Day 28: Headed out to Bastille to check out the place. So dead. There is nothing interesting there besides a huge column in the middle of a roundabout. The French like to put things in the middle of roundabouts. It's annoying though cos it makes getting up close really hard cos the French will not make crossing the road easy for you. You try to jaywalk - they'll speed up. Crossings mean nothing, unless there's a green light (and even then, you still need to watch out). Just walked around the neighbourhood. The streets are really quiet. Sometimes I forget that I'm actually in Paris because the streets are so empty that it makes me feel like I'm walking through a suburban street. After that, I headed towards the Opera House, and then to Galleries Lafayette which is a department store. Quite big, but it's just a department store. Nothing really that special. Really overpriced though. Nice Christmas display though.
Day 29: Today. Was planning on going to Musee D'Orsay but when I got there, there was a massive line. This was odd cos there's never a huge line, even on weekends. I then found out that those lazy buggers were striking. It seems like all the French ever do is strike. Determined not to waste my time like the rest of the losers still waiting in line hoping that the museum would eventually open, I headed off towards Musee du Rodin. If you're ever planning on checking out the many many museums in Paris, then you should get a Museum Pass. I got a 4 day one for 48 euros and it gives me access into 60 places (including an aquarium which I definitely want to go to lol). Anyways, as I walked through the gardens inside Musee du Rodin, I came across Rodin's Thinker. It was then that I realised why the place was called Musee du Rodin. It just never occurred to me. I quite like this place. Rodin liked to work with marble, so most of the exhibits were marble sculptures, which were really detailed. After Musee du Rodin, I headed back down the street to see whether D'Orsay had opened. It hadn't. And people were still queueing. Losers.
Determined to make the most of my Museum Pass, I headed over to Hotel des Invalides, where there are several galleries inside plus the tomb of Napoleon. His tomb was impressive in that the building was huge and ornately decorated, and almost completely made out of marble, and the roof had beautiful images painted all over it. The tomb itself was quite ordinary though. Apart from its size, it was simply an ordinary wooden box (kinda reminded me of a jewelery box). Wasn't enough to capture my attention for very long so I went and checked out the other galleries and exhibits. Ironically, the exhibit that I found most interesting and engaging was a temporary exhibit displaying the pictures of Hanoi, Vietnam. They managed to capture some amazing photos of Hanoi and its people, and I think this is the first gallery that has really captured my attention so fully. A close second was the exhibit about the concentration camps of WWII. This was truly an eye-opening experience. The photos of the place and the people who were forced into these places was confronting to say the least. There were even photos of the dead piled up, all naked revealing extremely emaciated bodies. There were even before and after photos of people - looking healthy before in their normal everyday lives, and then their wasted frames, unable to even stand on their own after they'd been subjected to the horror of those camps. But for me, the saddest photo wasn't one that depicted the dead. It was a photo of a little girl, maybe around 4 or 5 years, clutching her teddy bear and wearing the striped uniform. Her sad piercing eyes were staring directly at the camera, and it was this photo that was the most heart-wrenching for me. I don't know what happened to that girl. The caption didn't say. But given the fate of so many others in those camps, I think the answer is obvious. This exhibit was just so confronting for me. And it's not even a major exhibit. It was only one hallway. And it's in Paris. I don't know how I would deal with it if I was actually seeing a major exhibit in Poland or somewhere, or if I was actually visiting those camps and seeing the gas chambers and those dreaded railway lines. It's sad to think that all that actually happened back then.
Anyways, back to lighter topics. After that moving visit, I realised that it was 5pm and all I had had to eat all day was a bowl of cereal. Headed down Rue de Bac to the boulangerie Eric Kayser, which Mel suggested to me. Once again, I was able to place my order entirely in French (mainly by listening for key words and responding appropriately lol). To be honest, the ham baguette I ordered was quite ordinary. It was good, but nothing special compared to the other places that I've eaten at. Headed down to Rue de Bonaparte to find the macaron store LaDuree which is known for its amazing macarons. Bought a box of 12 for only 16 euros, which was cheaper than what I was expecting. Although technically that is quite expensive for some biscuits, but they were so gooooooood!! I really like the pistachio one, as well as the chestnut one. Unfortunately I didn't buy any fruit-flavoured ones (or maybe not unfortunately if they're not nice) besides lemon, which was OK. Licorice was a definite no. But yeah, I've just eaten 7 of them. Will need to go out and buy more tomorrow lol.
Just a random thing I noticed as I was walking the streets of Paris. The cars are parked really close together. Like there's maybe 5cm between the nose of one car and the ass of another. And I realised how they did it today. Pretty much, the French just don't care. The spot was ridiculously small, and yet the woman decided to reverse in and try to wriggle herself in. I don't even remember how many moves it took, but she would just hit the car in front and the car behind. I guess that was how she knew to change direction. She got in in the end, and I didn't see much damage to either car, but still, this would be a serious thing in Sydney. Here, no one cares. It's just what they do. They strike and they're self-centred. I love the city but this may not be the best place to live.
Anyways, the plan for tomorrow is to head to Musee D'Orsay (if they're not on strike). Not sure what else, but I'll prob try and fit in some other museums so I can get the most out of my pass.
Still need to do these things:
- Go to the top of Eiffel Tower
- Versailles
- Montemarte
- Louvre
- A famous cemetary
- Catacombes
- A collection of other museums
- Buy more macarons
- Have truffle (I did have some truffle spread which was out of this world!!)
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