Before Departure,
I was determined to pack everything for my three week trip into a carry on bag. Why not just check a bag? ... because I didn't want to have to deal with the anxiety of rechecking my bags during my short one hour layover in Miami. And also the jet I was taking from Paris to Toulouse wanted an arm and a leg as payment for checking bags & I valued my limbs to much.
Fitting everything into a carry on is a lot more difficult then I had fathomed... I knew that the Paris would be different weather then the south of France & Spain. So I needed to juggle the possibility of any type of weather, I now know that I did good in some areas and completely failed in other areas of packing ---- next time I travel I will be bringing just a jansport back pack with two pairs of black jeans, two pairs of black shorts, and a bag of white v-neck fruit of the loom shirts, plus undies, socks, a tooth brush & deodorant, and that is it. That is all you need. Simplicity is the key.
Paris Day One,
It was raining when I arrived. The city was grey and beautiful. - I prefer Paris in the rain or at night - I stepped out of the train station that was next to my hostel and I can't put into words how the world looked. It looked like the movies, but more grand and at the same time more grit, dirt, and grim (not in a bad sense). I just remember turning around to locate a street sign, and realizing that the train station I had just stepped out of, Gare Du Nord, was colossal and had rows of life sized statues peering down at me, I swear they had more detail carved into their faces then I ever will, my jaw dropped, and didn't close up again until a few hours later.
I think our hostel was in a little bit of the grittier part of the city, but I am not sure. We were next to the one of the biggest train stations in Paris - Gare Du Nord, therefore surrounded by tourist trap restaurants. Then past those there was a section filled with African shops and hair dressers. Then past that seemed to be the picturesque Paris that comes to mind, filled with boutiques, markets, and hovering monuments that seem to be around every corner.
Me & Arthur stumbled upon a quaint little French restaurant while exploring the streets nearby our hostel. It was phenomenal and was our most authentic french food experience besides the local bakeries I had while we were in Paris.
At the Hostel we made friends with a few kids, an older guy from Canada, a few Australians and one whom I got along very well with was a guy from Argentina, named Ramiro. We all ended up grabbing a bottle of wine and sitting on this bridge over looking one of the train stations near our hostel, talking about life, laughing, and soaking in each others cultures while getting the Paris / Hostel experience. Night one was a proper Paris night filled with good food and even better company.
*I didn't take many pictures the first day, I wanted to see the city with my eyes instead of my lens for the first 24 hours*
Paris Day Two,
Me & Arthur had made it clear that we didn't want to spend our limited time in Paris standing in line for hours just to empty our pockets at the tourist traps. One thing we did want to see however was the Tour Eiffel. We decided we would walk to the Eiffel Tower - It ended up taking us a total of four hours to get to there!! Along the way we stopped and had a glass of orange juice and a sandwich at the base of Notre Dame, I cannot accurately put into words or begin to describe to you the detail and power Notre Dame had over me, It looms over everything and instead of making me feel small & insignificant, it made me feel real & humbled - the fact the people had made this with sweat and blood, made me want to do more with my hands, I suddenly wanted to be back in a wet dark room or in front of an overwhelming black canvas creating again.
I stopped at a little market after leaving Notre Dame & bought a little lock & key. I wanted to put a lock on the bridge I had seen in movies and heard people talk about. It was neat to see the rows and rows of locks, for lovers, friendships, and all of the above. I guess mine is for me & this mini adventure I am sharing with a good friend.
I always thought that all of the Americans that ranted and raved about the Eiffel Tower were making more of a fuss about it then was really was. I mean, you never hear foreigners ranting and raving about the Statue of Liberty or anything else of the likes. I thought it was just people over romanticizing Paris and the symbol people attach with it. But I am sad to say, I am now one of those people, it truly is overwhelming and enchanting, its a thousand times bigger, more detailed, and seducing then any picture has ever given it justice.
We ended up grabbing a bottle of wine and sitting under some trees in the park at the Eiffel Tower for a while, people watching, staying away from the Gypsy's who wanted us to give them money for a obviously fake blind children organization, and catching up on the past eight months of each others lives.
The Paris Metro system took me by surprise, it is one of the easiest, self explanatory public transport systems I've ever been on before. Maybe because I've navigated through NYC & Chicago's public transport before. If you have a decent sense of direction, a knowledge of colors, and a map then you'll be fine & don't listen to anyone if they tell you its hard, or scary, or whatever the hell they think the Paris Metro is suppose to be like.
