Hostessing is Tiring

I had forgotten how tiring sight-seeing can be. Yesterday, we did it all. And we walked A LOT.

First up was a swing through the Tuleries when we had to transfer buses on our way up to Montmartre.

The day was already well on it's way to heating up. As far as I can recall, this was the first time the temperature broke 70 since my arrival in Paris, and it soared up to 75, which is a lot warmer than I recall! Maybe I'm just not acclimated anymore. 

We backtracked along the Tuileries to find our bus that took us up, up, up to Montmartre.

First, we swung by the Moulin Rouge! Be still my little heart =)

The awesome wind grate thing that everyone was shamelessly using for their Marilyn Monroe moments

Then we walked back through the Red Light district (I have never seen so many sex shops in my life!), and up, up, up some more to get to Sacre Coeur!

The endless staircase

The Sacre Couer Basilica itself- I should actually go up and look at it one of these days, especially now that I know how easy it is to bus there

The view of the city

The first of many picnic hotspots we came across that day

The girls had briefly hit the Louvre and Notre Dame the day before (the same day that they went to Versailles), so we didn't need to work those into our whirlwind day. Instead, we bused back down to the Louvre and from there walked to the Musee d'Orsay. We spent about two hours there, but unlike the Louvre, they don't allow pictures, so that's all you get! Saw some Van Gogh and Monet, and realized why I like Renoir so much- all of his subjects look happy! Often, they are dancing jubilantly or flat out grinning.

The girls really wanted to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, and I had it scheduled for this day because I knew the weather would be fabulous. We were all thoroughly tuckered out at this point, but we gamely picked our way from the Musee d'Orsday to the Champs de Mars, picking up bread, fruit, and cheese along the way.

I didn't get a picture, but lots of people were sitting along the edges of the pedestrian bridges over the Seine, having their picnics there rather than on various grassy areas

We passed by Invalides, which seems to be the place to party while you picnic

Jenny at our picnic

Me at our picnic

The Katie and Diany

The picnic was excellent. We had some of the best brie and goat cheese any of us have ever had, I had an ice-cold Limonata, the Eiffel Tower was right there, the grass wasn't too wet, and we were there until dusk was well upon us.

Finally, we ended the night with a boat cruise on the Seine! I took them on the same one I went on, except this time, there was narration! It was quite interesting. 

I didn't take too many pictures this time, but here are a few I took from the same trip in January:

That last picture would have been very different last night. In January, it was freezing. Last night, it was lovely out, and the banks of the Seine were crowded with young people, many of whom had clearly had picnics. I don't think I have ever seen so many people having picnics on one day. Every place we went, there were picnickers. And we picnicked as well! Great fun.

The girls left early this morning to catch the Metro to their bus to their airport, so now the room is quiet. It's a pretty small room, and I actually had all three of them somehow squished onto my floor last night (hostels always get more expensive on Saturday nights). It was interesting going, but it seemed to work, and they got out fine. Probably won't see The Katie again until she visits home in July, but it was great seeing her this weekend.

Just under two weeks until Spring Break! Scotland and Greece- I am so psyched!!

Random Tidbits

Just thought I'd swing by and give you guys an update on some upcoming travels:

• Doing a whistle-stop tour of the South of France this weekend. Dad, I'll make sure to at least dip my toes in the Mediterranean for you!
• Spending my first three nights in Scotland roaming about the countryside with Clarissa. Scottish highlands!! And then almost a week of wandering around the capital of Scotland, seeing castles and listening to Scottish accents. I'm a happy girl.

And now a bunch of random pictures, because I feel like I've been neglecting you...

The alligator I made at my benevolat. Yay for Friday being arts and crafts day!

The extremely suspicious statue in the Tuileries

Little motorized sailboats in the Tuileries

If I'm getting my monuments right, I believe you can see straight down the Champs Elysee to the l'Arc de Triomphe from the Tuileries

This is one of my favorite pigeons thus far

The Louvre Palace/Museum, complete w/ Pyramid

The Seine

At the Ballet Off of Trocadero

Oooooh, I have been neglecting you, haven't I? Apologies. I will work to catch you up sometime soon. For tonight, I'm just going to post about tonight!

