Oui Oui
how many of you are already laughing? We spent our second day in Paris today and were fortunate enough to see some wonderful things! We snagged four baguetts a piece this morning at breakfast and then decided to take the train to Versailles, taking the metro to the train station--so as not to repeat our marathon from yesterday. When we arrived at Saint-michel train station, however, we found out that Versailles (the palace of Louis XIV if you didn't know) was closed today...for some strange reason. Well, at this point we were already down in the center of Paris, very close to Notre Dame, so we decided to have a look. As we approached, we cried "Sanctuary" and ran for our lives as gypsies chased us into...oh sorry that was my imagination. In reality, we sat down out front and debated back and forth about whether to eat our bagguettes or take pictures (which I'm sorry to say haven't been able to make it onto our last two posts..more on that and the stinky guy later), and then when it began to pour the rain we went inside. As we wandered around the gigantic cathedral, we noticed several souvenier machines, some confessional booths (which are face-to-face now...weird), and a lot of rosary wielding old ladies...Momma Iva would have laughed a lot. Molly questioned the legitimacy of a church that felt Okay about selling souvenier medallions and Mary action figures, and I can't say I didn't feel the same. After Notre Dame, the rain had stopped and we finally devoured our snacks in its backyard with a cycling couple who made us laugh because they were both macho..and they were proud of it. We then decided to use our normal mode of transportation and walk to Sacre Cour, Paris' other famous church, in Montmartre--the trendiest and most northernly neighborhood of the city of lights. We arrived on the church's front steps and were immediately accosted by some men from Senegal who began weaving bracelets onto our wrists and then asked us to pay for them. Staying true to our stingy selves, we said no...then said no again...then had to say we didn't know where we would even find the money to eat tonight...so they went away. We got some ice cream and laughed about our white lie, and then climbed the steps to the beautiful church, where I got my first taste of holy water (not literally although I wanted to). The nuns sang like French birds and we loved laughing at all the funny people. Finally, we made our way through Montmartre and got to take some really cool pictures of normal French people on scooters, painting, or making out in an alley. The original Moulin Rouge was at the bottom of the hill, but as soon as we realized it was a strip club, we took off pretty quickly. The street around it was even more risque, so we briskly made our way out of the area and walked back to our hostel. Now we are on the computer of the smelly Chinese guy who I mentioned last night and he is sitting right outside enjoying a bottle of wine with the one who snores. Oh yeah, and we found out that "screams-in-her-sleep" is snorry boy's sister, but in all honesty they are really sweet people and have been so nice to let us use their computer. We tried to load our pictures from yesterday and today, on here, but everything was in Chinese so it was a no-go. We will back-load them in Amsterdam I promise. Hoping all is well at home...
Ben&Molly
Quote for the Day:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. --Confucius
how many of you are already laughing? We spent our second day in Paris today and were fortunate enough to see some wonderful things! We snagged four baguetts a piece this morning at breakfast and then decided to take the train to Versailles, taking the metro to the train station--so as not to repeat our marathon from yesterday. When we arrived at Saint-michel train station, however, we found out that Versailles (the palace of Louis XIV if you didn't know) was closed today...for some strange reason. Well, at this point we were already down in the center of Paris, very close to Notre Dame, so we decided to have a look. As we approached, we cried "Sanctuary" and ran for our lives as gypsies chased us into...oh sorry that was my imagination. In reality, we sat down out front and debated back and forth about whether to eat our bagguettes or take pictures (which I'm sorry to say haven't been able to make it onto our last two posts..more on that and the stinky guy later), and then when it began to pour the rain we went inside. As we wandered around the gigantic cathedral, we noticed several souvenier machines, some confessional booths (which are face-to-face now...weird), and a lot of rosary wielding old ladies...Momma Iva would have laughed a lot. Molly questioned the legitimacy of a church that felt Okay about selling souvenier medallions and Mary action figures, and I can't say I didn't feel the same. After Notre Dame, the rain had stopped and we finally devoured our snacks in its backyard with a cycling couple who made us laugh because they were both macho..and they were proud of it. We then decided to use our normal mode of transportation and walk to Sacre Cour, Paris' other famous church, in Montmartre--the trendiest and most northernly neighborhood of the city of lights. We arrived on the church's front steps and were immediately accosted by some men from Senegal who began weaving bracelets onto our wrists and then asked us to pay for them. Staying true to our stingy selves, we said no...then said no again...then had to say we didn't know where we would even find the money to eat tonight...so they went away. We got some ice cream and laughed about our white lie, and then climbed the steps to the beautiful church, where I got my first taste of holy water (not literally although I wanted to). The nuns sang like French birds and we loved laughing at all the funny people. Finally, we made our way through Montmartre and got to take some really cool pictures of normal French people on scooters, painting, or making out in an alley. The original Moulin Rouge was at the bottom of the hill, but as soon as we realized it was a strip club, we took off pretty quickly. The street around it was even more risque, so we briskly made our way out of the area and walked back to our hostel. Now we are on the computer of the smelly Chinese guy who I mentioned last night and he is sitting right outside enjoying a bottle of wine with the one who snores. Oh yeah, and we found out that "screams-in-her-sleep" is snorry boy's sister, but in all honesty they are really sweet people and have been so nice to let us use their computer. We tried to load our pictures from yesterday and today, on here, but everything was in Chinese so it was a no-go. We will back-load them in Amsterdam I promise. Hoping all is well at home...
Ben&Molly
Quote for the Day:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. --Confucius
