PARIS ROUNDUP
from a dog and person's eye view
Part 2 Laura
from a dog and person's eye view
Part 2 Laura
I am home now, trying to kick this cold out of my head. As I look back through the photos I shot, I have a sadness that I wasn't really able to fully enjoy what was around me. I was kind of just surviving. But I did manage to appreciate some of the lovely things that Paris has to offer.
This is a photo heavy, text light review.
1. I love the little jewel boxes of stores and restaurants all done in black, white, red and gold. It takes your breath away.
2. I missed Versailles, going into the Louvre, going into Notre Dame (or any church for that matter), and Montemart because of being sick and or having my dog with me. Other than that, I at least made contact with most of what I wanted to see.
3. The BIG attractions, the FAMOUS ones are astonishing, but I found the smaller scale equally as enchanting. I wish I had had more energy to explore more of these. Fabulous cemeteries and wonderful artistic creative monuments. The ceramic wreaths were amazing.
4. I had to really get over myself. I was in Paris. I was sick. I knew going out wasn't a good idea because of the germs and pollution. So I wore a mask. For four days. Everywhere. On the Metro. On the plane ride home. My dog got a cat call from an older Parisian, cause he sure wasn't cat calling me!
5. It is some kind of cruel hoax to be in Paris and be denied eating cheese, bread, wine and sweets. That's all there bloody is! Plus I couldn't taste much anyway. I didn't eat out ONCE. I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!! I just couldn't manage it. All that mystery food, mostly containing stuff I couldn't eat.
I have no photos depicting this sad moment. I kept thinking I would finally have a meal out but then I couldn't taste anything.
I'm ashamed to say that when you're that down and out, Starbucks seems like some kind of friendly intergalactic landing pad. I landed there twice for free internet, a horrible turkey wrap and some water for my dog and steaming hot water for an inhalation of tea tree oil. They were nice.
Oh and guess what was the landmark for my street.........?
I did not enter at all, though I actually had THOUGHTS about just getting a burger for the meat because all the stores were closed on Sunday and I didn't have any food. I can't believe I contemplated eating McDonalds in Paris. That's really deranged. I wouldn't have predicted that in a million years.
6. The weather was PERFECT!!!!!!! Six totally sunny clear days in the 70's.
7. Being with my dog was great. I wasn't always easy, but I really enjoyed having her. My hands weren't as free as they could have been and photos were missed. I couldn't pop into the Louvre or Notre Dame and was going to plan leaving her at the apartment but the night I had booked the Louvre I was too sick to go.
8. Traffic sucks but this sucky traffic was civilized. There's something so, actually.... somewhat calming about those Euro sirens we all grew up in the 1960's listening to in our spy programs. No rude honking, no big crashing garbage collection at 2 am (THAT sucked in Barcelona, EVERY NIGHT, garbage truck right under the window). It was actually........ QUIET....... all night! On a pretty busy avenue. No drunken loud staggering gangs of weirdos.
9. The Parisians are the most elegant people as a whole I have ever seen. Everyone looks like they've just stepped out of a Gap ad. Or if they're older, an Yves St. Laurent ad. They are truly incredibly handsome people. But they do it without a lot of self consciousness it seems. It's just how it is. "We're fit, trim, have hair at all ages, we bound up and down stairs and that's that."
=
I saw an African American guy trying to kind of have an American "hood" look. Nobody wears baseball caps over there, but he had one on, facing forward, with a rooster on the front of it. He was dressed in some Nike stuff, but it was spotless and he had a man purse. Gap ad.
10. Cell phones have not destroyed the pleasure of being with others. This is something that is so refreshing about traveling in Europe. Out of the thirty or so people on this lawn I was one of three that was looking at a phone and we were the ones who were alone. If you were with someone else, that is where your attention was. I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS!!!
11. Internet calling is AMAZING on your PHONE. Forget Skype, get Google Hangouts dialer! And thank you to my family who listened to me moan and groan.
12. Being alone, and sick, made being alone much more challenging in a strange place. But even though it was challenging, I realized I was so relieved to not be ruining someone else's vacation. I could be as wretched, grumpy, disgusting, snotty, coughing, horrible ogre-ish sick person as I wanted to be and didn't feel one ounce of guilt.
So that's about the short of it. Here are some photos that I like as a tag ending.
Thank you all for reading and coming along for this mis-adventure adventure!
We love you!
Laura and Choochi
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