First, if someone was trying to see the Vines that I had linked to the previous post and that weren't working...sorry. I'll fix them soon, I promise.
So just like yesterday today consisted of me just (re)discovering the city. I started out by walking along the river. I found the infamous lock bridge. My understanding is that this tradition started on the Pont des Arts, where lovers would attach a lock to the bridge and then throw the key into the Seine to represent that their love could never be unlocked. But as I walked around the city (and even in London) I saw that this tradition had spread far past its original location.
And this year, due to the weight of so many locks a part of the bridge actually collapsed. The city had to ask people to stop adding locks to the bridge to avoid structural damage. (I don't think this is the city approved sign, well I hope it isn't).
I made my way to the Latin Quarter, so named because when the universities there were first set up all of the classes were taught in Latin. It is on the Left Bank of the Seine, which has the reputation for being the artsy/bohemian area of Paris. I made sure to stop by Gilles Jeune which is this massive bookstore. Five stories of a ton of books. It's like a mix of a university bookstore and the Strand in New York.
In the last few trips I've really come to look forward to going to the bookstores in Paris because I like the Bande Désinée (just figured out how to get accents--hellz yeah!!!). What we would call graphic novels in the states. It is an interesting cultural difference between the US and France (well, at least Paris) in that I feel like there is a larger number of graphic novels (BD in France) that just deal with the everyday. And that are geared towards adults. I am far from being an expert on graphic novels and comics, so I'm sure those with more knowledge might easily dispute my claims, but I feel like we would never see a Miss Pas Touche in the US. Or an Ordinaray Victories. My favorite comic that I have discovered is Les Nombrils. It is fun, and comedic in the sense that in real life what happens would be too outrageous, but also it is extremely real and honest in its way.
I stopped at a restaurant for a snack--pommes frites et une bière (fench fries and a beer) where I sat outside and wrote postcards. I was trying to find a restaurant that Gus and I had been too where we got ginormous beers and sat outside, but I don't know if it isn't there anymore or they redecorated because I wasn't sure that any of the places around was it.
After my mini-break I went towards the Louvre. I wanted to see if I could find the first hotel that I had stayed at in Paris when I came by myself. The Hotel du Lion D'Or. I couldn't find it (but I was close). I remember it was in the 1st arrondisement because I was nervous to be too far out from the city central. (The arrondisements are municipal sections of Paris with 1 being in the center and the arrondisements spiraling out from the center to the edge of the city (no 20)).
Anyway, I went to the Louvre to take pictures. They have actually set up platforms for tourists to stand on so that they can take pictures that look like they are touching the top of the pyramid that acts an entrance to the Louvre. (It's one of those optical illusion photos, like people "holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa).
As I was walking away from the Louvre I ran into a protest of lawyers. If there is one thing the french know how to do, it's how to protest. I had apparently just missed a transit strike the week before my visit!
Once I had waded through the protest I made my way to the Canal St. Martin. This is one of the areas of Paris I have never visited before. I was made aware of the area from the movie "Amelie".
After the Canal St. Martin, I made my way back closer to the neighborhood I was staying in and I met my mom's friends Rich and Sandy. They live in Paris and my mom met them when she lived there in the late 60's/early 70's. I got to the meeting spot really early and just wandered around for a while waiting for them. I wasn't sure if I had to worry about being too early or too late. I wasn't sure what the etiquette for that is. hahaha. Like do people always get to things late, or is it rude and I needed to be there on time? Anyway, I probably looked a little like a crazy person just wandering around the same We went out to dinner and just talked about stuff. I told them all about roller derby.
After dinner I met Charlotte and she walked me around the 14th arrondisement (where I was staying). It was cool to be out at night just walking around and talking about stuff. I saw some great street art.
This was the end of my last night in Paris. It was a great experience. A mix of the old and the new. I made new friends, connected with my mom's old ones. Visited my standard tourist traps and found some new ones. Paris never gets old. It is a beautiful city to just be in. Just walk around and look at how amazingly stunning it is. There is no city in the world like it (well, I haven't been to all of the cities in the world...) If you gave me a plane ticket back there right now, I would jump up and down with joy and be ready to experience the city all over again.
