Day 30: The original plan was to go to Musee D'Orsay but I woke up to see a bright blue sky, and knew that I needed to take advantage of it. So without even having breakfast, I rushed straight over to the Eiffel Tower and was surprised to see that the line wasn't that long. Odd. It was ridiculously long the other few days that I had walked past, and those days were miserable. Guess I was in luck. After waiting in line for 20 minutes, I was on my way up!! However, apparently they don't have a lift which takes you all the way to the top, which is really disappointing. Had to get out on the second floor to wait in line for another 20 minutes for another lift. But then it was only up from there!! And when I got out of the lift at the top, the wait was definitely worth it. The view is gorgeous from up there. I never knew Paris was such a white city. Everything looks white from way up there. They were also selling ridiculously overpriced champagne up there (20 euros for a flute). I guess they were trying to take advantage of the lovers up there who were desperate to toast their love for each other. Anyways, I did laps around the top of the tower taking photos from almost every spot to capture the entire scope of awesomeness that is the top of the Eiffel Tower. It seriously is breath-taking, and it is one of the highlights of my trip so far.
Anyways, after sadly descending back to the ground where all the normal people were, I headed over to the Montemarte area and joined a tour. Really small group - there were three of us. But I think that was better cos that made it more personal experience and I got to chat a lot more to the tour guide, who was the same one who took me for the free tour. And she was just as awesome on this tour as she was on the free one. We walked through the red light district (although it was daytime so there wasn't really much happening). I saw the Moulin Rouge...well I didn't "see" it, I saw the outside of the building. Apparently it's quite expensive to see a show in there. I'm also told that 80% of the Moulin Rouge dancers are Australian. The Aussies reason that that's because they're the hottest. The French reason that it's because the Aussie girls are the ones who are willing to do it for less money. Anyways, headed through that area...nothing particular interesting (apparently at night, the street is full of hookers and pimps). Headed through Montemarte on the tour, and up the incline to Sacre Couer situated at the top. Afterwards, we all went to a bar and had a few drinks and just chilled. It was really nice to have a few drinks and just talk to people. It gets quite lonely on the road sometimes.
Dinner (actually more a snack) was a crepe with chestnut cream. Who knew that chestnuts tasted so good? It was now 6pm so I had time to head to the Louvre which closes late on Wednesdays and Fridays. There is seriously so much stuff in the Louvre. If you only looked at each item in there for only 10 seconds, you'd still be there for 3 weeks. I managed to do it all in 3 hours, but it was still a rush. To be honest, it was quite boring. The only thing I really wanted to see was the Mona Lisa, so I did that straight away. It was night so there weren't so many people there so I was able to get right up to the front. Quite underwhelming. It's tiny. And it's the only thing on the wall. And it's opposite perhaps one of the largest paintings in the museum. Anyways, after that, I didn't even know what else there was to see. Consulting my brochure, I saw that they had highlighted some of the more famous works (which I didn't know), so I headed towards those works. Nothing in the museum really caught my attention. I loved the marble statues in the courtyard, but all the paintings were quite boring. What caught my attention was some interpretive dance that was going on in the Finnish/Dutch art section. I entered the room and saw a woman who I thought was doing some weird stretches. Didn't think too much of it, until I saw a kid start to do the robot. And then a guy started doing pirouettes. This was the most interesting thing in the Louvre for me. I actually sat down on the ground and just watched them for half an hour. After their performance, I moved on and found out that a lot of the other rooms had dancers in them as well. Wonder what was going on. Anyways, I made my way through the entire Louvre, and exited quite exhausted. Had a quick dinner of Maccas and headed home and went to bed right away. End day.
Day 31: Woke up at 4am really hungry. With nothing simple to eat, I decided to sautee some mushrooms ad potatoes. Yes. At 4am. It was only then that I was able to get back to sleep. As a result, I had a very late start to the day. Ended up leaving the house at almost 1pm. Headed over to Pere Lachaise cemetary to check out the largest cemetary in France. The two most famous graves were of Jim Morrison (of The Doors) and Oscar Wilde. Wilde's grave was quite elaborate and had a stone monument on top of it, which was covered in graffiti (all kind words) and kisses. Seriously. Who kisses a tombstone? Apart from those graves, they also had a list of "famous" people. I had no idea who most of them were, so I assume that they were famous French people. I did however recognise Chopin and Gay-Lussac, so I went to their graves. They did not receive as much love as Wilde though. I got lost so many times walking around in the cemetary. There are street names to help you navigate the 100 or so divisions of land, but it's still hard to find your way without a map.
