| Paris Part 2: Like The 1st One, But Better. |
| Written by Brendon Green |
| Monday, 14 September 2009 02:05 |
|
I’m going to say my time in Paris officially starts; Now. Let’s forget about that whole 2 days of depression last week. The past is past... and I won’t let it inform the future. Oh my, have I just grown as a person? I’m not getting the tingling sensation I was expecting. So, day 1 in Paris. I check into my hostel and then visit Georgia at her work. Her work just happens to be at a New Zealand themed restaurant, so I have the most AMAZING New Zealand lamb shanks with kiwifruit chutney for dinner. Hey, the place was filled with actual Parisians, so I’m pretty sure that was me having a genuine French experience. I was definitely the only tourist in the place. (Unless you count the guy in the Australian cricket shirt who ordered the Kangaroo steak. Oh yeah, most NZ themed places generally incorporate all of Australasia). I’m all about trying to fit in with the locals. My first full day starts with the supplied breakfast at the hostel. Orange juice and bread. Strikingly similar to what I would have for breakfast back home. Then on to a free walking tour of Paris. Starting in front of the fountain at St Michel, a small Australian girl leads a group of 25 of us ‘tourists’ on a 3 and a half hour trek around the city centre. Stopping every few minutes to yell some history at us over the traffic noise, our tour guide gives us a brilliant beginners guide to what is probably the most beautiful city in the world. Plus 3.5 hours of walking and yelling is just plain impressive, so hats off to her. I fill the rest of the day with general ambling around and site seeing. Is it site seeing or sight seeing? I think site seeing, as sight seeing would be a bit redundant. With all the sites and sights I see, I quickly realise why Paris has the reputation for being the city of Love. It is stunning. Everything is where it should be, and the entire place is put together with both purpose and elegance. It is impossible not to be at least a little overcome with emotion when standing in the middle of a huge urban garden looking down an axis that cuts through the city aligning most of the major monuments in an act of symmetry that is almost too astonishing to be true. But it is true, and that is the great thing I have found so far. In the few days I have been here, I have seen examples of all the stereotypes of Paris I was told about before arriving. Yes it if filthy, yes it is dirty. Yes it is beautiful and crisp and energising. Yes the locals are rude. Yes the locals are incredibly welcoming and friendly. Yes I have seen stunning women walk the streets in high fashion. Yes I have seen men urinate into bushes during the middle of the day (on 2 separate occasions actually). No matter what you have heard about Paris; good or bad, it is true. It’s also freaking expensive, but I will leave that for another time. So far my official start to Paris has been good. I’m still apprehensive, but as long as I can walk around the city, I can get inspired and maybe even let the thought that it’s going to all work out enter my head from time to time. |
