Paris je t'aime

So we made it home! Finally, after a long day of traveling (what else is new, right?), we made it in to Houston and the boys were there to take us home.

It definitely feels good, but a little strange, to be back to the same normalcy and to be away from the lifestyle I guess I was starting to get used to... "on the go" mentality, living out of my backpack, interacting with people of different languages, discovering new places...

Where is my croissant and orange juice?!?

I am already starting to think about my next adventure that I hope happens sometime very soon!

Paris now seems like a blur. Just like everywhere else, we did it hard and fast, encompassing almost the entire city quickly in just 3 days. I would love to go back and take it a bit slower and see the things that we just didn't have time for. All in all, though, I think we both saw and did most everything that we wanted for our short time constraint.

We stayed in the Marais district, which has been dubbed the thriving gay and Jewish community. Just like in Rome, it was nice to be in a more residential part of town that wasn't touristy at all. In fact, one French woman wondered at lunch on the first day why two American women were in that area? She was really nice, as were all the French people we met, and we talked with her for a bit and got her advice on some things.

The first day we hit up the Louvre - I found that this is hard to do in just a few hours and especially hard at the end of your trip when you've already been to countless museums. It was by far the most impressive and expansive, and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the ancient Egyptian antiquities and other artifacts. The place is just colossal, and I will definitely need to go back to feel that I have adequately seen most of it.

Day two had us trooping over to Montmartre, the city's steepest area. We grabbed some lunch at this little Greek deli and ordered two chicken sandwiches. The guy brings them out to us - two huge greasy drumsticks (meat still on bone) inside the bread. We just had to look at each other and laugh about that one. We then decided to find this flea market, which Lonely Planet claims as Europe's largest. Along the way, we passed a store and bought cute shoes for 5 Euros - probably our best find! The flea market was just okay, nothing special, so we then went to track down Moulin Rouge and the basilica.

My favorite part of our Paris excursion (sad, I know) would have to be at the basilica. As we made our way up the steps, I heard this guy with a thick Indian accent singing and jamming out on his guitar to American and British pop culture songs. It was the greatest! We found seats on the steps amongst the rest of the crowd and sang along - only a few people, including us, knew all the words - to hits like "No Woman No Cry," "Country Road," "Help," "California Dreamin'," and "Imagine." It was so funny to see this guy, wearing a Yankees cap (p.s. those hats are EVERYWHERE in souvenir stalls) and belting out these tunes in his accented voice. He wasn't the best singer by far, but he gets points for being enthusiastic and for singing songs that I know. The one song that we thought he butchered was "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes. A hard song to conquer if you don't have the right pitch, but he got into it.

On day three we went to Versailles and waited in line for two hours (our longest line wait by far) to buy tickets into the chateau. It was worth it, but by this point I was done with the crowds and the people pushing by you to take a picture of Marie Antoinette's bed. I realized on this trip that people will take pictures of ANYTHING. I guess everyone has a different feeling on what they want documented for trip memories.

Versailles ended up taking much longer than we had anticipated and most of the shops and stores were closed on Sunday. We headed over to Notre Dame and then to the Champs area, had dinner, and then watched the Eiffel Tower light show from a little café as we ate créme brulee and 12 euros worth of fruit.

Paris was big, expensive, easy to navigate, and overall lovely. The weather ended up being perfect, especially since coming back home to 100 degree heat.

We had an amazing two weeks together and can honestly say looking back that we would do it all over again. I feel really lucky to have traveled with such a great person and to have had so many wonderful experiences.

love,
tracy


At the Arc de Triomphe


Still great friends, even after two weeks of being with each other 24/7


The Louvre


Katie with her nutella crépe and some shop owner who likes to give the bunny ears.

Museums and Flea Markets

We adjusted to Paris rather quickly yesterday and went to the Louvre last night. The museum grants free admission to everyone under 26 on Friday nights, so we felt very travel smart as we enjoyed 3 hours of mummies, artifacts, and of course, Mona. After our visit to perhaps the best museum I have ever seen, Tracy informs me that for dinner she wants some "pomme frites." In France, as you may already know, that you don't have to call the fries French. After our dinner we headed back for a rest and hit the Montmartre quarter for the flea market today. Then we walked to the Moulin Rouge, The Sacred Heart Basilica, and a cemetary whose headstones include Proust, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Jim Morrison. Guess whose headstone had the most security? Apparantly, Morrison's fans have been a bit rowdy over the years and now there is a guard as well as a code of conduct leaflet outlining the rules for visiting his remains. I wonder how Jim feels about these restrictions. Keep reading for one more day of Paris excitment!
Katie

Bonjour

Everyone can rest easy (including Tracy and I) that we arrived to Paris via night train. It was a good experience, and one of the least hectic of all of our train travel. Paris is a contrast from Italy. It is quiet and chilly, but most everyone in the cafes and train stations are very helpful. When checking into our hotel the man at the front desk attempted a joke about Americans and thought that we would enjoy his sarcasm. Our faces after 12 hours on a train gave him that hint that something must have been lost in translation. But seriously, I do like Paris and am looking forward to seeing the sights this weekend. By the way, I may have been afraid of the pigeons, but I think that everyone who has seen "The Birds" as many times as I have might have this reaction. (Although when five-year-olds had no trouble feeding them I did feel a bit silly.

