Mon dernièr jour à Paris

Man. Did two weeks in Paris ever fly by. I can't believe I'll be in Berlin this time tomorrow.

I started the morning off with a stroll through Montmartre while I did laundry. It took a while, given that I'm dead scared of ruining my whites again and refuse to wash them with anything else. I probably spent 20€ on detergent and machine use. When I get home I'm gonna do laundry every day just because I can.

Exhibit at Hotel de Ville

When I finally finished that up, I caught the metro to Hôtel de Ville and went to the free exhibit there on "Paris vu par Hollywood"- Paris as seen through the eyes of America, essentially. Since admission was free, I splurged on the English audio guide, which was a good thing since all the captions were in French only. It was a neat exhibit! Small, but succinct because of that. They made use of lots of video clips (obviously), and also props and sketches and things from different movies set in Paris. I especially enjoyed the Audrey Hepburn section. She is so cool.

After the exhibit I popped over to Angelina, the famous "salon de thé" frequented by Coco and Audrey back in the day. I went all out. Set me back 32€, but last day in Paris, right? I had the "Angelina Omelette" for lunch. Then I went full on classic. Had the "l'Africain" chocolat chaud and the "mont blanc", their signature sweet. Oh. My. God. So decadent. So rich.

Mont Blanc and Chocolat Chaud

The Mont Blanc was a meringue topped with Chantilly whipped cream and a chestnut chocolate icing. Man alive. The hot chocolate was actually hot, melted chocolate- maybe that chile chocolate kind- it had bite. And it was served with a little pot of whipped cream, so you could mix it how you liked it. Just. Ah. So good. I can't even describe it. So good.

It did take me like, 25 minutes to flag down my waiter and get the bill, which meant I was late meeting Kevin and Walter at Champs des Mars. Not to mention I thought we were meeting at the station and they thought we were meeting in the park. It all worked out though, because luckily for us, the park had a "buddy bear" display on. Think spirit bears/orcas in Van. Painted bear statues. There were bears from all the UN nations and the boys figured- correctly- that if they hung out by the Canada bear long enough, I'd roll by. The Canada bear was unexpectedly lacking in red and white, so it actually took a while to find, but we were eventually reunited. We met a few other Canadian travelers by hanging near our bear. Man. I love Canada.

le tour Eiffel

After getting a good sentimental gaze in at the Eiffel Tower we went back to the apartment to regroup before our celebratory last night together. We had some sweet 3 part harmony jams and decided to go for dinner at a pub in Montparnasse that was allegedly holding an open mic night. Turns out that wasn't true, so we by chance tried a restaurant/bar du vin on the opposite street corner. By chance there was live jazz that night. By chance, a table became available right in front of the band.

Choosing that restaurant was the best coincidental decision we could have made. We shared a nice rosé, the boys had some French fare while I munched on a humungo salad. "Les deux Guy's" (both guitarists are named Guy. Its such a clever name in both english and french!) played a few tunes while we ate and then took a break. At that point it was just a trio- two guitarists and a stand up bass player.

During our meal I'd been naming the charts they were playing and saying how much fun it'd be to get up and sing. Purely musing, but the boys leaped on the idea and Walter actually asked one of the guitarists if I could sing with them. He was so nice and open to the idea! Asked me what I wanted to sing, and when I asked if they knew "All of Me" he replied "Bien Sûr!" and started humming it. He walked away, I think to chat with his fellow band members, the came back and said "All of Me, et puis!?" They wanted me to sing more than one! I was flipping out. My cheeks were so red.

Walter suggested "Autumn Leaves" (a favourite among Parisians, I've gathered), and then one of the Guy's suggested Satin Doll. So that was that! For their second set the band was joined by a younger tenor sax player. They did a couple songs and then invited me up. The restaurant patrons were so gracious when I was introduced.

We did "All of Me" first. I sang the head, the sax and guitar took solos, and then I think I may have thrown them a bit when I started scatting. Holy man though, was it ever fun!! The next two charts went fine as well. I love that music is an international language and that we could figure out the setup of the song, the intros and endings, despite the fact that my French and their English were both somewhat limited.

