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Showing posts from September, 2013

Day 11, Paris to Venice, September 30th

Get lost in Venice?  Check. Woke up this morning, briefly chatted with our new German roommate, and then checked out.  Went to a laundromat for about two hours, which was surprisingly expensive. We then rented bikes for two hours (no helmets!).  It reminded me of driving in England, but the speeds and stakes were lower.  Visited many of the sights we had already seen: Eiffel Tower, River Seine, Tulliers, Obelisk, Champ de élysées, Arc D'triumph.  Then hurried to lock bikes and pick up luggage from hostel. Took a few metros to Orly airport, then slowly figured out security.  Reiter had bought a glass Eiffel Tower filled with brandy, but it was over the liquid limit to they threw it away :(.  Plane arrived late and was poorly coordinated, but eventually we left. Landed in Italy and took a bus to Venice.  I love Venice already.  Hostel is great.  The rooms are scattered all over the city, and completely disassociated from one another.  We are in a roo

Day 10, Paris, September 29th

Running out of things to do in Paris, but another easy day because of it. Woke up, had breakfast and said goodbye to our German roommates (they left today).  They headed over to the Musee d'orsee. I've never really liked art museums (or paintings in general), and with my feet hurting, so many art museums seen, and so many to go, I didn't really care for it.  There were some great statues though, and I enjoyed 4 or 5 of the paintings.  I came up with a chant to sustain myself: "Art! Art! Look at all the art! Art is everywhere, Look at all the art!" After the musee, we grabbed lunch.  For pre-lunch I had a lemon juice and sugar crepe, which was one of the best sweet Crepes I have ever had.  Now, to the Tulliers! We crossed over a bridge which had thousands of locks clipped onto it.  The idea is you write you and your lovers' name on the lock, clip it onto the railing, and throw the key in the river.  Great idea. We

Day 9, Paris, September 28th

Woke up, grabbed a quick croissant and coffee at a Cafe, and headed over to Versailles.  I can see why the peasants revolted!  So much wealth in one person's hands is absurd.  Gold and paintings everywhere. Gardens were nice, very big.  Saw some cool sculptures and hung around until 3:30 to see all the fountains activate.  Very nice. There were huge lines to buy a ticket back because the machines only took coins or European cards.  None of the tourists could do it, but they didn't figure that out until two or three minutes in front of each machine.  Thats after waiting ten minutes in line.  Terribly run, just the worst.  This must happen every day. Went to the Latin quarter, had some Crepes.  Walked around.  Got lost in the streets.  Saw the Tintin in Africa (a bookbefore the official series).  Followed some spraypainted stars on the sidewalk for 4 or 5 blocks.  Still not the Paris of movies, but nicer than other places. Took metro to Arc de Tr