Today the Central folk went to the ballet (again). This time, we saw the Maladain Ballet Biarritz perform Magifique (Tchaikovski Suites) athe the Theatre National de Chaillot.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Guys, this seriously may have been the best ballet I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of ballet in my relatively few years. It was modern, certainly, but set up against some of Tchaikovski's best. Parts were weird, most were beautiful, and all was utterly impressive. Even if I hadn't enjoyed the choreography, the sheer athleticism it displayed would have made me a fan. Normally, one of my favorite parts of ballet choreography is when the guys jump. They get so high and hang for so long, then land so softly- it's such an incredible display of the true athletes and masters that they are. There was a definite lack of men bounding about in this ballet, and I didn't even realize it until close to the end, because there was so much else impressive, from every dancer, of both genders. Parts were beautiful, parts were strange, most of it was quirky and energetic and wonderful dancing. I vote we start a letter-writing campaign to get PNB to add it to an upcoming season.

Except we should add that they can do it without the strange child laughter during the transitions. That was just creepy.

The metro that took me most of the way there was above ground much of the time, which I always love. At the very least, I get to see all of the wonderful Parisian buildings (I have a serious affinity for what I call the "triangle blocks,"and the slanted roofs that are on most of the buildings). And I'm always craning to see if I can catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Tonight, I caught several. A busker was in my car, which normally rather annoys me, but tonight it was actually quite wonderful. He played accordion while the Eiffel Tower peeked through gaps between centuries-old buildings, and then suddenly shot into full view as we passed over the Seine. Yesterday, my main feelings regarding Paris were "What is wrong with this city they don't have any $*@(&#$ Nyquil!!!" Tonight, though still Nyquil-less and frantically popping Ricola to keep from scaring my fellow Metro-riders, I was all giggly- "This is Paris! This is Paris! I live here!"

My Metro finally succumbed to the Paris Underground right before my stop, Trocadero. When I popped up onto the main street, I stumbled upon a lovely surprise: Trocadero Square.

Sample of the view from Trocadero Square. This picture completely does not capture how utterly huge the Eiffel Tower is from this vantage point. It completely fills the height of your vision.

I think I would set up and live in a pup tent on Trocadero Square if I thought the police would let me. Apparently if I had a dog with me, they probably actually would let me, because they wouldn't know what to do with the dog if they busted me. Good little tips for if anyone ever aspires to be homeless in Paris. You can sleep in the Metro stations too, if you have a dog. Doesn't work with kids, though. There is a recent law that says that if you are begging with a child, the state can take said child.

Ran into a few other Central folk and we wandered around for a few minutes looking for some crepes for a girl who still needed dinner. Didn't find any (there is a crepe stand right there, with a huge pyramid of Nutella jars, but he refuses to make Nutella crepes. Apparently the Nutella is only for the waffles that he also sells. ???), but got to see a little more of the area. Very posh. Went inside, saw the best ballet ever, and then Metro-ed home. But not before stopping one last time....

Catch you later! xoxo

Louvre

I lied, the next update is not going to be what was teased. But try not to dispair, I think I still have something pretty exciting for you: the Louvre!

On Thursday afternoon, all of the Central folks went to the Louvre.

Central folks: The group of 16, including myself, 15 of whom are female, who are studying in Paris via Central College. We live in groups of two or 3 in a variety of different foyers (but none as roommates), get together for college sponsored outing (and now also ones of our own making), have the same selection of classes though we are not necessarily taking the same ones, etc. 

We received our student IDs for Catho, our French college, earlier in the week, and beyond having the ability as functional ID, it has one very special function:

It gets us into the Louvre for free.

That's right folks, I can now go to the Louvre whenever I want, at no cost. Which is good, because we were only in it for less than two hours. Our guide made sure we hit all of the highlights, though. 

Inner pyramid

Our guide, in front of some models of the Louvre palace in the middle ages

The Venus de Milo

Can you see the weird guy lying down on the floor taking pictures? It's like he was trying to get a shot up her skirt, not realizing that, being made of stone and permanently attached to her body, it was never going to go anywhere!

Everyone's seen this big picture right? It takes up an entire wall. But have you ever noticed.... 

The puppydog on the table? I think it's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They're one of my favorite breeds =)

And there she is....

The Mona Lisa

Everyone says the Mona Lisa is surprisingly tiny, so I was expecting something maybe only a foot tall. Lies. It is a standard portrait size. I guess it's just that so many other portraits of the time were significantly larger than life. 

And after we got out, the Paris night was just so beautiful that Kelsey, one of the Central folk, and I decided to take a little side-trip....

Not the L'Arc de Triomph (though I did see that later), but a gorgeous night in front of the Louvre