despite a brief misunderstanding with german security forces (apparently everything must be put in a little plastic bin before going through the x-ray machine, including a guitar that does not fit in the little box), the rest of my journey went without a hitch. i arrived at plaza catalunya to find damon, gretchen and hundreds of pigeons waiting patiently for me. it was quite a welcome and it was really nice to see each of them after spending the previous month in solitary confinement at home. after a quick picnic lunch of baguettes, cheese and beer damon and i parted ways with gretch and began the voyage to paris.
before i begin to regale you with tales of paris i must first make a confession. my motives for visiting paris were not exactly pure. i considered our trip to be a revenge mission. you see, nearly 30 years ago my parents visited paris on their honeymoon and were basically shat on by all parisians for not knowing how to speak french (note: my mom could speak a bit of canadien french, but apparently this enraged the parisians even more than when my folks tried to communicate with the locals in english). my game plan for revenge was quite simple- i would stay in paris just long enough to urinate on the eiffel tower (paris' alleged heart and soul) and, if time permitted, eat a few fresh baguettes. naturally, this mission would take exactly 3 nights and 2 days and be executed without speaking a single word in french.
despite my best effort, i regret to inform you that my operation was somewhat of a failure. besides not relieving myself on the famed tour du eiffel, i actually left paris with a smile on my face and somewhat of a desire to learn the french language. the city was really beautiful and had everything a person like myself could ask for: bicycles galore and cheap bread and wine. if only the women were a little better looking i would have stayed forever.
nonetheless, the trip got off to a rocky start. we arrived at our hostel at midnight to learn that it was overbooked and "climbed" (a parisian's term for walking up the slightest of hills) our way to a different hostel. after a poor night's rest which may or may not have been due to the existence of bed bugs, damon and i awoke determined to get the best of paris. we set out with no game plan but to wander until we could wander no more. we covered most of central paris and walked for a while along the majestic seine river. it was rather glorious. however, after a failed attempt to eat crepes and locate the alleged music and arts scene of the 11th district, as well as an incident in which i was forced to repeat french words by an english speaking parisian in order to use a computer at an internet cafe, damon and i made our way back to the hostel feeling a bit downtrodden.
our saving grace came in the form of a large set of stairs a few blocks away from the hostel. earlier in the day we had seen photos taken from atop a hill in which one could see the entire city. after consulting our trusty map, we decided that the vantage point must have been the hill located behind our hostel. upon ascending the stairs we discovered a huge old cathedral (the sacre coeur) and a lookout point with the best view of paris. damon and i sat up there for quite a while during the sunset, feeling nothing but the satisfaction that can come from outwitting one's opponent. paris and its people had tried to make our visit as miserable as possible, but somehow we still felt like we were on top. gordo lesson #1: always take the stairs.
before i begin to regale you with tales of paris i must first make a confession. my motives for visiting paris were not exactly pure. i considered our trip to be a revenge mission. you see, nearly 30 years ago my parents visited paris on their honeymoon and were basically shat on by all parisians for not knowing how to speak french (note: my mom could speak a bit of canadien french, but apparently this enraged the parisians even more than when my folks tried to communicate with the locals in english). my game plan for revenge was quite simple- i would stay in paris just long enough to urinate on the eiffel tower (paris' alleged heart and soul) and, if time permitted, eat a few fresh baguettes. naturally, this mission would take exactly 3 nights and 2 days and be executed without speaking a single word in french.
despite my best effort, i regret to inform you that my operation was somewhat of a failure. besides not relieving myself on the famed tour du eiffel, i actually left paris with a smile on my face and somewhat of a desire to learn the french language. the city was really beautiful and had everything a person like myself could ask for: bicycles galore and cheap bread and wine. if only the women were a little better looking i would have stayed forever.
nonetheless, the trip got off to a rocky start. we arrived at our hostel at midnight to learn that it was overbooked and "climbed" (a parisian's term for walking up the slightest of hills) our way to a different hostel. after a poor night's rest which may or may not have been due to the existence of bed bugs, damon and i awoke determined to get the best of paris. we set out with no game plan but to wander until we could wander no more. we covered most of central paris and walked for a while along the majestic seine river. it was rather glorious. however, after a failed attempt to eat crepes and locate the alleged music and arts scene of the 11th district, as well as an incident in which i was forced to repeat french words by an english speaking parisian in order to use a computer at an internet cafe, damon and i made our way back to the hostel feeling a bit downtrodden.
our saving grace came in the form of a large set of stairs a few blocks away from the hostel. earlier in the day we had seen photos taken from atop a hill in which one could see the entire city. after consulting our trusty map, we decided that the vantage point must have been the hill located behind our hostel. upon ascending the stairs we discovered a huge old cathedral (the sacre coeur) and a lookout point with the best view of paris. damon and i sat up there for quite a while during the sunset, feeling nothing but the satisfaction that can come from outwitting one's opponent. paris and its people had tried to make our visit as miserable as possible, but somehow we still felt like we were on top. gordo lesson #1: always take the stairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment