destination: anywhere

Paris

Life has gotten incredibly busy recently — both professionally and socially — and now it’s been more than two months since I got back from my trip, and I haven’t even touched on most of it. So here’s the next “installment”.

I took the Eurostar into Paris on a Wednesday, and then took the Metro to Montmartre. Once off the Metro, I got lost a few times, and had to test out my rudimentary French and ask someone where Rue Ramey was. Once I got to the hotel, though, I checked into my little single room with no problems, and then went out to do some exploring.

Highlights:

Sacre Couer & Montmartre: The steps up to the cathedral are not for the faint of heart; just when you think you’re at the top, there’s another flight to climb. But the view at the top is specatular — all of Paris spread out before you. There were lots of people milling around and street musicians. The inside of Sacre Couer was beautiful, too. A few days after visiting, I took part in a walking tour of Montmartre, where they talked about Van Gogh and Toulouse Lautrec and the area’s history.

Eiffel Tower: How could you go to Paris and not visit its most famous landmark? Of course, I’ve seen it in movies dozens of times before, and figured it wouldn’t be a big deal, but seeing it in person was a thrill. I got there right before it opened, and right before the lines got insane, and went to the second level. It was foggy, so the view wasn’t as great as it could have been, but it was still worth it.

Notre Dame: They were having midday mass when I visited. It was incredibly beautiful, just as you’d expect, and the 5 euro audio tour in English was well worth the price.

Versailles: Here’s the thing about Europe: when you first get there, you’re all “The architecture! The Palaces! It’s all like a movie!” And then about three days after seeing all this over and over, you’re like “Palace, Shmalace.” But Versailles is something else alltogether. The only thing I’ve been to in America that comes close is Biltmore House in Asheville, NC, and of course that’s only has a quarter of the majestic flourish that the big V has. My favorite part was the Petit Trianon, where Marie Antoinette had her house and gardens, complete with a faux tiny village so that she could pretend she was a country wife. So surreal.

The Museums: I read an article recently that said that we go to museums when we travel in part because we want to be around something familiar. Well, I had a lot of familiarity in Paris. There was The Louvre, of course, where the first thing I saw was the Mona Lisa. It’s in a huge room filled with these large, colorful paintings, yet everyone is queued to see a small portrait done in dull browns and greens. While I loved the Louvre, my favorite art museum was the Musee d’Orsay, where they have all the famous Impressionist painters — Monet, Degas, Renoir, etc.

One afternoon, I met up with my friend Aude, my magazine swap-friend who lives in Paris. She took me through the Musee des Arts Décoratifs, where we indulged our mutual love of design. Then she took me out for some lovely, thick hot chocolate called l’African at Angelique. We finished by taking a walk around the neighborhood and explored a few interior design shops. All in all it was a lovely afternoon.

I enjoyed my first time in Paris. There is definitely so much more to see, and after taking a refresher on French on my own, I’ve been inspired to take French classes next term. Five days was plenty, though, and I was ready to go on to my next destination, Amsterdam.

Flickr

An FYI for anyone I haven’t emailed about it yet: I’ve posted all the photos from my trip on my Flickr site. Feel free to live vicariously through my shaky camera work.

Hostel Life

I stayed in three hostels during my trip, and had varying experiences. Some things are the same regardless of what country you are in though — the noise, the drunk frat guys stumbling in at 3 am (”Duuuude, I can’t find my keeeys”), the breakfast (bread, cereal and coffee, maybe fruit), and the weirdness of sharing a few days with complete strangers in an intimate setting.

In London I stayed at the Astor Museum Inn. It’s located in a converted house with four floors; I, of course, stayed on the fourth floor. My room was a 4-bed female-only dorm, with two bunk beds and a sink in the room. Two shower rooms and a toilet were down the hall. Here’s a tip for staying in budget hotels: take your shower at night, because there will be no hot water in the morning (and it may not reach the 4th floor, either). I met some really cool girls from all over the world, and it was nice to have people to go out with at night to dinner and whatnot.

In Paris, I stayed in a single room at the Le Montclaire Hotel. The room was quite spacious, all things considered. It had a single bed, a closet (!) a small writing desk and a sink with a mirror. The showers are only on every other floor, though, and they have the kind of nozzle that you have to push continually to keep the water coming. While it was nice to have the space to spread out, I think I would have had a better time in a dorm, where I could have met more people.