We met a guy from Quebec, named Gabriel, he was in Europe chasing after the girl he loved. He joined us on our midnight walk to the Louvre from the hostel. After an hour walk, some warm Canadian whiskey, and me stealing Arthur's jacket & hat we arrived in front of the lit up pyramids. It was beautiful and peaceful at night, we were some of the few people there and it was nice. A guy did come up to us, trying to sell us the rings he was wearing, when we politely declined he told me he was looking for a wife, "oohhh ..... well I am already taken, but thanks?..." I responded, looking between the boys for some backup on who would be my pretend lover or fiance or anything for the moment, they kindly obliged and the guy ran after some other girls.
Paris Day Three,
Espresso is your best friend.
Espresso is your best friend.
Espresso is your best friend.
And here is why: First off it is fairly cheap, small, and contains just enough of an ass kicking to combat any problem you are having after 48 hours in a foreign country. Whether that problem is a hangover, Asian hostel roommates waking you up every twenty minutes throughout the night, not having AC, having walked way to much in inadequate shoes the day prior, or the bakery next door being sold out of almond croissants, insert any other morning crisis here (__________), ect.
We spent the morning eating, exploring, and walking towards the Bastille with Gabriel, the guy from Quebec.
Back at the hostel we met a guy from Hamburg, Germany named Jan ( 'John' ), he had been hitchhiking and back packing through Europe, Paris was his last stop until he reached home. I invited him to join me, Arthur & Gabriel on our quest to find this underground punk rock show at a bar on some random street in the 11e area. He gladly accepted and off we went. The bar looked like something out of an underground european punk movie, but was pricey, so we went to a corner market store and bought ourselves some wine and beer and sat on a street corner (which is 100% acceptable at 10pm in the middle of Paris btw) Jan was an artist and showed me his sketches and told me about his jobs and printmaking, I got to practice the little bit of German I retained from the two years back in High School (which is close to none). I wish I had tried harder to learn German, it truely is a beautiful language, especially the fact that they have a billion extra words then English does, they have those perfect in between words that we do not have, or we sound absolutely pretentious saying. During one point of the night, these two random traveling gypsy ladies came, sat, and decided to tell us their life stories. We ended up talking for hours about everything, it was a great night filled even better company!
[ After the fourth day, Arthur wasn't liking the camera anymore ]
Paris Day Four,
Day four consisted of goodbyes to the friends we had made at the wonderful hostel we had stayed at, the gathering up all of our belongings, and flying to Toulouse.
Much more on IG: @madelineire
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My tips, tricks & advice for Paris:
- Don't hang around the train stations for to long if you don't want to be approached and targeted by creepy people, whom sometimes have no teeth and can speak four to six languages. Red flag? I think so!
- Bring good shoes, everyone told me this, and instead of listening I threw a pair of fake Keds, old navy flip flops, and high heels into my suitcase. First off you will be walking a hell of a lot more than you can fathom and your feet are very important to take care of. Secondly, the streets of Paris are not clean, and mark my words you'll be scrubbing black off of your feet for days if you go out in flip-flops.
- Hostels are amazing, amazing, amazing. You end up meeting so many amazing people, which opens up so many opportunities and leaves you with some of the best memories. I personally recommend St. Christophers Hostel, which was by far the best hostel I stayed at during my three week adventure.
- If you are keeping an eye on your spending, do not buy anything, food ect near any of the huge tourist sites, of 4/5 blocks around any of the tourist sites. You will get robbed by tourist traps, even when you don't think you are.
-Gypsys: They know when you are an American, and they know when you're a tourist, even if you think you're blending in, you're not. Do not pay any attention to someone if they ask if you have dropped a gold ring, or ring in general. Do not talk or give money to the ladies walking around with handmade sign up donation sheets for children with disabilities. Even if you don't donate, someone will pick pocket you while you're declining.
- I didn't have one rude, run in with a Parisian. I grew up with the stereotype that French people were rude and didn't like Americans. I had the opposite expirence. Everyone I ran into were extremely nice, helpful, and returned my smile. The opposite of everything I had been told and expected. I ended up falling in love with the city, the people & the culture.
au revoir!!
