Paris, Part One

Paris- I really forget what people call it; the city of love, the city of lights, whatever.  For me, it was the city of walking.  

I arrived in Paris after a four hour train ride, which was really relaxing.  Trains are so much better than airplanes, especially here in Europe (it's one of those things like I mentioned in my last post; people have their sh*t together here.)  Stepping off the train, I immediately bought a tourist map, because I am absolutely horrible with directions, and while a taxi is extremely easy, it is also extremely expensive, something which I learned not even my first day in France.

It was a pretty straight shot to my hostel from the Gare (Train Station), right past the monument to the Bastille; basically one of the biggest traffic circles I've ever seen.  Checking in, the lady at the front desk complimented me on my French, which was nice, even though she didn't know I was a student in France...

Being tired after lugging around a big suitcase to the hostel, I elected to stay nearby for the evening, so I ended going to the nearest thing: The Cemetery Père Lachaise.  Let me mention that this was also the 31st- Halloween.  I'd say it was pretty cool being able to wander around a cemetery during Halloween at sunset.

A not-so-secret of The Père Lachaise?  It's the final resting place of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors (which happens to be my father's favorite band.)  Of course I had to see his tomb, where I found other Americans having the same thing in mind.

Half the graffiti is loving fans, the other half is angry French people mad that there's an American buried in their cemetery.

I returned to the hostel for the night, where I ran into my roommates for the next three days, a Canadian, a Brazilian woman who spoke little English, and Sylvan.

I actually didn't formally meet him until the next morning, where I saw him on the way back from buying bread for breakfast.  He was sitting outside a café next to the hostel, so I sat down with him.  He was French, from Bordeaux, which, like Montpellier, is in the South of France.  He was gay, which he loved to joke about in his limited (but still very correct) English.  He knew Paris pretty well, and after buying me a coffee, he told me some neat places to visit, including outside of the regular touristy places.

After thanking him, I went on my way to go explore the town.  I actually found Paris extremely easy to navigate, despite my horrible sense of direction.  I literally got of on one of the major Metro stops, and just started to walk.  There are just so many monuments around that you can follow one to another; The Opera, The Place de Vendom, the Jardin de Tuilleries, the Champs Elysées, L'Arc de Triomph...