After the third song I sang, the audience was calling for an encore, which made me blush like nobody's business. I really didn't know what else to sing, but the band had a binder of standards to flip through. In the meantime, we were discovering that (again by chance!) the 15 of Novembre is a fête of types in Paris, where they celebrate this certain label of red wine, le Beaujolais. The band had written a cute little song about it to the tube of "just a gigilo" and had the whole restaurant sing along. It was hilarious. By now, the boys and I were getting free wine poured for us by both the band members, and their friends there watching. Pretty epic.

After a couple more tunes I got up and sang "Sunny Side of the Street". The band members were a little tipsy, which made for some fun. On the second head the lead guitarist stood up and kinda sang with me. It was great and really gave me the confidence to just have some fun up there. After that set finished the band came and sat with us and we spent maybe 40 minutes just chatting about nothing in particular and having some real laughs. The bassist is also a cartoonist and drew a caricature of me singing. Gonna treasure that forever. The band did a couple more songs at the end of the night- some really fun Dixieland sounding numbers. You could hear the wine. Haha. So many bottles of that beaujo going around.

Me and my gracious Parisian hosts

At the end of the night we exchanged emails and took photos. When I paid the bill, the waiter gave me a pear liqueur on the house for "my beautiful voice". So nice! And actually the liqueur is supposed to be good for your throat, and it did indeed warm it up quite nicely!!!

We left the restaurant around midnight and made it home half an hour later after some ridiculous antics on the metro. Truly an unforgettable night. I can't think of a better way to have spent my last hours in Paris. I owe Kevin and Walter such enormous thanks for making my time here so wonderful. I don't want to leave! But Berlin beckons. On to the next adventure!!

Paris, Je t'aime

Voyager au South of France!

Tuesday/Wednesday this week Kevin and I embarked on part two of our train journey across France. After ticking the north off our list on the weekend, we embarked Tuesday afternoon for Marseilles, one of the Southern most tips of France.

We caught a train out of Paris at 12:30pm, and arrived in Marseilles at 4pm. Our train for Avignon left at 5:46pm. Blitz adventure time!!!! We took a metro to the "old port" and then walked (quite a ways. The tourism website lied to me. 10 mins. Yeah right) to the "Plage des Catalans". It was quite lovely to see the sea. It was a sandy beach, and the sun was just beginning to set. Kevin, crazy boy that he is, went swimming.

                                   

Me and Kev in Marseilles

We had to rush back to the train station, this time taking a bus and then metro, and only JUST made the train. I was freaking the hell out. It all worked out in the end though.

Our slightly creepy YMCA room

We took a bus to central Avignon and had about 40 mins to kill, so we took a wander and grabbed some street food for dinner. I had a yummy ham and cheese omelette and Kevin had a massive kebab that was just exploding with meat. We made it to YMCA hostel at about 8:30. It was pretty abandoned and creepy!!!! But it had beds, which was really all we needed.

We watched a couple episodes of Fringe (oh man!!!!) and went to bed at midnight.

Palais des Popes

The next morning we checked out at 9:30 and took the bus into the heart of Avignon. We took a wander through the nice old timey streets and made it to the "Palais des Popes". We were there for about an hour. It had a lot of big beautiful rooms, some of which worked for singing- this time Kev and I tried Ave Maris Stella.

After the Pope's place we went to the PONT d'AVIGNON!!! AND DANCED ON IT!!!!!! Seriously. So much fun. It was also quite a pretty view when walking across the bridge.

Sur le Pont d'Avignon!!!

We had crêpes for lunch (I'm dumb), took a nice walk back to our bus stop, and then back to the train station. It took an hour to get from Avignon to Lyon. When we got there, we took a metro to "Vieux Lyon", and then a funicular up the hill to Notre Dame de Funière. It was Kevin's favourite church of his trip so far. It was very Romanesque looking. Not only was there a gorgeous sanctuary on the ground level, there was another one beneath that seemed like it was dedicated to Mary. The staircases down had "Ave Maria" written out in a bunch of different languages on the walls. We also stumbled across a random English church service- at 3pm on a Wednesday in Lyon. Who knew?