After the cemetary, it was time to make use of my museum pass. Headed to L'Orangerie to see some Monet pieces, but that was all that was in there. That place has nothing of attraction. And then I found out that the Monet pieces were only in there because the D'Orsay was undergoing renovations so they moved those pieces into the L'Orangerie. After spending 15 minutes in there, I headed across the Seine to D'Orsay. This took a bit more time cos there was a lot more to see. But I think I may have overdosed on museums/galleries. Everything starts to look the same. There was only one painting that really caught my attention and had me admiring it for a while. I don't remember the name of it or who painted it though. I just remember that it was picture of a few cows pulling a yoke. Interesting topic for a painting, but there was something about this painting that had me intrigued. Anyways, after a quick round through D'Orsay, I headed over to LaDuree again to buy some more macarons. Can't get enough of that place!! Dinner was pasta with bolognaise sauce, with mushrooms and bacon. It seems like I'm cooking so much nowadays. Although I think that won't be happening anymore since I'll be back in hostels soon and I won't always have access to a fully-stocked kitchen.
Day 32: Today. I hate French trains so much. Sure, they're more efficient than Cityrail (who isn't?) but I hate how crowded their trains are even when it's not peak hour. It's so hard to get off a train. Even their suburban trains are annoying. More space (and more like our Sydney trains), but they always seem to be broken/delayed. Had to wait freakin' ages to get a train to get out to Versailles to check out the castle and the massive gardens. Anyways, once I got there, I was impressed greatly with the sheer size of the place. And the way everything was gold was also impressive. No wonder the French started revolting against the king. He and Marie-Antoinette wasted all money on their huge estate and did nothing to help the country and its people. Today was simply a day to explore the castle and its grounds. And I really needed it. Even just walking around took a while. Just like I had overdosed with museums, I think I also overdosed with castles. I mean, it was nice inside, but it just looked like everything I had seen before. There was an interesting exhibition going on though. A Japanses artist was displaying his works all throughout the castle, which made the visit a bit more interesting. It was odd to see an old room with all the original furniture and paintings and then see his odd Japanese anime-style sculpture. But I actually found those sculptures more interesting than the old crap. It was something new, which is something I desperately need.
Anyways, after finishing the castle, I headed out into the massive gardens. And then the amazing happened!! It started snowing!! This isn't the first time I've been in snow, but this is the first time I've enjoyed it. The first time was during year 6 camp, and once we got up into the mountains, we got caught in a blizzard and had to head home. It was a painful experience. But today was nothing like that. Today was awesome!! I got so excited that I had to take a video of it, but you couldn't really see the snow in it sadly. But yeah, I can now say that I've walked whilst it's been snowing. I was also walking around with my tongue hanging out like an idiot, cos I was trying to catch snowflakes. I didn't care if people stared. No one was going to ruin my awesome experience with snow!! Anyways, the snowing didn't really last that long, and after it stopped, I had nothing to be excited about anymore lol. As a result I headed home (after having to wait half an hour for a delayed train, and then being forced to get off cos it broke down and catch a tram and then another train to get home).
Anyways, I can't believe that my time in Paris is about to end so soon. I'm only here for another day tomorrow, and then the day after, I'll be training it up to either Brussels or Bruges. Paris is a city that I will always love, and I will definitely be coming back here. I just don't know if I could live here. My cousin hates living and working here cos of the people. Personally, I haven't had too many bad experiences with the people here, but in terms of living, I think I would definitely prefer London over Paris. I feel more at home in London. But for now, I kinda don't wanna leave Paris. Awesome city and free accommodation. What more could you want? Do I really want to go to all those other countries, and spend hours and hours on trains? It is something I've considered - not going to all those countries. I think I've been caught up in the fact that it's a Eurotrip and I've tried to fit too much in. I've already cut countries from my schedule, and I wouldn't actually mind cutting more. But I guess I need to do the basics. I don't wanna look back later and regret not making the most of my time in Europe. Bah we'll see what happens. As you can see, my trip is very disorganised and spontaneous (which was what I had originally wanted). Well, I guess I should make the most of my remaining time in Paris and eat all the amazing food that I can.
HBL signing out from Paris, France. C'est la vie!!
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