Romantic Cruise of the Seine (with broken down boat)

Saturday was meant to be a picture perfect day! I got plenty of sleep, so I was ready to spend the whole afternoon and evening away from our hotel. Agnes and Ali asked Emily and me to go back to Trocodero and barter for more scarves and Eiffel Tower keychains, since we were so good at it the last time. We were happy to help out--afterall, the Senegalese guys are my favorite.

When we got there, we saw tons of Senegalese guys, with their bags of merchandise and strings of Eiffel Towers, running away from the center of the plaza in a hurry. We tried to figure out what was going on. I asked one of them and he said that the police were there. I guess the police don't approve of them selling super cheap merchandise, when all the official stores around have the same stuff for higher prices. I really don't know where they get their stuff to sell...maybe illegaly?? Well, the guys didn't run too far and we were able to get some good deals for Agnes and Ali. I even got a bright pink scarf for myself, so putting that with my pink beret, I will look so French when I get back to school. Oh la la!!

At this time, I realized that I wanted to walk down the Champs-Elysees because I hadn't done that yet. I teach all my students the song Aux Champs-Elysees, so it is definitely a street not to be missed. I walked by myself--Emily and Allen took the metro--so I got to really soak up each thing I saw. There were all sorts of characters strolling down this most famous street in Paris. I watched the super sophisticated dressers step into Sephora and fashionable stores--one was selling a purse for 1000 Euros!! I also saw a weird guy dressed up as Spider Man running around, having a great time. I almost stopped for a McFlurry at the super chic McDonalds on this same street, but I was a bit late to meet the others at the Arc de Triomphe, so I had to save that for another time.

I got to the crossing to get to the Arc de Triumph. This arch is in the middle of a star of different roads. If you decide to brave it and drive around it, beware: you must be aggresive or you will never get out of the biggest roundabout ever!! I forgot for a second that a person cannot cross the street without getting hit by several cars at once and almost--I say almost--stepped out into traffic. Rather than get hit, you take the underground walkway.

I bought my ticket and met Emily and Allen as well as Dan right underneath the Arc. We took off up the stairs: 289 steps to the top. I could feel the burn after a hundred steps. It was fun to see the view of the city from the top.

Before our cruise of the Seine, we went for some delicious dinner crepes at Cafe Beauborg. They put onions, creme fraiche, potatoes and cheese inside. They really are to die for. We had a super funny server who called me Grettle since my hair was in braids. He left midway through serving us, however. Since servers here are paid by the house and not by tips, it really doesn't matter when they come and go or if you get good service because they will get the same pay regardless. The last lady who served us took a smoking break at the table next to us--puffed a whole bunch of smoke our way which I did NOT appreciate--before getting back to work.

The cruise of the Seine was beautiful. Emily, Allen, Dan and I got in a cute romantic boat all decorated with plants and flowers. The first monument that we floated by was the Eiffel Tower. It was glowing and so beautiful! It really is a fantastic structure. It was built in 1889 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the French Revolution and has 1789 steps to the top...how symbolic is that?? It was a picture perfect night. When we were half-way through our cruise, however, the boat started smoking. We started coughing from all the exhaust. Our guide said we needed to dock and switch boats. We then got on a HUGE boat with a new, really funny tour guide. It was perfect!! We got to see the whole first part of the tour again, as new people had signed up to go, and we actually finished it this time. This was definitely worth the price!!

Monday we went to a calm park called Bois de Vincennes. It was really nice after all the rush rush of the city. We rented boats and calmly paddled around a lake. Afterwards, we stepped onto a small island and relaxed in the sunshine. We played cards and had tons of fun. We were going to ride horses, but they were 2.50 Euros for 5 minutes. Instead, we just enjoyed the afternoon.

Tuesday was spent at Euro Disney. They had less rides than Disneyland in California, but I still loved it all!! I was the only one in the group who didn't get tired because it was so magical. There were some fun little touches that made this park unique from other ones. There were some really fun shows too, that were half in French and half in English, because of all the foreigners that come to visit. When we were all really hungry, we got some cute pizzas shaped like Mickey Mouse. Isn't that adorable? I was going to bring the boxes home, but I've already collected enough food packages as souvenirs. It is starting to look like I am a garbage collector!!

I leave France on Friday and definitely have mixed emotions. It will be nice to get home and into a routine again, but I will miss the life here so much!!

Jewelry Shop Pasteries and Catching a Pickpocket

This trip to Paris has definitely been different than my last trips. For one thing, my professor gave us all a book of 24 different walks through the city that take you past historical landmarks, walkways and bakeries that a normal toursit would never know about. For example, I have seen the Notre Dame cathedral and the Eiffel Tower several times over, but I never walked down the narrowest cobblestone street in Paris, where the Parisians actually go, until this past week.