Notre Dame de Funiere

Europe's oldest church

After coming back down the funicular we took a wander down Rue St. Jean- such an adorable street. Kevin discovered the joys of "vin chaud" and now has a favourite new drink. Eventually we visited the cathedral St. Jean- so many churches this trip! Behind the building there were ruins of one of the first churches of Christianity, dating back to 700AD or something ridiculous like that.

We had dinner at a cute little French place that had a 30% off deal for early diners (score!). Kevin, always the adventurer, tried the typical Lyonneise dish of tripe, which is understand is some part of some animals gut. Ew. At Kevin's recommendation I tried "blanquette", which is veal and vegetables in a really yummy white sauce. After dinner we popped in to a different café for hot drinks, and then metro'ed to the mall beside the train station. I found a journal I liked and bought it, because I think the one I brought with me is going to fill up before the end of my trip.

We caught the train home to Paris and then metro'ed to St. Michel to meet some of Kevin's friends at a pub called "The Highlander". There was an open mic event, but Kev and I got there too late to sign up. It was cool to hear some local Parisian artists!

Can't believe I only have one day left in France!

Musée and Mraz

reminds me of Amsterdam

multi-sensory exhibit

Monday morning Walter and I went to the Centre Pompidou to get our modern art on. I'd say it was halfway between the Musée D'Orsay and the Palais de Tokyo. The first two floors we visited were alright, but I was most impressed with the top floor and its temporary exhibit. You were supposed to pay extra for it, which we didn't know, but the museum attendant let us in anyways, saying "vous invite"- I invite you. So nice!

The Lavier exhibit was sweet. He's famous for his "painted objects" collection, and the first room had a Steinway Grand all shlopped over in paint. Cool.

Church of Mary Magdalene

After the museum, Walter and I had a quick Starbucks break and then met Kevin at Place de la Madeleine. We were hunting for a music store Mr.Horning told us to go to, but it sadly no longer exists. We walked around the square like, four times. It really doesn't exist. However, there was a cool church nearby, and we went inside so it wasn't an entire loss.

Next we metro'ed out to a new area and visited the "Parc des Buttes-Chaumond". Such a gem in the middle of the city! Fancy bridges and a waterfall and everything. After the park, Walter headed home and Kevin and I metro'ed to the area where we had our JASON MRAZ concert that night!!!!!!

Beautiful autumn colours

We went for dinner at a "Park Place" style restaurant. Pretty yummy. Then we walked to "Le Zenith" and enjoyed a spectacular concert. It was seriously so great. I don't even know what to say. It was just awesome. So glad that Kev and I decided to go do that!

After the show we went straight to bed, since we had another train adventure coming up the next morning!!

Remembrance Day in Normandy

How many people can say that? That they spent Remembrance Day in one of the most famous sites in WWII history, and one one with an explicit connection to Canada? It is without a doubt something I will never ever forget.

Kevin and I managed to get up at a decent hour and caught the 9am bus to Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen. William the Conquerer had it built as penance for marrying his cousin (weird, right?) and is also entombed there. It was a huge and beautiful building. We only spent a short amount of time inside, as the Sunday service was about to start and I'm pretty sure the sanctuary was technically closed to visitors. The time we did spend inside though was quite lovely, and I added yet another beautiful cathedral to my list of beautiful cathedrals from this trip.

Abbaye aux Hommes

After visiting the abbey we caught another bus to the train station in Caen and enjoyed a cup of coffee while waiting for our "bus vert" to Corseulles-sur-Mer. It was about an hour bus ride, during which Kevin napped on my shoulder and I enjoyed the lovely small town scenery unfolding out the widow. We passed through 4 other "Sur-Mer" towns before arriving in Courseulles, so our ride was along the coast and quite picturesque.

When we got off at "Place de 6 Juin" there appeared to be a small Remembrance Day ceremony just ending (we rushed over at the sound of brass instruments), but we knew we were attending one later in the afternoon, so it was ok.

