Despite our very late night dancing and partying in Versailles, I decided to go to the Paris ward with Emily and Hannah and then we would go out and explore the city on the Sans Voiture day (Paris Without Cars)...some "green" initiative or whatever.
To begin, the 9:05 train that I was going to catch simply didn't show up so there I was freezing on the platform for another 17 minutes. Then as I wove my way through the station and onto the right metro, there was a man, completely unconscious and sprawled on the floor, who twarted my attempt to get to church on time as well. The dude was breathing but even after people tried touching his face, gently slapping his cheeks, he didn't even flinch. That metro was delayed with me on it. But after a problem-filled train then metro ride into the city, I finally made it to church and sat down outside of the chapel.
I truly believe things happen for a reason but with that whole fiasco, I've only got one idea. This sweet Asian girl came and sat by me and started introducing herself. I don't know her name because she has broken English and a very, very Asian name. Like Korean or something. But she doesn't speak French either. We got to know each other and she said that she usually comes with the Soeur Missionaries but came later today and didn't really know what to do...I guess I was the answer! I took her into the chapel with me and she sat with us girls. The missionaries were surprised that she made a friend to follow around and I was more than happy to be that for her. It was a good day of church:)
After church was the cool part of the day though! We walked around the larger streets of Paris, like Notre-Dame and Invalides, then finally made our way to Champs-Elysees, the one road that you didn't want to miss since it was car-free.
On the bridge near Notre-Dame, heading to the other little island that I forget, there were rollerblading performers setting up a little show. We decided to whip out the snacks I brought and sit on the curb to enjoy the show. It is the little moments like that which make the best memories! Afterwards, we headed towards The Marais district and wound through the Jewish District enjoying the sights, the sun, and the smells. Oh, the smells. We stopped by a corner bakery to admire the golden puffs of bread filled with miniature chocolate chips which were coming out of the oven in exactly 7 minutes (we asked). Throwing some change together, we took a lap around the block and, 7 minutes later, headed back in for our fresh Sunday treat. Emily was in charge of feeding the machine our change...she got nervous nd just began dumping change into it as we all laughed at her. "Just take the money, I want my bread!" Hahahaha good times, good times. Scarfed that down on some steps, walked through a flea market, then headed towards the Eiffel Tower/Champs Elysses.
It was awesome! The road was filled with people from the Arc de Triumph to Concorde and it was completely ours. We saw these people having a sort-of mini picnic in the middle of the road and, since we were starving for lunch, we decided to give it a go as well. We got some baguette sandwiches and plopped down on a little blanket that we grabbed from Hannah's apartment. Immediately, people began snapping our photo left and right, one guy from Algeria asked if he could get a picture with us at our picnic, a wall of about 10 photographers with their huge Nikons and Canons formed and snapped our pic. We had paparazzi and we were lovin' it. Although the pressure was there to suddenly be a "pretty eater" and heaven knows it's not that easy eating a baguette sandwich! Our 15 minutes of fame was basically a highlight to my month in France. But the best part- THE BEST PART- was when a woman and younger guy approached us, asked to take our photo, then introduced themselves as Journalists from CBS wanting to interview us. Hullo!! My first interview. I was over the moon. They whipped out their hand recorders and little microphone and asked us all about our day in Paris without the traffic and how we were celebrating. I was in such shock and awe that I couldn't even comprehend the first question they asked me because I was so googly eyed. (The question was "Is there an 'E' at the end of Cook). Wow, Julia, way to blow that one! Hhahaha but ya, it was a phenomenal day. Exhausting, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment