Saturday... kind of a slow start this morning. it's vacation right? i'm a beleiver that vacation is actually time to do all the things you want. not relax! heck no!!! it lunchtime by the time I head out the door. crystal clear again today, sunny, but wow the cold is taking my breath away. i got lunch at this cool restaurant aroudn the corner from me. by the way i'm loving my neighborhood. not touristy. good energy. perfect location. i would definitely recommend staying in the latin quarter if visiting paris. nice vibe. i had some curried chicken with rice and some sort of dumplings (7 euro) and a coca-cola (4 euro). yeesh. the soda is awfully expensive but i like soda i can't help it :)
after lunch i went to the jardin des plants, which is about 4 blocks from my apartment. right now its a barren field of leaveless twigs, but i can picture its beauty in the summer. i went to the a portion of the natural history museam about paleontology and evolution. who doesnt love dinosour bones? the museum was beautiful, arranged by species as well as by evolution. man and its recent population explosion and its detrimental effect on the environment were showcased on the top floor (3rd floor). the ground floor was dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures. they have a fantastic display of a huge squid with its tentacles all stretched out. the 1st floor was mammals, including elephants, giraffes, deer, rodents, etc. there were birds, penquins, herons, hawks. actually, this place could be considered a taxidermy heaven. but the layout and th e lighting make it not so morbid. the 2nd floor was dedicated to insects, and had a nice diplay of fruit flies with a simple explanation of genetics and breeding. i spent several hours in there. lots of kids bouncing all over the place but so well behaved i thought. didnt see one tantrum.
I stayed at the museum until about 17.00 or so, then headed to the metro and went back over to the champs elysees area. But this time it was to see l’arc du triomphe. the arc is in the middle of a very large brick roundabout. to get to the center you must access through an underground walkway. the arc is an easy climb (compared to the eiffel tower i guess!). the view from the top is fantastic. the perfect way to see all of paris at night. all you can see is lights forever and ever. the arch is so stoich. its oddly rectangular. it seems disproportioned somehow. its an anchor. a stronghold. there are old paintings inside depicting the arch surrounded by perfectly aligned troops. the eternal flame of fallen soldiers burns at the base of the arch. inside there are many renderings of past events at the arch, as well as a video history. all very informative and well placed. this is one of my favorite things i've seen thus far.
so since i was in the neighborhood, might as well do a little shopping right? there were throngs of people on shopping. the crowd was so thick. just bumping into people everywhere. i went in a bunch of stores and ended up getting a cute day jacket (for CA weather) and a tshirt. nothing crazy. could have been a lot worse!!! i thought about my dress from two nights ago. i loved that dress! at about 22.00 i headed back to the apartment. along the way i stopped at the italian restuarant around the corner from me to order a pizza for take-away. the place is packed! i talked to the pizza chef for a little while and i saw him make my pizza in the wood-fired oven right there. i took it home and ate about half and saved the rest for breakfast tomorrow. it was the best pizza i've had in a really long time. so yummy.
Sunday, i got up and packed up all of my stuff and left the apartment in the latin quarter. For my last night in paris, I splurged and checked into a pretty nice hotel. 4 stars. A Christmas present to myself. couldnt check in until 3PM, so i drove out to versailles to visit the chateaux versailles there. its only about 30 minutes drive. i'm thankful to be out of the city. it was just so crowded. i felt like i couldnt breathe. the subway was making me sick. versailles is kind of like the marin county of SF i would say. its still quite populated but has more of a smaller town/city feel. the chateaux is PACKED though. the line is a zillion people long. i'm one of the last cars they let in the parking lot before its closed at capacity. i get in line. and i wait. and i wait. and i wait. i've only moved about 5 feet in 30 minutes. the line is probably about 200 people long. actually i'm really not sure. it keep winding around like a disneyland ride. also, its the coldest day of the year today. its frigid. i can't wear any more clothes than i already am. i'm sorry to say that after enduring the elements for an hour and not making any measurable progress, i gave up. and i left. i know, i feel really bad about it. i saw the outside! that should count for something right?? i stopped on the way home and got a sandwich from a local restuarant and checked into the hotel.
I had a REAL shower. I layed in the 8 pilllows that were on my bed and watched satellite TV. And relaxed. And had an amazing night’s sleep. I know, I probably should’ve been out living up the last night in paris, but frankly, I was over the city and just wanted to get back to NL. back where things are calmer and more pleasant and i'm not carsick all the time. ah yes. This hotel had wireless internet as well. I consider myself pretty darn lucky for having the internet the entire time I was here.
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