This morning, he had a meeting so I just went for a walk. Went to the Luxembourg gardens behind the palace there. The palace is now the residence of the Senate President and museum.  Lovely building and the gardens were nice with the flowers.Their aroma permeated the air all over the grounds. It smelt so nice. Very relaxing. There was a mini statue of the statue of Liberty there. I had seen drawings and paintings around of the statue of Liberty in front of the Eiffel Tower and asked Ronan why they were like that. He told me that the Statue of Liberty was originally here in Paris and was given by the French to America as a gift. So, that’s why there’s still drawings and paintings of it here in Paris. The mini model was again representing that.
From there I went to the Pantheon. Then randomly picked small streets to walk along to explore before passing through to the Conciergerie. Looked through some of the many touristic stores, fantastic bakeries and restaurants and admired the fontaine Saint-Michel. I really like how many of the buildings have a wrought, black iron railing under each window, decorated with a red flower bed. I also noticed that scooters are the vehicle of choice in the city. Makes sense with the amount of people living there and limited parking spaces. Neat to streets lined with then in a row.

I crossed the river and made my way to the opera area. Popped into an English bookstore to browse then headed back to Ronan’s. I picked up some lunch for us and then we said our goodbyes. He was a great guy and we got along really well. I was happy my couchsurfing experience worked out so well. Now, I’m waiting for my bus to go to Lille where my next host, Chris will pick me up. He lives in Ypres in Belgium which is not far from Lille so he offered drive. Pretty great. Looking forward to some Belgian chocolate!