In Amsterdam, I stayed at the International Budget Hostel. No free breakfast here, but they made a good ham, egg and cheese sandwich that you could buy. This was the most awkward hostel experience for me, because I was in a 4-bed dorm with three guys. They were all very nice, and I never feared for my safety or anything like that, but as I said before, sleeping in the same room with strangers is very intimate, and sleeping in a room with strange boys was a little too intimate. Plus there was nowhere to change except the shower stalls, which were wet most of the time. But being back in a dorm let me meet more people again, and the lounge area was very comfy for watching TV and reading.

I don’t think I would want to do the hostel thing every time I travel, but once you get acclimated to it, it’s not that bad.

Begin at the Beginning

Traveling through Europe on my own for two weeks was so big, that I have trouble figuring out where to start or what to say about it. There were the people, the buildings, times when I felt empowered and times when I was so homesick I wanted to cry (that usually happened when dogs were around) — just a lot to look back on and remember.

So I guess the best thing to do is begin at the beginning, a very good place to start. I kept a written journal for each day I was there, so that I wouldn’t forget anything “important”, like what I had for breakfast each day (vital info). Hopefully I can edit out the boring details and keep in all the good stuff, but sometimes the boring details are the best part.

My plane trip to Brussels, where I would connect to London, left Dulles Airport at around 7 pm — a full hour behind schedule because, as our pilot said, there was some “weather up ahead”. I had left enough time between connecting flights so that this wouldn’t affect me, but the guy next to me was going to miss his connection to Sweden, which sucked because he was going home to see his boyfriend, who he met on the Internet about 2 years ago and on a whim went to visit, and ended up staying for the past year and a half. The guy’s name is Danny, but I don’t find out his name until after he’s given me an Ambien and bought me a drink from the airplace bar cart. These two things combine to make it my shortest trans-Atlantic flight ever.

In Brussels, as we’re getting ready to walk off the plane, I hear over the intercom “Would a passenger King please see a United representative about your connecting flight.” Turns out my connecting flight is canceled, and I’ll have to take a later one at noon. So my first hours in Europe are spent sleepily drinking coffee and staring at airplanes while people around me chatter in French and Dutch.

I don’t hear my first English accent until I’m on the plane to London. I get to Heathrow around noon (there’s a one hour time difference between Belgium and the UK) and customs is a breeze. Before leaving the US, I bought a pay-as-you-go Oystercard online, so I go straight to the Underground, get on the Picadilly line train and ride it straight to Russell Square station (about 45 minutes). My hostel, Astor Museum Inn, is a 5 minute walk away, and when I get there I realize that I am directly across the street from the British Museum — this is an awesome location.

To be continued…

Back Home

I’m back in the good ole USA as of 8 pm EST today. I’ve been up almost 24 hours, but only started feeling beat about 30 minutes ago. All the Cokes I had on the plane really helped keep me awake!

I’m going to crash now, but plan on posting photos and other updates over the weekend. Nighty night.

Bonjour

Salut, mon amies!  I’ve been in Paris for three days now. Doing all the touristy stuff - Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysses.  Today I’m going to a flea market in Caulaincourt, the Architecture Museum, then meeting my email friend Aude to visit the Musee des Arts Decoratiffs. 

 I’m definitely glad I took the time to learn some French before coming here.  Granted, there’s a large gap between what I know and real French, but it’s helped me get out of a couple of jams (like finding my hotel).  And that stereotype that all French people are cold and unfriendly - simply not true.  Most people I’ve met have been friendly.  Of course there are the few who are just jerks, but that’s true anywhere. As my friend Jacqui said, “Assholes span the globe.”

London was fun, too, though I was glad to leave when the time came.  I met a lot of cool people from all over in the hostel.  More on that later, of course. 

Au revoir, for now!

Twenty-Four

So the final countdown begins. I’ll be on my plane in less than 24 hours. In an effort to avoid jetlag, I got up at 6 am this morning, and plan on moving it up to 5 tomorrow. Work has been extra busy as I try to finish as much work as possible.

I’ll try to check in here as time permits during my trip. Bon voyage!