Hey kids sorry about the hiatus! Internet has been dodgy in Italy and I've been bit busy with other things. But I'm back now! And for your patience you will get not one, not two, but 4 updates! Each in their own loving update-y package. In my head the packages are made of those little organza gift bags that bubbles come in at weddings.
So paris! The city of lights! And love! And pastry! Finding my hostel was a bit of an adventure, but it did give me a chance to have a mini walking tour of montmarte (it's the old boho neighborhood of Paris. Think Amelie and the Moulin Rouge). While the days were beautiful, it ended up raining every evening, so it kind of put a damper (ha ha) on exploring the city of lights with any of the lights on. And I happened to show up just in time for may 1st, which is French Labour Day. Which means most museums, restaurants and shops would not be open. Hu-zaaaah...
I decided I would remedy this by doing one of those pay-what-you-can walking tours, so I could fit in as many major sights in the couple of days I had. I was actually super impressed. The tour guide gave us not only a history of Paris, but also gave us cultural tips about not having French people hate us and how to order a proper baguette. Win-win! There were 2 other Canadian girls on the tour too, so after it was over we went across the seine towards the musee d'orsay and grabbed some quiche together. As the musee d'orsay line up was RIDICULOUSLY long post-quiche-ing, the 2 girls went over to the petite palais art museum while I took a stroll along champ d'elyss. i ended up finding the comedia francais theatre and paying my respects to Moliere.
At breakfast the next morning, I met 2 sisters from Australia, and we decided to hit sacre coeur together, as we figured it would be one of the few monuments open. It is also the highest point in Paris and boasts an amazing view. Which it had. ( you win this round, church)
The rest of the day was spent roaming the marais, Paris' gay and Jewish quarter. It's fairly commercialized now, but had a nice blend of recognizable stores and little independent ones. I found an AMAZING red trench coat for 20€ in a thrift shop and had probably the most delicious dessert of my travels.** It was a poppyseed apple strudel from a Jewish Bakery in the Marais. It was a piece as large as a rubicks cube with a thick layer of poppyseed paste and a thiiick layer of an apple filling that was somehow more puréed than a pie filling but not so puréed it was apple sauce. And the pastry between each layer was a little buttery and somewhat flaky but not crumbly and none of the dessert was too sweet and just-- yay.
** note: as I am writing this entry a couple of weeks later while in Italy, I still hold true to that statement. It's still been the best dessert I've had.
I have to say that Paris is the only place where I wished I had had more time. There were lots of other things I had wanted to see, but I had already made arrangements to stay in Dijon. I can understand why people fall in love with it though. There is just something about it that excites you and romances you so that you never want to go anywhere else.
Things I have learned:
- you can order 2 types of baguette in a Boulangerie: regular or traditional. The traditional one is made with better ingredients and more care. Worth the extra 10 cents.
- Paris is not as dirty as everyone told me it would be. Yes , the subway stations all smell like pee, but that's true for any city.
- Ia vie en rose WILL be stuck in your head the entire time you're there. Especially when you're in the more recognizable areas.
- French grocery stores have more than one cookie/chocolate aisle. Again, how Europeans do not have diabetes astounds me.
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