Katie

Bonjour Paris!

Sorry for the lack of updating the past couple of days, but we just could not justify spending €8/hour per person in Venice. That is over $10 an hour just to use the computer! I guess we are getting cheaper as the trip comes to a close, or at least I am.

We left Cinque at 9 a.m. (after sleeping through a huge rain storm that brought in some rain through our window) and then proceeded to travel by train for the next ten hours. We didn't realize it would be such a long day of traveling, so once we finally made it in to Venice, we basically found our hotel, ate dinner, and got ready for bed. The hotel was really nice and close to the train station - and the best part was it had a/c!!! I haven't quite adapted to the true European lifestyle cause I definitely slept better with an air conditioned room.

Yesterday we explored Venice by foot in less time than we had predicted, so we had several hours to kill before our night train left for Paris. We went to St. Mark's basilica (the biggest in Italy), the main sight in Venice and definitely worth going to. You can check it out for yourselves here:





Most of the tourists in Venice were gathered in the piazza by St. Mark's, so we quickly saw the church and got out of there after feeding the pigeons. Who knew that Katie was afraid of pigeons??? haha... I had a good laugh watching her attempt to feed them, only to drop the food and back away. I forced her to do it, though, because I AM the trip photographer, and need these priceless shots. She said I was mean and was like the old bird lady in Mary Poppins, but did it anyway.



The night train was an interesting experience. We reserved a four person car with two other females (mother and daughter from San Fran). The space was a little tight but manageable. The only complaint I have was the smell of the bathroom this morning after getting used all night, but I suppose that is to be expected. We are just having fun exploring and learning as we go.

Now we are in Paris across from our hotel and waiting for our room to be ready. The weather is cold - in the 50's! It is supposed to warm up to the low 70's, which will be a nice change from the heat in Rome, but I definitely need to pull out my jeans and rain jacket. This Texas girl isn't used to this kind of weather in August! We are heading out to the Louve this evening, and will probably just explore our neighborhood and surrounding areas until then. 3 more days to go!!!

The pesto is the besto!

Cinque was an interesting place to get to by train, but we made it! They finally checked our eurail pass but didn't seem to know what to do with it.

We got in around 2 p.m. and checked into our room. I originally had tried booking a room recommended by my buddy, RS, but she could only book rooms on a 2 night minimum basis. She did, however, refer me to her friend, Lilli, who we are staying with. We could not be more happier with the place and it has the most amazing view I think we could possibly get here for a very affordable price! Lilli is this sweet old lady who lives alone. She was taken aback that we speak Spanish, as are most people we meet, and did her best to talk to us in Spanish even though she said she was out of practice. She is seriously the cutest.

Here is the view of the harbor from our window.



After checking in, we went to a local restaurant, which is supposed to be the local hip nightlife joint. The owner was this crazy guy who looked at my chest in admiration and said "tetas perlas." Yeah, just a little creeps. The bartender and waiter were easy on the eyes though, so I couldn't complain too much. The door to the bathroom said "Oh no! It's a hole in the floor!" And seriously, that is what it is. Not quite sure how the ladies are supposed to use it...



Here is the crazy restaurant owner with the bartender:



We then headed out enthusiastically for our hike from Vernazza (the town we are staying in) to Corniglia, the next town over. Our first mistake was not taking water with us for the 90 minute stretch, but we were in good spirits and kept up a good pace. This was Katie's first hike EVER, so I am very proud of her for hanging in there. She admitted to me at dinner that she had to do a lot of self talk to get through it. At one point we came to this sign that said "free beach: 20 minutes," and it implied that there I could fulfill my end of the bargain I have with my sister. These two younger kids said it was a great beach and that the hike wasn't too bad, so I made the team decision to go for it. Katie reluctantly followed me, but she took one for the team cause it was a little treacherous and steep. We had to crawl under things, slide down places, etc. Not the best hiking terrain. Finally we came to a point where we decided it just wasn't worth it and went back up.

But fear not! We finished the hike and found the beach we were looking for after going through a buzz in gate and walking through a long, dark tunnel (note: RS mentions this beach and tunnel in his book, so I was sure we weren't in any danger). We paid our €5 entrance fee and walked down to the beach to get my mandatory pics and to enjoy the water after working off a good sweat. All I can say to my sis is, 26.2, my love, 26.2! Pic and allibi to arrive once I am back home.

We just enjoyed a great dinner at the restaurant dubbed by RS as the "finest in Vernazza." It was very tasty and their pesto here is sooo good!

Tomorrow will be a long day of train hopping as we make our way to Venice before departing for Paris on Thursday night! The end of our journey is now in sight.

... more pics

Our dessert plate at dinner. We have not ventured out of the Italian two staple food groups, carbs and sweets, since we've gotten here. :)

My standard pose.

With the dinner menu.

I tried my best to keep it from falling.

It's a good thing she was there to hold it up!

Latest pics

Katie is the official book carrier, and she does her job well.

My bike.

Katie's bike, complete with Rick Steves book in basket.

Me with my bike in Lucca while we were still on good terms.

Katie loves the nutella snack and drink in one combo.

She also loves the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.