Thursday, May 7
(FYI, running out of battery, so I've made sure the pic link at the bottom works, but didn't have time to upload individual pic links. If I say "pic" you'll have to look for it.. like an easter egg hunt!)
Thursday: I woke up this AM (meaning middle of the night) with an extremely sore throat. Suspicious that I’d caught something (there are Swine Flu warnings on all the train station/airport terminals!), I vowed to try harder to find soap (something that seems to be optional in a lot of places) and be better at using my hand sanitizer in between. Turns out I think it may just be spring… a few hours later, I’m feeling fine and I thank Advil Cold and Sinus.
On a more positive note, it is positively gorgeous today! It’s been cloudless and sunny almost the entire day. This is a real treat as it’s been fairly overcast since I got here with only peeks at sunshine on Monday. I decided to choose my Sacre Coeur/l’Opera Garnier day for today.
I started with taking pics of the outside of la Madeleine (pics) as my buddy Rick Steves says the inside is a vast disappointment. Walked through very high end shopping (think 5th Ave but more so), through the Vendome and to Place de la Concorde, taking pictures the whole way. For a glimpse at what “high end” means, check out a price tag from one of the windows (pic).
Moved on to l’Opera, but it was CLOSED today, so I only got my outdoors pics. I grabbed a listing of shows and hope to see a ballet or symphony from the nosebleeds before I leave France.
On to Galleries LaFayette, which is 8 floors of Sears meets Macys meets grocery stores with cafes, wedding dresses and tourist chotchkies tossed in. From the Terrace up top, there’s a great view of Paris (pics). The café on the 6th floor has a similarly fun view but was cafeteria style food. Now, for most situations that’d be fine, but for me it felt like I’d “wasted” a chance to eat something magnificent. So I treated myself to gelato to tilt the scale back a bit. Turns out chocolate hazelnut gelato can fix anything.
Stopped by Hard Rock café for the obligatory pin (since I didn’t get one the last 3 times I’ve been to Paris?? What’s wrong with me…) and headed to Montmartre with the intention of sitting and relaxing on the grounds, shooting pictures to my heart’s delight and walking around the artists’ displays at Place du Tertre. After my 30th or so picture of Sacre Coeur (pics), my camera – without warning – shut off with a “battery is dead” message. Plus, with the beautiful weather and 100+ steps, I was glistening pretty darn well. I walked around Tertre for a bit, but it still wasn’t really time to eat or sip un café, so I chose a bench near a beautiful restaurant patio to journal. There was a street musician “crooning” La Vie en Rose with his Cello and the French man behind me was humming along frenchily.
Sunset wouldn’t have been for another 5 hours at least, so I gave up and decided to head back to charge up the darn camera. I’m back at café le moderne (the Wistro) and checking in by email with friends/facebooking. Tonight may be a laid back dinner at a posh spot in the heart of my distinctly gay (at least at night) neighborhood (Rick Steves called one bar a good spot for watching “the parade”). Although I did hear about the area not far from la Bastille (so close enough to walk rather than Metro) that houses clubs for dancing and salsa. Those are bit more difficult to edge into as a single person, so maybe I’ll wait til next week with Elodie.
Sorry for the novels, but it seems I’m hitting quite a few places each day so far. Tomorrow I’m looking at going back to Notre Dame and actually going in and at night, there is an American Gospel concert at an old French Catholic church, St Germaine de Pres. The acoustics alone may be worth going for!
Check out the whole roll of photos on Flickr…
Thursday: I woke up this AM (meaning middle of the night) with an extremely sore throat. Suspicious that I’d caught something (there are Swine Flu warnings on all the train station/airport terminals!), I vowed to try harder to find soap (something that seems to be optional in a lot of places) and be better at using my hand sanitizer in between. Turns out I think it may just be spring… a few hours later, I’m feeling fine and I thank Advil Cold and Sinus.
On a more positive note, it is positively gorgeous today! It’s been cloudless and sunny almost the entire day. This is a real treat as it’s been fairly overcast since I got here with only peeks at sunshine on Monday. I decided to choose my Sacre Coeur/l’Opera Garnier day for today.
I started with taking pics of the outside of la Madeleine (pics) as my buddy Rick Steves says the inside is a vast disappointment. Walked through very high end shopping (think 5th Ave but more so), through the Vendome and to Place de la Concorde, taking pictures the whole way. For a glimpse at what “high end” means, check out a price tag from one of the windows (pic).
Moved on to l’Opera, but it was CLOSED today, so I only got my outdoors pics. I grabbed a listing of shows and hope to see a ballet or symphony from the nosebleeds before I leave France.
On to Galleries LaFayette, which is 8 floors of Sears meets Macys meets grocery stores with cafes, wedding dresses and tourist chotchkies tossed in. From the Terrace up top, there’s a great view of Paris (pics). The café on the 6th floor has a similarly fun view but was cafeteria style food. Now, for most situations that’d be fine, but for me it felt like I’d “wasted” a chance to eat something magnificent. So I treated myself to gelato to tilt the scale back a bit. Turns out chocolate hazelnut gelato can fix anything.
Stopped by Hard Rock café for the obligatory pin (since I didn’t get one the last 3 times I’ve been to Paris?? What’s wrong with me…) and headed to Montmartre with the intention of sitting and relaxing on the grounds, shooting pictures to my heart’s delight and walking around the artists’ displays at Place du Tertre. After my 30th or so picture of Sacre Coeur (pics), my camera – without warning – shut off with a “battery is dead” message. Plus, with the beautiful weather and 100+ steps, I was glistening pretty darn well. I walked around Tertre for a bit, but it still wasn’t really time to eat or sip un café, so I chose a bench near a beautiful restaurant patio to journal. There was a street musician “crooning” La Vie en Rose with his Cello and the French man behind me was humming along frenchily.
Sunset wouldn’t have been for another 5 hours at least, so I gave up and decided to head back to charge up the darn camera. I’m back at café le moderne (the Wistro) and checking in by email with friends/facebooking. Tonight may be a laid back dinner at a posh spot in the heart of my distinctly gay (at least at night) neighborhood (Rick Steves called one bar a good spot for watching “the parade”). Although I did hear about the area not far from la Bastille (so close enough to walk rather than Metro) that houses clubs for dancing and salsa. Those are bit more difficult to edge into as a single person, so maybe I’ll wait til next week with Elodie.
Sorry for the novels, but it seems I’m hitting quite a few places each day so far. Tomorrow I’m looking at going back to Notre Dame and actually going in and at night, there is an American Gospel concert at an old French Catholic church, St Germaine de Pres. The acoustics alone may be worth going for!
Check out the whole roll of photos on Flickr…
posted by Jess at 10:13 AM
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