We had lunch at a cute little bistro, again opting for the set menu (13.50€ only) and again receiving delicious dishes. The French know their cuisine man. Kevin went the shellfish route, starting with "whelks" (sea sails) and with Moules Frites as his main. I started with a "salade au marché" and had cod with steamed veggies. For dessert Kev had a "floating island" or meringue and I had something called "crème de vanille" which was just a yummy custard. With the combination of many courses, rich food, and somewhat shawdy service, meals in France seem to take double the time they do at home, and this one was no exception.

We finally got out of the restaurant at about 2:40- giving us just enough time to walk over to the Juno Beach Centre. When we reached the building we saw an area with chairs set up and knew we were in the right place.

The ceremony was quite lovely, with heartfelt speeches (mostly in French, by we picked up bits and pieces) from the director of the June Beach Centre, the Mayor of Courseulles-sur-mer, and the lieutenant governor from the Canadian embassy in Paris. The centre guides read "In Flanders Fields", and then there was a very poignant wreath laying ceremony. There were many wreaths laid by many different individuals and organizations and I was definitely feeling the Canada love. Rather than open with them, the ceremony closed with nation anthems. First the Marseillaise, and then, to my great joy, the Canadian national anthem, en français. Kevin and I were belting with all the patriotism we could muster, and what's even better is that plenty of the French crowd was singing along as well. Following the ceremony we were all invited to a reception in the centre where we physically warmed up with coffee and were figuratively warmed by a gigantic Canadian flag hanging on the wall.

After the reception Kev and I visited the actual museum, after chatting a bit with one of the guides, a McGill history grad, who Kevin had met the first time he went to Juno.

The museum had a really interesting and interactive start, where you were in a dark room designed to feel like a landing craft, and images and sounds projected all around you, to give an idea of how young soldiers heading towards the beach may have been feeling, what they were seeing and hearing. When the short film ended the doors at the far end of the room opened and you went into the rest of the museum. It was pretty typical in terms of displays and info, but I just adored that the focus was entirely Canadian. When we were finished at the museum Kev and I visited the actual beaches, which was kind of a surreal experience. The sun was setting and it was a truly thoughtful time.

Kevin and I had hoped to end our Remembrance Day, albeit oddly, with a round of mini golf, but alas the course we'd eyed was closed for the weekend. So we instead kept each other entertained at the bus stop, eventually heading back to Caen, and then to Paris, where we shared stories of our weekend with Walter and had some rice and went to bed.

Down by the Bayeux

Aboard the train to Bayeux

Yesterday Kevin and I started part 1 of our grand France train trip. We arrived in Bayeux at 12:15 ish and headed straight for the Bayeux Tapestry. Everything we wanted to see was in walking distance. It was awesome.

Bayeux's Notredame

The tapestry was beautiful. The museum entrance included an audio guide, which you absolutely needed to view the piece. It pointed out what was going on in each scene, and who the key players were. It also pointed out random details you may have missed on your own. Plus there was medieval music in the background, so you can't help but love that.

After the tapestry, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, we visited the Notre Dame cathedral (France is just full of those things!). It was truly mesmerizing. So many spectacular stained glass windows and intricate stone work. Kevin and I did some Pie Jesu singing in the little anteroom at the entrance. The acoustics were to die for.

rainy streets of Bayeux

inside the cathedral

Old French Style

Next, we went for lunch at a restaurant Kevin had researched called "Le Rapiere". They had a set lunch menu for 18€, that given the quality of the meal was an absolute steal. It had quite a strong French feel. After so many tourist sites, that was a big deal. Honestly though. The food was unreal.

For a starter, Kevin had this tuna cake thing. It was like, bread...but fishy. Weird. But apparently it was good. I had smoked haddock in a risotto. It was delicious, but either had mysterious gluten in it, or was just too rich for my sensitive stomach, because I spent the rest of the meal (and afternoon) in a fair bit of tummy pain. Kevin helped me with my main course- some sort of fish (Rouget?), and he tried veal kidney. So adventurous, that boy. Kevin's dessert choice was a homemade pear brownie, and I took home my local cheese plate for later, when I didn't have feisty ninjas battling it out in my stomach (throwing stars and everything).

