Oo La La

What did I do today? Today's blog actually starts with last night. Yesterday I had met one of my hostel mates, John, from California and talked with him for a bit. Nice guy. Later in the evening I went up and he was talking with Ashley. She had moved into the room at some point while I was gone. The three of us got to talking a bit about where we're from (Ashley is from Montana), and all that good stuff. After while John took off to the Laundromat to wash some clothes so me and Ashley kept our conversation going.

It was so lovely: she's a big reader and we talked about everything including books, politics, point of views, experiences, it was such a great conversation. Even at one point she said she knew she go to bed, but was really enjoying our chat, that she wasn't going to. And she said it was great to speak continuously with someone in English. Huh? I didn't get it either. Turns out she majored in French in college and got a contract immediately after graduating to teach English to French students in the south of France. So she's been away from her finance, her family, her friends, everyone for 8 months. The reason she was in Paris yesterday and today is because a friend from the States is flying in to get married this weekend, and Ashley was waiting for them to show up because they're going to stay at someones house the next few nights before the wedding on Saturday.

I had mentioned I was thinking of going to Montmartre today (Thursday) and she said that she had no plans and would actually like to up there to see if she could find a painting, so she asked if I'd mind if she came. OF COURSE NOT!!! I am so glad for any company – I'm learning, especially new people, because it's so fun to hear about them and discover you're not alone in ways you think and common interests. It's weird starting over every time I meet someone, but sort of cool too. It's interesting to think that some day I'll remember this girl (woman) 20 years from now, have no clue where's she at, but no matter what she's remembered by me of all people. It's sort of cool how people leave little imprints in your life.

Ashley and I took off this morning and used the metro – and bonus, she's fluent in French so I didn't have to deal with the ticket person or anything! It's quite convenient to have your own interpreter with you (it'd be better if I could do it myself, but since that's not currently an option this was pretty good). We arrived to Montmartre and climbed, I'm not even joking, 200 stairs to the top (you better believe I was feeling it), but it was totally worth it.

Right at the top was the Sacre Coueur. For those of you who don't speak French, the translation is the Sacred Heart. It's this monumental church with quite an interesting history. A long time ago a bunch of Muslims were immigrating to this part of Paris and the King and the Church didn't want anything other than Christianity, so they built this huge church in the style of a Mosque hoping to draw Muslims in and slowly in cooperate Christianity into what they were teaching with the idea they'd eventually become Christians. And it worked. Another fun fact was in WWII 13 bombs were dropped right on top of Montmartre. Here's the thing, Montmartre is the highest point in Paris and not hard to miss if you're going to drop 13 bombs – it's just a tiny little bohemian village on the hill. Everyone in the village flocked to the church and everyone survived. The church remained untouched. Since then it's been considered to be this really sacred and holy place (other than the fact it's a church). Oh, my gosh, you guys should see the inside of this place, it's huge. When I walked in the big open dome that's favored in so many of the churches over here has this huge scene on it. Originally I thought it was a painting, which would have been impressive, but it wasn't until Ashley pointed out other “paintings” and showed me they're actually mosaic work. A bunch of teeny tiny tiles comprised to create one big picture. I looked at the tiles, they're lucky to be one centimeter by one centimeter big. They're what made the big picture on the ceiling. The reason I'm describing this instead of pictures is because there is absolutely no pictures allowed in the building. You get in big trouble if you're caught.
 

After walking through the Sacred Heart we walked around the village a bit including the art area – this is where all the artist set up little stalls and try to sell their paintings/sketches, etc, while working on other things. Oh, it was cool! I wish I had a ton of extra money so I could have gotten some of the big ones, but between needing the money, I have no way to travel with painting and shipping them home would be a nightmare. I'd be so afraid of them being damaged. But still really neat to peruse. When I come back to Paris, I'm definitely coming here again.

After looking at the art we continued our walk through the area which was fantastic. We walked by the Moulin Rouge!!! I wish I had seen it 50 years ago when it was still a little grittier, because they've modernized it up a bit – you can actually go in a see a show and have dinner, but it'll run you 300 Euros – roughly $450 per person. I'll do that next time.

We decided we would really like some ice cream, since the sun was shining (it wasn't suppose to; it was suppose to rain here all day), and we wanted something nice a cool. Ashley had been to Paris several times before and knew a really good stand a few blocks from Notre Dame, so we hopped the metro back down and looked for some ice cream. All I have to say is it's a really good thing ice cream in America is not like the stuff over here, or I'd be eating nothing but ice cream. I had a really good chocolate ice cream cone – the thing was gone in 3 minutes.

While enjoying our delicious treats we walked in front of Notre Dame – it's a mutually favorite place of ours. Ashley actually told me some stuff I didn't know: there are three doors on the front of the church, the first to the far left depicts the coronation of Mary. The middle is the Door of Judgment, and third is the Door of Health – all the statues show all of this. Just like the Sistine Chapel, there is so much more behind the statues and figures than looking cool. When they built these things, they had a purpose, they didn't just slap any old statue or figure in there. Remind me to tell you about the Martyr of Paris (it has to do with Montmartre and Notre Dame).

After that we sort of just walked around the city and went and looked at the Pantheon. This is where they bury all the important people. Victor Hugo, the author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mary Curie, and so many others are buried here.

We walked around the streets a bit more and decided to come back to the hostel. We sat and talked for awhile, trying to decide what to do, but we didn't have that much energy after walking around all day. At that point her friend's plane landed and they were coming to pick Ashley up. So she packed and we said good-bye. She's heading back to Montana on Sunday to go back to school to be a lawyer.

It was super nice to spend the day with some one who has been in Paris before – actually a lot of the information I got today came from Ashley because she's taken all the tours before and she's been living in France for almost a year and has learned a lot about French history. It was just a really nice day. I feel so content right now.

I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. If it's nice I might actually walk to the Eiffel Tower and read in the park for awhile. I don't know yet. It's turning out to be really nice to stay in one place for awhile. I'm not rushing, rushing, rushing, to get everything crammed in.

It seems weird that I've been away for a week and a half. Sometimes I think “It's only been a week and a half” because I've been doing so much I feel so much more time has gone by, but then I'm thinking about everything I still am going to do and I think there's not enough time to do that.

I realize this post is getting long, so I'll wrap it up here, but I'd like to close with this: this trip has been such a learning experience. In 12 days time I have been plunged right into a whole new world, emerging with new perspectives on the world and myself. I don't know how much will stick with me when I come home, but this is something that can't be undone. I can never not have done this trip. It's a scarily comforting thought.

Till later my Homies!!! As always, I love and miss you!!! Can't wait to see and hug everyone!