Paris Qui Dort

Hello and Bon Jour! I know it has been an awfully long time since either of us have written but lately we just haven't been in the writing mode. I decided to get over it and enlighten you with what we have been up to...for the past couple of days. Kari is writing as I speak, about the rest of Italy and Nice but I feel like covering Paris because, well, je t'aime Paris.

Yesterday morning we had just finished up three relaxing days in the South of France (crazy, I know) and we were ready to make the five and a half hour trek to Paris, on the extremey fast TGV train. Now, normally Kari and I are very good with getting reservations when we need to because although we have a RailPass, we still need to reserve our seats and pay a fee (boo) in countries like Italy and France. But in Nice we decided to save time and just get it right before we left....not a very smart idea. We got to the station late, waited in line and with 3 minutes to spare found out that the train was full for that day. And the next. We then did something very out of character for us- we hopped on anyway. After freaking out for about an hour of our trip we realized that although we knew there was no room, we weren't exactly breaking the law because we had already paid for the passes. We decided to play dumb and guess what, it worked! We sat in the dining car for most of the trip and when the conductor checked our tickets he simply told us that we had to pay a fee: Kati and Kari-1, TGV-0. The only glitch was that I was the ass who didn't have any money. But instead of getting redlighted (thrown to our death from the moving train) the guy said "Welcome to France" and only charged us for one ticket. Kati and Kari-2, TGV-0. It was such a relief to finally arrive in Paris and on time!

As you know, Kari and I have been mostly just been interacting with each other for the past 3 and a half weeks (which we haven't minded in the least) but we decided to change it up a bit. My brother, Jesse, decided to come to travel to Paris and Amsterdam on a whim last week and so this is how Kari and I found ourselves on top of the Eiffel Tower with Jesse and our family friends, Mikkel and John. It kind of blows my mind that we could just meet up like this so the whole night was rather surreal. Neither Kari nor I have been able to climb the Tower in the past, so it was great to be able to do that this time around. One of my favorite silent movies is 'Paris Qui Dort' which was made in 1925 by Rene Clair and is about a group of people who find themselves alone in a city full of sleeping people. Part of it takes place on the top of the Eiffel Tower, so it was fun to be able to see it from my own point of view. After this we all went to the Latin Quarter, where I lived last summer, and ate on Rue Pot de Fer, where I was a frequent visitor. Once again, Kari and I got to bed relatively early because we were planning on taking on Paris in one day, which, suprisingly, we did.

Today we woke up with a plan and the determination to go along with it. We grabbed a couple of croissants, bought our metro daypasses and headed over to Pere Lachaise. This cemetary is, I think, Paris' largest and houses the graves of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison, among numerous others. It's a very peaceful place and it was beautiful on such a sunny day (80 degrees!). We wandered for a while and then kept going. We stopped at Gare du Nord for train reservations, we were not going to make the same mistake as we did in Nice, and then walked to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. We had our little Amelie moment and took in the view. We have seen so many chapels and climbed so many monuments that at this point we prefer spending our time outside and wandering around the sights, rather than going in them. We then had lunch near the Dali Museum and then took the metro to Musee D'Orsay. For some reason the museum was free today, something about a strike, so Kari and I managed to see the paintings of Manet, Monet, Millet, Corot, Ingres and more, all for free! We weren't able to see all of the impressionists on the top floor because we got there too late but we plan on doing the Louvre tomorrow morning and will see enough art to last us a for a while ('Pam, your art was the prettiest art of all the art'- Roy from The Office; sorry, that was just a little something special for Kari).

After D'Orsay we walked over to Jardin du Luxembourg and chilled out for a good while because frankly our legs were about to fall off... I'm talking literally. We have been walking so much and, as I said before, climbing everything so we are definitely getting ready to do what we do best- vegging out and watching movies/tv 24/7...well, no, don't worry parents we do mobilize at home, but def not as much as we have been. Face it, we may never be this active again and I am okay with that. So is Kari. Anyways, Luxembourg is gorgeous on a nice day, it reminds me of a smaller Versailles- well-groomed lawns and large ponds with fountains. We got the energy to move again when the hunger pangs started and I took Kari by my old apartment building, on Rue Amyot and then to the infamous Marmais, my kabob spot on Rue Mouffetard. We both got doner sandwiches with chicken and fries, and I even talked to the same guys that were there last year (they remembered me!). We then went to Notre Dame and walked along the Seine at sunset, obviously holding hands...tres romantique! So tomorrow's the Louvre and then Amsterdam, and right now is a shower and then bed. Kari and I say bon soir to all of you and we will be able to talk to you, literally, in four days!

*Pictures to come!