On Tuesday, we took a walk called, "Nez au Vent: Nose to the wind: smelling all the different scents that Paris has to offer". This was a fun one. We began in the metro where you can smell a mix of unwashed bodies and wheel grease from the trains. What a place to start! Once we got out of the metro, we walked past a little flower market where we got all sorts of scents from different flowers. I could have stayed there all day. We were directed by our guidebook to a pastry shop by the artist Pierre Herme. This was the most chic shop you could find in the city. It has won all sorts of awards for presentation. The pictures I posted in this blog are Herme creations. He is famous for macarons--these are nothing like macaroons in the USA. He makes these small cake-like desserts out of the finest ingredients. There are all sorts of unique flavors from rose petal to olive oil mixed with vanilla. When walking inside, you are greeted by ladies in black coats and high heels. It feels super fancy. It actually does look a lot like a jewelry shop, where every creation is hand crafted. I splurged by pulling out 7 Euros for a small, marbled ice cream sandwich made out of melt-in-your-mouth pistachio cookies; luckily it was worth it. It was literally a piece of heaven to bite into. I wish you could all try these creations. They put them in a super sophisticated to-go bag and you feel like you are living the good life as you walk out the sliding glass doors. While us poor Utah teachers were eyeing all the creations and deciding which unique flavor to try out, a well dressed businessman came in and spent nearly 200 Euros on a box of macarons-to-go for his evening party that night. What a life!

We ended this Smells of Paris walk at the Fragonard Perfume museum and factory. There, we got to watch a demonstration on how they mix all sorts of scents and flavors to make French perfume. We all sampled some different ones and had a lot of fun, loving or hating the various scents. They are pretty expensive and since I already bought one when I was in France two years ago, I just enjoyed the presentation without wanting to spend on anything.

Dr. Erickson and Ali were tired after this walk, so they headed home. Emily and her husband Allen and I decided to take another walk through the Latin quarter. This was fun! I bought a cool board game for my classroom that can actually be played in English or French along the way. Half-way through our walk, the three of us sat down on this bridge overlooking the Seine river. As we were resting a bit, we noticed the pickpocket scam we had been previously warned about. There were two ladies working together. One lady had a weird ring in her hand. She would go up to various strangers who were crossing the bridge and show them the ring. "I think you lost this," she would say. At this time, the other girl--I think her daughter--would come up and try to pickpocket the person who was being distracted by the ring. It didn't work for the first tourist they tried it on. Emily and I stared the ladies down as if to say, "I know what you are doing!!" After a few minutes, three police officers came onto the bridge. The ladies tried to nonchalantly make their way off the bridge. Emily and I went up to the police officers. We told them about what we saw. We didn't expect much of a reaction because we had been told that the police didn't do much by someone who lived here. To our surprise, they were actually looking for these ladies after receiving a tip. Without asking for more details than their color of shirt, they picked up their pants and took off running, pushing people over as they chased them down. It was great to watch.

On Wednesday, Ali and I had a former student, Melissa, come visit. She was here with Utah State study abroad. It's kind of fun to see a French student continue on in her pursuit of French. We took her to see the Opera de Paris, since we read the Phantom of the Opera when I had her in AP French. That was fun. We then got a little picnic together of bread, cheese, fruit and chocolate--best French meal ever--and ate it in the Jardin de Tuileries. How relaxing. We ended the 2 hour French meal with some Italian ice cream. I love this life!

Thursday was also an eventful day of sightseeing. That night, I tagged along as a sort-of third wheel with newlyweds Emily and Allen to see the Eiffel Tower at night. I know I have done it several times, but I never seem to get sick of it. Before the actual visit of the tower, we stopped at the Trocodero to take some perfect pictures with an Eiffel Tower backdrop. There were several Senegalese guys everywhere, trying to sell scarves and mini Eiffel tower keychains. They said a keychain was one Euro. Emily and I are great at bartering together. We laughed and had fun with the guys. I love the Senegalese! We got so many good deals, you wouldn't believe. We talked one guy into 4 keychains for a Euro. The next one, we told him what price we got and he gave us 5 for a Euro. We had so much fun and got some pictures with them. One shifty-eyed Arab tried to sell me a painting of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, and while he had it in my face, his buddy came around and tried to pickpocket ME!! Can you believe it??? Luckily Emily pushed me out of his way and saved my bag from ever being touched by his dirty hand. At that time, I was done bartering. We went to the Eiffel Tower and even though I was with a couple--they were very fun to be with--it was still magical for me. I think it is an amazing structure!

Yesterday we went to La Defense--the business sector of Paris with actual skyscrapers. There is even a Grande Arche at the end of the path, which is huge and faces the Arc de Triomphe.

Today we are going up the Arc de Triomphe and taking an evening cruise of the Seine!