Eurotrip. Summer. 2005.

Paris, France | 09 May 2005

This is the second time I'd been to France in my lifetime. This time was different. I was going to be the one showing someone around and I'd have a different experince simply because of bunking in a hostel rather than a hotel. If you read the rest of my journal you'll see that I visited Paris on the way home from my trip aswell. This time around I stayed at 'Friends Hostel'. Let me take a moment to highly suggest you stay somewhere else. *lol* Let me tell you that not all of Northern Paris is as fun and beautiful as Mont Martre and Sacre Coeur! We were staying in the Ghetto. I'd never seen so much grafitti in my life! That and there were creepy men approaching me mumbling all kinds of crap that I'm sure was suggestive. Because of this we spent as much time away from the hostel as possible.

During the time that I was there, Paris was promoting itself to be the winning city for the Olypic Games. Les Champes D'Elisé was all roped off and there were kids doing track and feild.. it was insanely busy and congested. I kinda love that busy city feeling.. but in Europe no body apologises for bumping into you like they do in Canada, so that was somewhat frustrating. We didn't go up the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomph.. that was the kind of stuff I did in 2001 and this time around I was really in it just for the culture and exposure to a new environment. I do recommend both to anyone heading over for their first time though! Gorgeous views.

There were some things that I did do that I'd done before.. like visit the Louvre Museum. That place is fanominal. I've been there 3 times actually and never fail to get lost. They need more resting benches! A must see for any traveller though.. I favour the egyption exibit and the long maroon coridor with the massive old oil paintings.

******{ Original Handwritten Travel Journal Entry }******

Today we arrived in Paris. Unlike home, post public signs & labels are not bilingual. It will take a while to get used to solid French. So far our experience in Paris has not been plesant. When we first arrived, my sister almost missed the train from the airport and a man had to stick his arms in the door so it wouldn't close, then we couldn't read the street map properly & wandered amelessly looking for the hostel with heavy bags for nearly 45 minutes during rush hour. When we finally got here, there were creepy guys outside and the man at reception tried to overcharge us by 70Euros. He assined us a room that was already full and then we found a cockroach in the kitchen! We met a woman who told us that she was mugged yesterday by the men outside and said where not to go, and not to carry a purse. It's been quite stressful so far.. but now we're in a small room with one roomate and he's leaving tomorrow. We're kean to book our hostels & eurail tomorrow. Cass (sister) wants to see the Eiffel tower right away to peak her interest in Paris because today was a bit weird. I know we're just in a bad area & once we get out everything will be great.

******{ Original Handwritten Travel Journal Entry }******

Today we slept in. We got ready and were out of the hostel by 2pm and it took us nearly two hours to get to the Eiffel tower on the really complex subway system. We finally got there and took some pictures and made a video, then walked through the tower gardens and back toward the fountains. We decided not to go up the tower since I already had and Cass didn't care to. We shared a baguette & hotdogs for lunch and walked up to the Arc de Triomphe. We went underneath it, but decided not to go up because it was under construction. From there we walked up L'avenue Champes D'Elysée. It's a high profile shopping district. That was a great strip. We kept walking to the Louvre museum gates and sat at the fountain where there were ducks bathing. Seeing the museum made me excited to go tomorrow. After resting our feet we walked towards Notre Dame while looking for cheap food. McDonalds came to the rescue! That was good because you have to pay to use public washrooms. We walked to ND and took some pictures. It wasn't open so we walked to some souvenir stores. Cass bought a large black and white poster to send home (which is now mounted in our living room).. By this time it was dark and we started looking for a subway station. We got lost after getting off the train and walked through our really bad area. Now we're back and tired. It was a full and adventurous day. Tomorrow we're going to Sacre Coeur and Mont Martre in the morning & the Louvre in the afternoon. It's our last day in Paris because our train to Venice leaves at 8am on the 12th. There has been a communication barrier here as it is.. I can't wait to see what it will be like in Italy!

p.s. seem like a lot of walking?? We calculated that we hiked 16 kms today!

Locations Visited: Paris

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