Paris Day 2 in retrospect
We had breakfast in the foyer - cafe au lait served in large bowls along with french bread or bagette as they call it. Maybe this was the official continental breakfast and what I had experienced in the U.S. was only an approximation. I quite enjoyed the Paris version more and was deteremined to keep up the cofee-in-a-bowl tradition when I returned home.
After showers we ventured out again, this time to the Arc de Triumph. We took the wrong Metro and had difficulty finding our way for a bit but we arrived and were impressed. We could see all of Paris from the top of the structure. I imagined that drivers took their lives into their own hands by attempting to drive around it. I'll never forget the image of 12 lanes of traffic merging into and out of this amazing rotary. The climb up was exhausting and I wondered, again, how I would survive 3 months carrying that overpacked pack waiting for me at the hotel. To me there were at least 20 flights of spiralling stairs but it's difficult to keep track of flights when spiralling upward. From the top I was amazed to see that the Eiffel Tower was very close to there - or at least it appeared that way from the top.
After that I lost $30f to commission at a banque that we had mistaken for an American Express bank. I had tried to plan my money based on $20 per day so losing that many francs was upsetting - but I soon got over it. The Champs Elysees will do that for you. Amy and I enjoyed conversation and more cafe at the Cafe Collert. We discussed personal goals. Amy decided she wants to work on being less impulsive while I want to work on saying No to guys who are interested in me but too aggressive (like Yousef the night before). I was really regretting our kiss.
Later on we met Amy's friends (Donna, Bernie, Karen, Ellen and Taq) at the Eiffel Tower and had dinner in the Latin Quarter, sitting at an outdoor table. Donna had studied in Paris and was visiting the city at the same time as us so we had arranged this meeting before leaving Massachusetts. I did see Ali and Joucef later that night and mustered up enough French to tell him "You are my friend only", after which he tried to kiss me, again. Amy helped me add that I had a boyfriend (a lie), after which he said OK and walked away. Ali hung back and said he hoped to see us again during our stay.
After this splendid time with these new companions, Amy and I enjoyed 2 beers at the universite with 2 travellers we struck up a conversation with and then headed back to our hotel. We collapsed on the stairs inside the foyer in a pile of laughter at all we had experienced so far. Perhaps the laughter was also culture shock or maybe it was just the beer. Either way we went to bed at 2:30am with smiles on our faces.
After showers we ventured out again, this time to the Arc de Triumph. We took the wrong Metro and had difficulty finding our way for a bit but we arrived and were impressed. We could see all of Paris from the top of the structure. I imagined that drivers took their lives into their own hands by attempting to drive around it. I'll never forget the image of 12 lanes of traffic merging into and out of this amazing rotary. The climb up was exhausting and I wondered, again, how I would survive 3 months carrying that overpacked pack waiting for me at the hotel. To me there were at least 20 flights of spiralling stairs but it's difficult to keep track of flights when spiralling upward. From the top I was amazed to see that the Eiffel Tower was very close to there - or at least it appeared that way from the top.
After that I lost $30f to commission at a banque that we had mistaken for an American Express bank. I had tried to plan my money based on $20 per day so losing that many francs was upsetting - but I soon got over it. The Champs Elysees will do that for you. Amy and I enjoyed conversation and more cafe at the Cafe Collert. We discussed personal goals. Amy decided she wants to work on being less impulsive while I want to work on saying No to guys who are interested in me but too aggressive (like Yousef the night before). I was really regretting our kiss.
Later on we met Amy's friends (Donna, Bernie, Karen, Ellen and Taq) at the Eiffel Tower and had dinner in the Latin Quarter, sitting at an outdoor table. Donna had studied in Paris and was visiting the city at the same time as us so we had arranged this meeting before leaving Massachusetts. I did see Ali and Joucef later that night and mustered up enough French to tell him "You are my friend only", after which he tried to kiss me, again. Amy helped me add that I had a boyfriend (a lie), after which he said OK and walked away. Ali hung back and said he hoped to see us again during our stay.
After this splendid time with these new companions, Amy and I enjoyed 2 beers at the universite with 2 travellers we struck up a conversation with and then headed back to our hotel. We collapsed on the stairs inside the foyer in a pile of laughter at all we had experienced so far. Perhaps the laughter was also culture shock or maybe it was just the beer. Either way we went to bed at 2:30am with smiles on our faces.
posted by Pamela Hamilton at 10:56 PM
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