we decided not to have too much of an agenda - i mean, sure, there were things that we wanted to see, but we didn't want the tight schedule. we'd get to what we got to and would leave it at that. the things that we had left were the musee d'orsay, napoleon's tomb and the army museum, and sacré-cœur basilica. three things to see, two days in which to do them. no problem.
this monday, we're on our own, so we get up when we darn well please (around 9:30 am) and go have breakfast. kelli and erika go see if we can squeeze two more nights at the group rate out of the hotel, to no avail. luckily, while i enjoyed the eiffel tower on friday night, they were seeking out a place to stay and found a hostel in the area. only 25€ a night! well, plus a sheet and a towel at 2€ each, so 54€ total for each of us - not too bad considering the other hotels were charging around 200€ a night...
anyhow, we leave our comfortable hotel rooms for our quaint little hostel around the corner. in all actuality, i think the hostel is much more my speed. there are no frivolous luxuries, community bathroom and shower, just a room with three beds and a sink. i do like the fact that i was sharing the room with people i know and trust, as packing bags and taking them down the four flights of stairs - and back up again - every day would suck ass. but, it was enough. warm, for certain, because one of those frivolous luxuries is air conditioning (okay, so that part i lied about - i would have liked the room to have a/c), and filled with noise from the street, but just fine.
we can't go up in our room until 3:30 pm, but they have a little secured area for us to put our bags. afterwards, we head out for napoleon's tomb and the army museum. being the expert of the metro system as i am (well, maybe not expert, but i get it and have been getting us around much better than i did when we were in italy), i get us there pretty easily.
originally, this was not the tomb of napoleon, as he wasn't alive at the time that the sun king had it built. but it serves well as his final resting place. beautiful and ornate, each wall has a different stained glass window. the colors were immense, orange, signifying the sun king, and others of blue and green. the chapel, which was not open as it still serves as a chapel, had flags of conquered tribes and peoples hanging along the walls.
the tomb itself was enormous, and quite the tribute to such a little fellow with a huge ambition. the french really respect him, rightfully so. his greatest pride being his code of conduct.
after we finish there, we go to the armory and see some of the most ornate and beautiful armor and weapons ever created. this stuff is high quality, "luxury armor," it was called. for the horses, for the men, and, also, for the children. different than the things i saw in the doge's palace in venice, but awesome, nonetheless. again, as i was going through it, i was thinking about all the geeks at work that would be creaming their shorts in this place.
then we went to lunch. we walked the streets for a little while until we found a local restaurant. 7,50€ for a sandwich, drink, and dessert. we all had ham and cheese, i had an orange sodey (so tasty in europe - way better than ours here with their high fructose corn syrup) and the girls had waters. erika had a rich, delicious brownie with walnuts, and kelli and i each had an apricot or peach cake. the owners didn't speak hardly any english at all ("sandwich? hamcheese?"), but we communicated just enough to get what we needed. we thanked them graciously and headed to the musee d'orsay.
the streets we walked were not the tourist ones that we were used to walking. there was the hubbub of business as usual. there were retail shops, but they were not filled with the camera toting visitors that we were on for the trip with the tour.
the museum was strangely vacant. well, i guess it wasn't that strange as it turned out to be closed. so, we just opted to head back to the hostel, get our bags up to the room, then have a bite to eat for supper.
getting back there was a different story. we went to the right metro stop, but just after we got there an announcement blared over the speakers. in french, of course - i mean, it just makes sense that it's in french, as we're in france, but it didn't do us any good as we had no clue what it meant. a lady, speaking in english in front of us to her daughters, said, "they just stopped the trains for an accident or something, i don't know what, but they're not running anymore."
we went our way, trying to find a different route back to the hostel. up the stairs again, down the street. we stop for a minute on a bench so i can review the map - not much help with the smaller streets. but we're right by the national assembly stop, it's not too far to the invalides stop. as we're walking behind the joint, a bus stops at the back of the building, that reads, "assemblee national musique," and there were about 20...not soldiers, but men - and a woman - in uniform, alighting the bus (that's what they call disembarking, hehe), the rear two with snare drums.
they line up in two lines, marching in step. the gate to the back garden opens up, and to the beat of the drum they march in through the gate.
that was that - then we went to the metro and then to the hostel. i lugged two bags and a backpack up three flights, kelli came down and met me, then went for the rest. one of the girls came down to help me carry the backpacks or bags up the rest of the way. we settled in a little bit, then i went down to the internet cafe. (had to write to the masses, of course.)
i met them at a local little bar where the waiter was being rude to the girls, evidently. still had a couple of beers - had to catch up to those drunken hussies - and we shared a croque monsieur (a ham sandwich topped with cheese and toasted). we were going to eat there, but they stopped serving food just as we were asking for it.
so, we walked up the street and found a nice restaurant. we were reminiscing about the desserts we enjoyed when carolyn and john interrupted, telling us, basically to shut up 'cause they were starting to crave all of that deliciousness. they had just got in and were having dinner that night. the next day they would travel to the south of france for some wine, then enjoy a free apartment for the following week.
for dessert, we stopped for dessert, having crêpes. i was going to get the one with sugar and berries, you know, sucre-beurre. the girls opted for that one too, getting it first. um...beurre does not mean "berries," like i thought...it means butter. and they were subsequently turned off from the crêpes immediately. i had one with sucre-limon. i liked it - not as much as the nutella, banana, and coconut, but i think they should've had another one with some chocolate, but they decided not to give them another chance.
after that, they went back to the hostel and i blogged. boy, writing about our events sure was expensive! i spent about 70€ or better on internet cafes and such. last time i was in europe, i had no problem getting either free internet time at our hotels or cheap cafes. this time, it was five or 10€ a pop.
aftering typing on that messed up keyboard for awhile, it was midnight. i went back to the hostel, took a shower, and crashed. going to sleep was much easier in that warm room after cooling off in the shower, but my mind was racing a mile a minute. just thinking about everything, the winding down of the trip and all...it'll all be over soon. too soon...
1 comment:
Good post.
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