J'ADORE PARIS

Who was it that said the French are uninviting, unpleasant and unhelpful? Well i am here to ERADICATE that myth. I spent barely 24 hours in Paris and i have to tell you, it's love. Love Love Love.

I'll begin by telling you that we arrived in Paris at 21.30 after having been in Geneva for the day and the previous night on an overnight train from Florence.

Side issue: Geneva

This city is TOTALLY manicured. I mean it is neat and tidy and everyone is polite. It is expensive no doubt, but beautiful to look at. I can't say it's very interesting because.. well.. i wouldn't know. But i think it's the type of place you go to for a break with your husband when you are travelling Europe and it all gets abit much...

Okay so we are in Paris. Gare de Lyon. Well everyone knows that GdL is a HORRIBLE station. Luckily we had a nice info lady and she gave us good directions. (also, did you know that you cannot use your eurail in France for the metro.. so like the French). Okay so we arrive in Belleville. All we know about our 13€ hostel is that it is near Belleville. Awesome.

So we are searching. WE notice yet again that we are in the seedy part of town.. fine. Finally we find it. Great...

The guy who is waiting is from Algeria. He says to us

¨Can i have your money, you pay me.¨

What a great start. He tells us our room is upstairs, floor four. No lift.

Okay so we get in, the room is clean, the bed is small. There are no cutrains on the window which is facing the seedy street below. That's fine.

Then, and i retell this with glee, becky goes to the bathroom. She comes back with horror on her face.

¨The toilet is a squat (spelling)?¨

Right at home, I say. And it was true, the toilet WAS a squat. And come to think of it, the room looked awfully like a guesthouse you would find in India. The cream (chantilly) on the cake was when Becky found out that the ONE SHOWER FOR FIVE FLOORS TO SHARE was located in the same space (1m by 1.6m) as the squat, on the 1st floor. Oh, what fun.

To be completely honest coming to that hostel really rejuvinated me. I felt really at home and i would stay there again.

Our next day in Paris went amazingly well (it had to, right? I mean i fell in love after all).

We were at the Louvre by 9.30. I can't even express the marvels in that place. Those paintings are magnificent, truly wonderful. it is quite confronting to be amongst all that greatness.

We then went to Notre Dame at 13.00 and after we ate lunch and a crepe each. We then walked along the Seinne (spelling?) until we jumped onto a Metro to the Champs Elysee (spelling). Then to the Arc d Triumph. After we Metroed to the Eiffel Tower.

Paris in one day.

Through all that i had my cheeks pinched in yiddish friendliness by old french men. I had restaurant staff smile at me, i had the women who charge in the bathrooms let me in for free (when i say me, i mean only me). I had women on the metro tell me i was kind and try to speak with me in English. I bargained succesfully with store owners, was able to get directions with great ease, and i spoke NOT A WORD OF FRENCH.

I don't know what it was, but Paris and I gelled well.

And the city is beautiful.

Oh some other really funny related stories: since becky and I are living as cheaply as possible, we have taken to buying lots of food at the supermarkets. In Florence we located baked beans and in Geneva i bought tuna. when we were in the louvre, we were hungry so we discreetly ate our breakfast - bakedbeans and tuna. It was quite a mission to not get spotted and eat canned food in the midst of one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Also, that night we found CANNED RAVIOLI and VEGETABLES. Omg heaven. We ate for 1.5€ . arent you impressed? (again, you need the image of two girls sitting on seedy hostel bed eating ravioli out of a can.. mmm.

And now we are in Spain, in a random town called Irun. It is right next to San Sebastian. We are here for 7 hours until we take a night train to Madrid.

SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!