Typical Tourist

Basically: you don’t go to Paris and not see some things. Those things are: Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. That’s bordering on sacrilegious and that’s not something I was willing to mess with. I had some time before I met the expats on Saturday night and the bar was a ten minute walk from Notre Dame so I headed over. My camera actually died shortly after those shots were taken, which means that I’ll have to go back another time. Because brain imploding beauty should be attempted at being captured. (I think that sentence makes sense.) I walked everywhere Sunday (I do mean everywhere. If I’d thought this through, I’d have Photoshopped you all a little map of where I’ve been. Maybe for tomorrow’s post.) and ended up having one of those ~moments while staring at the Eiffel Tower that essentially consisted of me going, “Eleven year old me is so jealous,” and, “Holy crap, I’m here, I’m actually freaking here.” They also have the Buddy Bears in the park right now, so I went and found the France and Canada ones and I have got to say: I get the Canadian one but come on. Some of them are absolutely breathtaking and then you get to Canada and go, “I’m sorry,” like a true Canadian would.

Things I’m Loving:

+ This site – (Because laughing is good.)

+ These photographs – (Interesting documentary idea.)

+ These thoughts – (Remembering good things are good.)

+ This recipe – (I miss pumpkin. Everyone else is getting overloaded and I get none. Sigh.)

Promenading in Paris

At the bottom of Montmartre there’s a carousal and a little kiosk with postcards and paintings (my mother has similar ones from her trip years back that hangs in the bathroom), little streets stuffed with shops. After that it was down to the other side of the Seine and I walked around looking at churches and political buildings until it was time to go here for drinks with some expats, which was something I really needed. (Both the drinks and conversation with people who understood English.)

We’ve all heard people talking about Paris in the fall (if you haven’t, where have you been?) and I can absolutely understand why. As much as I like fall back home (and I really like fall back home), I like how it’s different here. Maybe because of the city’s age or maybe because even with all the city around, fall still finds a way to colourfully be there.

Things I’m Loving:

+ This infographic – (Because even disappointing teams have memorable players.)

+ This video – (Glad to see this is coming together.)

+ These tips – (I am not a morning person. Not even a little.)

+ This podcast – (Talking about photography? Yes please.)

“Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties, in love with an older woman.” -John Berger

I know, it’s been a week since I posted. But, I have a good reason. See, I went to Paris this weekend. Yeah, I have the ability to just you know, amble up to Paris. For the weekend. That’s a thing, that I get to do.

I went old school with a guidebook, map and a pocket metro guide. (I was kind of forced to since my phone stopped working, but still, I did it.) I stayed at St. Christopher’s Inns, which while was a.) slightly further out of the way than I wanted and b.) in a kind of sketchy part of the city, the hostel itself was absolutely amazing. My standards for hostels have officially been substantially raised.

The first stop was Sacre Coeur (you can find it on my map in the last picture) where I: got caught by a tourist trap in the form of a bracelet,  wished that I had my longer lens (except that thing weighs 1390g and that’s a lot to haul around when you’re walking) and then shot video of the guy with the football on the ledge. (I tried finding Moulin Rouge after but there’s only so much not lost-ness I’m allowed per day and by that point I’d used up most of my quota. Decided I’d save that for my next trip.)

Also: that was the first time since getting to France that I’ve had anything that resembles a proper breakfast. I have missed them so much.

Things I’m Loving:

+ This video – (Up and comings make me happy.)

+ This article – (We were always told to stay away from unnamed sources.)

+ NaNoWriMo – (This is year 5 or 6 that I’ll be participating.)

+ This bar – (I went Sunday night to watch RM play. The bartender is a Frenchman who speaks English accented English and likes NFL football. Figure that one out.)

+ Happy Halloween to al of you! I got to Skype home and see everyone’s costumes. Even saw a couple dozen kids dressed up here, which was kind of nice.