Europe adventure. Day 25 & 26 of 34.

Written at a cafe outside of the Victoria Bus Station on day 34.

Alexa and I were woken up at 8am by Risa. It was such a motherly thing to do it made me feel a bit out of place. They had to get going in order to catch their plane home, though, so I changed and made sure I had all my things. When the bathroom was free I brushed my teeth. I had showered the night before, so it wasn't a problem that I didn't have time that morning. As they gathered all their things and made some necessary phone calls I had a banana with Trader Joe's peanut butter and a cup of coffee.

I got in the taxi with them, cutting off some of the walk to the metro. I got off at the Gare de Lyon train station where I had first arrived, thinking I would put my luggage there again. Then I realized it made no sense to leave my luggage when I had to meet my host at 2pm in an entirely different part of the city. I walked into a little jewelry store while I was there, though, buying a couple of things. At least I had something to show for being there.



I got back on the metro and got off at Champs-Elysees, which Alexa told me was the must-see shopping street. Well, I saw it. Besides the Disney store, I didn't see anywhere I wanted to go to. Expensive, big name stores. Pretty boring. At the top was The Arc de Triomphe, which was interesting. Pretty arches seemed common in Paris, and Europe in general.


I was hungry, and for some reason I chose this really fancy place to eat. Maybe just because I could. The prices were outrageous. I spent €15 on a very small, very good salad, praying it would fill me up. It did, a bit. It was an experience, I guess. I won't do it next time. I'll spend the money, sure, but on more food. Maybe even with dessert.

At the metro station on the way to go meet my host (early), there was a dried fruit vendor, interesting and exotic. I was still hungry, or at least thinking of dessert, so I stared at all the strange things they had dried and candied. I ended up getting a little bit of mango, pineapple, kiwi, kumquat and hibiscus. Very weird looking, dried hibiscus. I took the metro to the meeting place I had arranged with my host, outside of a McDonald's that was pretty easy to find. Then I waited.

A mixture of boredom and lingering hunger led me to go in the McDonald's. I was kind of curious if it would be exactly the same as every other McDonald's or if in France it was different. Well the prices were not the same, that's for sure. Much more expensive. Of course there was no dollar menu. Maybe the quality of food reflected the change in price. I don't know for sure, but I did taste their "gourmet potatoes" (different than their fries) and they were pretty good.

Sofiane arrived and I saw him through the window. He saw me as well, but since I was eating he wasn't sure it was me. I ran outside to meet him and we headed to his house. He's a very cool person and we had some nice conversations. I thought his job, doing the lighting for theater performances, was very interesting.

I left the apartment to explore more of Paris, almost immediately getting pestered by a Middle Eastern man who was hanging around on the next block. I ignored him, politely telling him I was busy when he refused to listen and followed me down the street. He seemed pretty harmless, but his desperation was a bit terrifying. And extremely annoying.

I made my way down the street, at some point reaching the Pompidou museum of modern art, which was surrounded by cool little shops. Vintage clothing, art of all kinds, strange trinkets. It was an area I could have wandered around for hours and spent a lot of money. I did buy a few things, but I forced myself to continue on.

When I got to the area around the Notre Dame I find myself in front of a gelato stand. As usual. I tried the mango, which was delicious. I walked around the cathedral, taking pictures and wishing I had a better view of the gargoyles and the pigeons that perched on them.  I had the urge to do the Quasimodo and climb it. I sat on the stairs in front of it and just looked at it for a a while. There was a little girl talking about the movie and the goat, which made me smile.

As it started to get dark, I got in the metro back to the apartment. I stopped in the way at a tourist information spot and asked about a museum pass, thinking it might be worth it. Sadly they were out of two day passes and the main office was closed. I thought about it more and decided not to get it.

As I took the escalator back into the street off the metro another irritating guy said hi to me, and I just glared I'm front of me and gritted my teeth. However my patience did snap when the guy from before showed up again, his persistence getting creepy. He asked me again for one drink and I said no rather harshly. He acted hurt and skulked away. I heard him say, "You're not happy" in a kind of accusatory tone as he left. Maybe he had noticed my expression. I said, just loud enough for him to hear, "No, I don't like being harassed. Jesus fucking Christ." And then I was back at Sofiane's apartment.

Sofiane had told me earlier that he could get me into a play about Sherlock Holmes in French that night. He told me he was busy, but if I went there and told them his name they would give me a ticket. I knew I wouldn't know a word they were saying, but I wanted to go anyway.

I got there at the same time as a large crowd of people and wound my way around the queue to the lady at the desk. She didn't speak English, but sure enough, she gave me a ticket at the mention of Sofiane. I waited in line with the rest of the ticket holders.

In the play a nice young woman next to me helped explain the basic story. It was quite well done, I could tell that much. The actors had talent. I wished I could understand their witty lines, because I could tell they were.

I was tired. The glass of wine Sofiane has given me earlier may not have helped. I nodded off once or twice during the performance. Their voices were pretty as I drifted into a doze. When I got back to the apartment afterward Sofiane pulled the bed out of the red couch and I went to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning Sofiane was still sleeping. I read my book, took a shower and did the dishes. Starving, I left to find breakfast. I had no idea if Sofiane would be there when I got back, but it didn't occur to me that it would be hard to contact him.

