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!!

Hostessing

So The Katie and two of her friends from her program in Spain are up for the weekend. They went and explored Versailles today while I stayed home to try and finally get over whatever has been plaguing me for the better part of a week, and we have some excellent plans for tomorrow.

Last night, I picked them up on the outskirts of Paris when their bus from Beauvais Airport got in, and took them straight to Trocadero. I could tell that they were trying to be nice, wondering why I was insisting on taking them to this weird viewing spot rather than to the Eiffel Tower itself, but going along anyway.

Mwahaha. Were they in for a surprise.

At about 9:50, we came up out of the same Metro exit that I used on that fateful day when I first discovered Trocadero. They're chatting, being polite, etc. etc. as I keep leading them towards the view...

Then we round the corner and

BAM!

There it was, filling the sky. Lots of shrieking and jumping ensued. 

Oh yes, I am good.

We hung around, being tourists and taking lots of pictures, and it sparkled. We fended off the vendors, and took more pictures, and generally had a spiffing time. 

With my lovely Katie

The evening ended simply, with me helping them to their hostel, and then dragging Katie back to my lair for bread and sleep. 

More to come from tomorrow's adventures!

Provence: Aix-en-Provence

Aix is a wonderful little town. It is apparently a very popular destination for study-abroad students, and is very much a pricey little college town. But at the same time, it is also very French, rather small and quaint, and very historic. We were there on a Saturday, which meant that all of the street markets and flea markets were in full swing.

The first thing to know about Aix: there are fountains everywhere.

Just a sampling for you! I spent most of the day wandering through the various little alleys of Aix, but made sure to stop at the market in the morning.

I walked away with two excellent scarves and a Celtic-knot silver ring.

Now onto the wanderings!

I stopped for an excellent lunch, wrote some postcards (which I've been a bad girl and still haven't sent), and got quite the sunburn. 

A little more wandering, and perching by some fountains, and then it was time to meet up for our bus to our train to Paris!

I should have some fun Paris-y updates for you over the coming weekend- I'm hosting Katie of London: Day Two and some of her friends this weekend, and will be shepherding them all over this fair city of mine. 

Provence: Marseille

Marseille is the oldest city in France- it was settled by the Greeks as a commerce post around 600 BC (Massalia). It is also the second-largest city after Paris.

Essentially, this tells you that the Greeks of Asia Minor founded Marseille upon this spot in 600 BC

Marseille (commonly spelled Marseilles in English) is a port town, and the cute little area that directly surrounds the water is very Mediterranean- I felt like I was in Mamma Mia! 

There is a famous staircase, several fabulous churches, and lots of cute little residential buildings. 

Around this time, all of us were grumbling ominously about the fact that as soon as the tour was over, we were leaving for Aix-en-Provence. Why would we only spend a few hours in this paradise and then head inland? What was our program director thinking?

We hit up this fabulous view for our last hurrah in Marseille:

Then, as we walked to the bus station for our trip to Aix-en-Provence, we discovered that our program director was right, as is becoming the usual course for things. The rest of Marseille is just a standard European city that looks like the outskirts of Paris. Which is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but nothing we aren't seeing on a daily basis this semester- 19th century buildings and neon lights. We saw the fabulous, cute, historic part (which I will definitely be returning to some day), and then we moved on. 

Up next: Aix!

Provence: Scenes From the Train

We took a 3.5-hour train down to Marseille on Friday morning, and a 3-hour train back up from Aix-en-Provence yesterday evening (with a bus to connect the two Friday night). I got some pretty good views of French countryside, and I thought I'd share some with you:

Moving trains aren't the easiest thing to capture good photos from, so sadly, there was a lot of pretty countryside on the way down that I don't have. 

And there is one final one that is refusing to upload at the current time, so it will be making it's appearance later. 

City-specific posts to come!