After lunch, we walked over to the Normandy Memorial Museum. It was very informative and interesting. In the middle of our visit we caught a short film (en anglais) detailing the various operations along the coast. There were neat artifacts and photos and accompanying facts. At the entrance to the museum, there was an Eisenhower quotation that really spoke to me:

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."

When we finished at the museum we walked a bit further to the Commonwealth War Memorial Cemetery. We found the corner with Canadian graves and walked up and down the rows, paying our respects. There were ages on some of the headstones. 25. 23. 22. 19. I found myself thinking how if either of my grandfather's hadn't returned home from the war (which so easily could have happened), me, my brother, my parents, my aunts, uncles, cousins...none of us would be here. So strange. Many of the graves had messages of love and memorial on them. I got pretty teared up by a few.

"He gave his life so others could be free"

"He gave his tomorrows for our todays"

I know the term "ultimate sacrifice" is overused and ordinary, but it really speaks the truth.

Canadian Section at the Bayeux Commonwealth Cemetary

After that solemn and moving experience Kevin and I took the main road around Bayeux back to the train station and took the train to Caen.

When we arrived there, we rocked their public transit system (which itself rocks), taking the tram and then bus to our hotel. We had both hoped that at 60€ a night (the cheapest option in Caen) we'd be getting pretty pampered, but our hotel was a bit of a hole. Oh well, we made the most of it!!

Hotel Crocus had pink walls and green doors inside, and bathroom like in an airplane and a mystery soap dispenser in the shower that apparently provides hand soap, body wash and shampoo all in one. But the heater worked (after we inquired how to use it), so at least things we cozy.

We arrived at our hotel around 7:30 or so, and left shortly after to a different hotel down the road with an Internet-recommended restaurant. We were the only people there for most of our meal, and had an awkwardly absent waitress. The food was good though (well, except for the rock solid complimentary dinner rolls). Kevin had steak and I had a massive salad with prosciutto and cheese cubes in it. We got back to our hotel around 10, found an English news channel on the tv, planned out our next day and eventually went to bed.

One week in Paris

Can't believe I've been here for a week already! It's zooming by so fast.

Yesterday, Friday Nov 9th, Kevin and I started our day with a visit to Victor Hugo's house in Place des Vosges. Holla at you SCC- the place where he started work on Les Mis! It was a short little walk through as the house isn't very big, but it was super cool to know your were standing in the study where Hugo wrote.

After quickly mailing some postcards we took the metro to cité and went for lunch at the "Great Canadian Pub". We were disappointed that they didn't have poppies for us (still haven't found any. Shoot), and the food was only so so, but I appreciated the hockey jerseys on the wall. If there was an NHL season this year I'm sure they would show the games there.

beauty stained glass

After lunch we went inside Nortredame. It had very beautiful stained glass windows and Kevin and I just sat inside for a while and soaked up the serenity. There was, however, a mysterious rogue organ player tweedling away that no one seemed to notice but us. The phantom of the cathedral? Pretty epic to be sitting inside one of the most iconic buildings in the world, like its no big deal.

After the cathedral we took the metro way out to the end of the yellow line, La Défense. It's like nowhere else in Paris! Shadowed by the "Grand Arch" is a big open space and high rise office buildings. It was so futuristic looking and so not the Paris I'm used to!! They had a big mall there, and I got a really cute blouse for 40% off at a store called "Pimkie". There was a SNTF office at the station and we finally got all our train travel sorted out. Yaaaay!

dinner: Dan and Kev style

We had a chill night in and got ourselves ready for our weekend in Normandy. Kevin made salmon and scalloped potatoes (both delicious. We substituted brie for parmesan in the potato dish and it worked excellently) and I was in charge of a springish salad with grapes and cherry tomatoes and an improvised honey-balsamic dressing. We bought sparkling apple juice and mixed it with cran. Yum.

We were in bed by midnight, but I somehow still managed to sleep through my alarm. Crap! Our trip was only pushed back by 30 mins though, and now we're on our way to Bayeux! It's gonna be an awesome weekend, I'm sure.