At a crepe and sandwich stand I saw what looked like yogurt with strawberry jam, and since it was the first food I had seen that I could eat I took it. It ended up being some sort of custard, but it was very good. Not filling, though. I stopped again at the next place with yogurt and got a peach flavored one. This time it really was yogurt.

I was still hungry. I wanted to actually sit down and eat. I kept my eye out for a cafe where I could eat and found one that seemed okay. I sat at the bar next to a stylish looking older woman with short hair and glasses. She was reading a newspaper. I sat down and pointed at something called fromage blanc on the menu, asking what it was. It was translated strangely, but I thought it might be yogurt. I hadn't gotten sick of that idea yet, surprisingly.

It was the woman sitting next to me well answered me. In a very American accent she told me it was like yogurt, but it wasn't. She said it was good. Taking her word for it I ordered a tea and fromage blanc with honey. It really was good. I asked the woman where she was from before she went back to her newspaper and she said she was from Puerto Rico, but lived in Miami and spent a lot of time in Paris. My mind struggled to wrap around that story, but I couldn't really figure it out. I wished I could have asked her more, but she was busy reading.

Finally full, I went back to the Pompidou, this time intending to go in. On the way I passed one of the many homeless people in the city. Quite a few of them had animals there with them. Dogs, cats, bunnies, etc. They must have known that the cuteness would bring them a lot more money. This woman had a cat that looked just like a younger version of Zala, one of my family's cats. I couldn't help giving her some change.

The Pompidou museum was fantastic. The building itself was amazing, though strange. The art was full of weirdness and creativity, some things beautiful some things just gross or just strange. I really loved it. It took me at least a couple of hours to see everything, but I did, and it wasn't a museum so big that it was impossible to, like the Louvre.  

Afterward I went back to the Notre Dame. Following my ears I found a pretty wonderful band playing off to the side, surrounded by people. Just as I got there, though, police came and told them to leave. It was amazing how many more cheers and donations they got as they were shooed away.

I went into the Notre Dame, reading while in line. It was impressive, I must say. I did enjoy being inside those giant walls, with the music playing and the candles burning. It was beautiful. And the bells! Oh, that was so cool. They started to go off when I was outside and I just stood and listened. I could have listened all day.

I got in another line to go up the bell tower. This one cost money, but I figured it was worth it. I would get to see those gargoyles up close. It was definitely worth it. I love those gargoyles, and the building, and just being up there looking out over Paris. I chatted with a Canadian couple in the way down who recommended the island next to the one we were on for dinner.

My phone just about ran out of battery as I was taking pictures. I couldn't even take any at the top. Of course that is what I thought of, not talking to my host. That occurred to me later.  I figured I might as well have dinner, though. Maybe I could use my last two seconds of battery to use the internet at a restaurant.

I went to an Italian restaurant that advertised an entree and dessert special. I had to cross the bridge covered in locks to get there. It was a cool bridge, with a very nice view of Notre Dame. At the restaurant I ordered a salmon dish as my entree and pana cotta as my dessert. I had no idea what pana cotta would be like, but it seemed good. I also ordered a glass of rose wine, which I liked.

While I waited for my food I talked to a woman sitting next to me, also by herself. Her name was Judy, and she was from the US and traveling by herself like me, but about 20 years later in her life. It was fun to talk to her and she seemed to love hearing about my travels. She let me have some of the dessert that she chose, called floating island. It was light and fluffy with a very nice flavor. I liked the pana more, I think.

When Judy was gone and I had finished everything but my wine I started up a conversation with another couple who I could hear were from the United States. Their names were Sharyl and John and they were very nice. They offered me some of their wine when I had finished mine, but I declined. I had to go see if I could find Sofiane.

By some miracle I didn't have to contact him via the internet. I did try unsuccessfully and I was worried that I would have to sit outside the apartment and wait for him if he wasn't home. But almost as soon as I left the restaurant I ran into him on the street.  Problem solved. These things seem to happen to me.

He was in his way to meet with another couchsurfer for a drink and I went along happily. On the way he showed me the Shakespeare and Company book store, which made me even happier. It was amazing book store, but I just took a quick look around and promised myself I'd be back. We walked by a comic book store I had ran into the day before and I committed its location to memory. I was very glad Sofiane was willing to go out of his way to show me around a bit.

Both of the bars Sofiane liked were closed for the summer, so when we finally got to the patiently waiting CSer he was out of ideas. Either Adrian, the couchsurfer, or I suggested buying a couple bottles of wine, so Sofiane led us to a store and we bought a bottle each. I didn't intend to drink much of it, thinking of it more as a gift.

We sat by the Seinne and drank wine, along with a bunch of other people with the same idea. It was raining a little, but we were mostly dry under the branches of the trees. I had a glass or two while the others finished off the bottles. Adrian was very fun. Especially when he had a lot of wine in him. He made very little sense.

At just before midnight Adrian had to leave to catch the last metro and Sofiane and I started to walk back to the apartment. We stopped at a lesbian bar on the way, having one shot and dancing for a while. It was fun, but I didn't get the chance to talk to anyone there and I felt a little left out.

I fell asleep even faster than I had the night before that night. I basically pulled out the bed and collapsed in it all at once.