Paris. 'nough said.

Traffic in Paris is CRAZY.  I don't mean like "crossing the Port Mann in rush hour" crazy, but a whole new level of crazy unidentifyable with anything we have in Canada.  Nobody pays attention to the lights!  Not pedestrians, not drivers, not bicycles, not vespa's.  And yes - vespa's are everywhere. 

Tons of people cycle - it's amazing.  I've seen a woman in high heels cycling through the streets, and men in business suits, and women with baguettes strapped to their rear racks (as opposed to their front racks, which are entirely different things!) ...and even the children have a better taste in clothing than I do.  I feel like a dirty bum walking the chic streets of Paris.

Paris itself is amazing, too.  A giant sprawling cacophony of ancient beige buildings and brilliant architecture.  I was here for two hours before I decided that I want to visit again, and perhaps three hours before I decided I wanted to live here.  Permanently.  There are patisserie's and boulangerie's and brasserie's on every corner (that would be pastry maker, baker, and bar for you peeps that parlez anglais) and I've eaten at all three more times than I can count.  Meal-times are different, too.  Not just here in Paris, of course - but it's taken this many days for things to become routine for me, and life is slowing down a bit now that I'm actually in France.  Breakfast is a mid-morning ordeal, and lunch is at least an hour long.  Dinner isn't until 8pm or later - it's 9:20 as I type this, and I haven't eaten dinner yet.  That's completely normal.

I drank tea out of a bowl this morning.  ...I'm never doing it any other way again.

The tourist sections of Paris are insane.  Waiting times at popular monuments are comparable to waiting in line for the roller coaster at the PNE.  Everything is expensive in the bars - €4.30 for 25cl of beer yesterday (a half pint) and there are scammers and pickpocketers loitering in the tourist areas too.  I'm ashamed to admit I've been gotten twice with scams, because I'm too damned polite to realize what's happening until after.  I only lost €5 though, so at least it wasn't an expensive lesson learned.

I can really see myself adjusting to the french lifestyle - me, a bonified morning person, who hasn't gotten up early than 8AM in several days (that is sleeping in for me, by the way) and who hasn't gone to bed prior to 1AM (a time which I would rather hear nothing of the sort) - it's just different here.  It's normal to eat dinner at 8PM.  It's normal to go for wine at 10PM, and it's normal to wake up mid-morning, and have a one hour breakfast consisting solely of tea or coffee, and some bread.  It's strange, but I like it.

Anyhow - I've done a few touristy things since I've arrived.  I got here yesterday around noon, and I met my couchsurfing host, Romain (you need to roll your R's to pronounce this properly - I feel bad every time I try) at his apartment and dropped off my things, and we chatted for a while, and then I went out to explore Paris.  The weather has been fantastic, and it's about to get hotter.  It was 29C earlier today, and it's supposed to be up to 10 degrees hotter before I leave on Monday.  I immediately hopped on le Métro and made my way down to the Musée D'Orsay, home to magnificent impressionist artists, such as Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin, Manet, etc.  I stood in line for 30 minutes to get into the museum, and then I spent an hour wandering around inside of it.  Pictures were strictly forbidden, but when do I listen to rules?  There were only two pieces I was brave enough to risk taking a photo of, and thank god for camera phones, because I would have been too scared to try with my SLR.  The first one is Van Gogh's Eglise d'Auvers-sur-oise, possibly my favourite painting of all time (from my favourite painter of all time) and the second was a beautiful, yet shocking sculpture made entirely out of different forms of marble.  The cloak actually looked like it was flowing, yet it was made from rock.

From there I walked around, and walked and walked and walked - and eventually ended up on the metro again, and found myself at the Eiffel Tower...and waited in another line-up.  But in the end, it was worth it - I climbed all 800+ stairs of the Eiffel Tower at sunset, and then climbed back down again to take photos of the tower lit up.  It was beautiful.  I didn't even get back to Romain's until nearly midnight - and I got to see a guy play the accordian on the metro, until the police chased him off, anyhow.

Romain and I stayed up until 1:30 talking - why is the world filled with so many amazing people?  He is a chemist, and he can play both violin and viola in the symphony, and he dances.  We tango danced in his living room this morning!  I think I might sense a new hobby approaching - anyone want to learn tango with me?  SAY YES.  

Today, I went out again today and went shopping.  I bought a dress, (it's green, I'm sorry) - and it was on sale, though - I'll spare you the price tag, even on sale.  It wasn't exactly cheap.  I tried finding some shoes to match, but after entering two stores, I remembered I hate shoes and gave up on that endeavour.  I found a local meadery, too - so...needless to say, I bought a bottle of mead. 

Oh, that reminds me - my god-damned credit card declined on me.  I'm going to have to call VISA and yell at them, or something.  I CALLED them prior to departing and TOLD them I was going to be in France. Asshats.

I TRIED to go to the Notré Dame, but it was closed because of some new priests being ordained (also, I apologize - I let this sit for a few hours as Romain and I ate dinner, and now I have half a bottle of wine in me, so I may not be as eloquent as I was previously - I may also have more spelling mistakes) - but I got to see the cathedral at least, and it was beautiful.  After that, I walked down the quai and browsed the stalls that had books - and found one entirely dedicated to SCIENCE FICTION, en français, of course - I bought the third Dune book by Frank Herbert.  I'm going to translate it to help me learn French.  Then I met Romain at the Mosquée du Paris, where we had morrocan mint tea, and it was apparently Gay Pride Day in Paris today, as there was well...a gay pride parade running down the middle of the street.  It was interesting. 

I spent the remainder of my evening sitting in a patisserie reading a book, because Romain had to practice for his symphony next Thursday and wanted some privacy - after that, I came back to the apartment where we've been ever since.  We just finished a lovely pasta dinner with fresh basil, and of course, a bottle of wine.  He's a wonderful conversationalist.  Now, it is nearly midnight, and time for bed shortly, I believe. 

Tomorrow:  Auvers-Sur-Oise, the resting place of Vincent Van Gogh!