paris

the next morning it was up and early to get my bus to paris... i got in fine and dandy.. getting a hold of my "hostel" was another story.. i booked it at like 2 am the night before, so there werent many options open.. i ended up getting an apartmetn in paris! where i wasnt given the address.. only sketchy directions of how someone was going ot meet me and take me to the place.. ok. so i spent the first 2 hours of paris roaming the train station trying to find out meeting place and then another 45 waiting... my greeter showeed up and walked me a block to my apartment.. where the key was just under the mat and it had to stay there.. the teeny tiny little place was adorable and creeky and old.. just like ud expect. .there are bunks in each room, obviously.. its the only way we backpackers roam.. the kitchen has barely enough room for one person to spin around, and the bathroom door doesnt close.. nor is there hot water or really a draining system for the shower. YES! right away i met chris, hes from austria, and he volunteered to walk around with me.. i said of course.. and we headed to the louvre... he was all pumped on seeing it, and then we get there and its closed... becuase its tuesday.. who knew teh louvre was closed on tuesdays? and then we headed back to notre dame.. closed because it was 6:05.. and then we kinda gave up.. everything is about 20 mins apart.. most of the time it takes 30 to walk beacuse all the streets are hard to follow.. but its good! we stopped and got some groceries.. adn i got a crepe! of course! when in paris.. and we went back to our flat and met the rest of the roommates.. there was ben from brisbane, 3 swedish girls, and gary from L.A. we all went out together to sit in teh park under the eiffel tower and watch teh light show with our bottle of wine.. ok we had like 3 bottles.. and then a few more that we bargained for with the bums who sell them in the park.. haha. the homeless guys in teh streets of paris drink champange instead of cheap beer beacuse its cheaper.. but its really quite the head turner when you see the homeless guy poppin the bubbly.. . it was a really fun night.. we met some locals who were so funny. they always wonder down to the park to hang out with the tourists..they were convinced that gary was obama.. even though hes asian.. haha..

the next day gary and i took on paris hard core.. we went to notre dame, the louvre, adn the arch of triumph. it was a lot of walking and it was pretty hot.. but it was a good day.. we talked about california things and traveling the world, and how we wish we were loaded so we could just travel forever..even as cheap-os.. ive learned a few many tricks these days.. im almost a pro, but ive still got one more level to go before i can be considered a real hardcore backpacker.. i havent camped yet.. and i pay to go into museums still.. and i went to a club that night with the swedish girls and real backpackers dont go to clubs. eh o well. after our many hours of walking the louvre, yes we saw monna! ha.. we walked the deceivingly long walk to the arch.. there was some very important ceremony going on.. it was in french and it looked very offical with all the militarys there.. after we got back and had our standard spaghetti dinner, we hung out with the swedish girls again, and they convinced me to go out... how often do u get to go out in paris? well, the paris nightlife isnt that exciting we observed, definitely not like a night out in london or scotland.. but it was still fun buying 9 euro beers.. they were two for one before 1 am at least! O GOD. i also decided im not a huge fan of french people that night... in general tehy are all so unhelpful.. if you ask for directions they point adn thats it.. tehy arent patient with your crappy attempt at french either... and they really dont give a crap if you speak english.. its france not britian or america. so the taxi guy took us a round about way... i knew what was going on and yelled at him.. he basically turned around and spat at me and said in a perfect english accent i dont speak english. grrrr i just wanted to take the metro because its easier, faster and cheaper.. but i was going with teh swedish girls.. clearly not the seasoned travelers.. when we got out.. he convinced one of them that the fare of 10 euros was for each person.. i said no. give him 10 and get out.. and she said no im sorry i couldnt do that. i told her i was incharge of the cab on the way home. and we all got back for 9 euro total! haha. shitty french men.

this morning i headed out on my own to see moulin rouge and then south to the chateau de versallies.. it was cool and big.. and almost worth the 10 euro. i think im done with big fancy buildings for now. theyre cool but ive seen a lot and all the paintings are more or less the same, and theres lots of gold and marble and statues adn cool gardens. pretty impressive for sure, but it gets repetitive.. im excited to get a change of scenery when i head to iceland tomorrow! i am also completely distraught at hearing about jason.. a friend from australia whom i was trying to meet up with in london.. now i will have to wait a looonng time before i get to see him :( it makes you realize how important everyday really is.. adn i am so so lucky to be traveling around and seeing so many amazing places.. safe and in one piece :) im still going to try to get out of paying for my room in my little apartment tonight so i can just go to the airport and sleep because i have to be there at like 5 anyway.. oy ve.. just keep truckin along! after iceland, im headed to dublin! and then its only 3 weeks til i meet up with mere for our oktoberfest and greek adventures! ooo. rest in peace jason.