Hemingway, the old hood, Père-Lachaise and Sondheim

74 Rue de Cardinal Lemoine
Hemingway's first Parisian home

Thursday was a lovely day. I got out of the apartment later than I'd originally planned, but I spent the morning booking my hostel in Salzburg and my train to Ljubljana, so it was still productive.

I started my day off with a walk through "Hemingway's Paris", from a book I forgot at home, meaning my mum had to snap pictures of the pages and copy out the directions in an email. Thanks mum!

The walk started off with the first home Hemingway lived in when he first moved to Paris. It had a dark blue door and there's now a clothing shop on the ground floor called "Under Hemingway's". Cute. Next the walk pointed out some squares and streets detailed in H's novels, including Rue Mouffetard! My jam!

The square on Rue Mouffetard!

Our old stomping grounds!

A bad idea.  But such a good idea.

It was seriously awesome to be back in the area where I "lived" with Kirst, Grady and my mum when I was in Paris in 2009. It surprised me how much it all came back! I instantly recognized street corners, shops and markets, even little alleyways! My heart strings were most definitely tugged at when I passed by our apartment door, snuggled between a wine shop and a poissonnerie. I visited cute jewelry and clothes shops I recalled from before, and yes, had a crêpe from our crêpe place. Just as delicious as I remembered. Ham and cheese. It'll get you everytime (it got me later that day. Serves me right with my blatant gluten intake).


After strolling up and down rue mouffetard, I made my way to the Pantheon- a building I'd passed by many times in my 2009 visit, but had never gone inside. Rectified that this time around. It's just as magnificent inside as out, with a highlight being "Foucault's Pendelum". Hung from way way up on the ceiling, a little gold ball is in constant motion, measuring the rotation of the earth. Entrancing, to be sure.

I also ventured below the Pantheon, into the crypt. I saw the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo, to name a few. It was a bit eerie and cold down there, but I felt humbled and pensive rather than creeped out.

The Pantheon

After my visit to the Pantheon I took a stroll through the Jardin de Luxembourg. It was about 3pm when I got there, so tons of adorable French children were out of school and racing sailboats in the fountain. My heart melted. There is something about little high pitched voices nattering en français that is too cute to handle.

My last stop on the Hemingway walk was his favourite café in Montparnasse, where it is rumored he wrote "The Sun Also Rises" (one of my favourite novels from my degree).

I took a metro to meet Kevin, and we entered Père-Lachaise Cemetery about an hour before closing. Because of the rush, we missed out on a few key resting places (sorry Edith, sorry Oscar), but we did visit Chopin, Poulenc, Abelard and Héloïse and Jim Morrison. The sun began to set while we were in there, and it was quite beautiful. I find cemeteries to be really gorgeous, and a pretty pink sunset makes it even better. At one point we were high up enough to see the Eiffel Tower. Brilliant.

Chopin's grave

Poulenc's Tomb

Père-Lachaise

After the cemetery Kevin and I found a little church nearby, Notredame de la Croix, and did some renegade singing. We couldn't go all out, as there was some sort of service going on in the back of the church, but the acoustics were honestly so amazing that even singing covered and with our throats closed, our voices echoed up and up and around the sanctuary. I've taught Kevin the alto part of Pie Jesu and we do a nice little soprano/tenor rendition.

We had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in Belleville and then metro'ed to Châtelet with the hope of getting student rush tickets to see, get this, West Side Story!!! No luck on that front, but they were selling "obstructed view" seats at a discount, so we hopped on that. Our seats were in the nosebleeds, but it was fine, really. The music carried and we just sat perched on the tops of our chairs in order to see better.

The dancing was fabulous, definitely the strength of the cast. The singing could have been better, but honestly the music is so great, and the story so powerful that its hard not to create an emotional performance. I still loved it. I still cried. Don't know if Parisians have low standards or are always profusely appreciative of their arts, but holy did the applause go on forever, and the cast took, like, 5 curtain calls. It was quite amusing.

After the show we went home and tried to get to bed early, but failed. Oh well! Stay tuned for Friday!