We got up "early" (before 10) and got into the city by about 11:30, grabbing some breakfast juice and wandering around the Latin Quarter of the city, through all the touristy souvenir shops and along all the very traditional cafes. It felt like we were really in the heart of Paris: everywhere were tables filled with people just casually lounging about, being cafe people. We had a ton of fun just window-shopping through all the tourist shops and picking out theoretical gifts, in the end buying nothing and walking away with free hands.
Our free walking tour was supposed to start at 1pm so we got over to the meeting place a little early and hung out a bit watching some people dressed up in Indian gear playing their wooden pipes while around us a decent-sized crowd of like-minded tourists gathered. We talked a bit with a girl from Minnesota and another from Australia, and then the tour started.
Our guide was a fantastic guy named Jake, a student from Britain who had studied in France, lived in Madrid, had returned to Paris to relearn the language before he plans on returning to the UK in the near future. He took us through a bunch of sights we missed yesterday, through a few we'd walked through but that he made seem completely brand new with all his descriptions, and kept us interested for the entire 4 hours we walked with him.
It felt fantastic to be surrounded by English speakers all day. Finally, I could understand everyone who was around me...and it was a little annoying at time because some of those conversations were pretty stupid. But I could understand them! Yea!
One of the most interesting stories he told came at the end, the story of how a German, one who had been personally charged by Hitler himself to blow up Paris in the event of a possible liberation during WWII, instead worked with the Allies to buy enough time in fooling Hitler to believing that Paris was being destroyed so that Hitler would turn his attention away and give the Allies a chance to save the city. There was a huge story to it all, and it took up the last ten or so minutes of our tour. We all sat down in the grass and listened like we were little elementary students being told a fantastic mythical legend -- except for Andreina, of course, who elected to stand. Go figure.
After our tour ended, we went on a long walk to inspect the Arc de Triumph up close. The monument is huge! Napoleon had one ridiculous ego, that's for sure!! Our day ended with a quiet ride back to our hotel, grabbing more food for dinner, and together we both complained about the respective love interests who are being unhappily silent on their end of the communication line.
30 Rock is playing in French on the TV in the background and I'm listening to some of my favorite songs via YouTube. Andreina is scribbling away in her journal, and through the open window we can hear the traffic that is still incredibly loud, even after 10pm. It's just something you'd have to get used to if you lived here, I guess. Maybe the streets serve as a powerful amp for all the car and scooter noises; maybe Frenchmen just have ridiculously loud scooters. Whatever the reason, they were still unsettlingly loud last night and they're on track for being just as loud tonight.
The tour guide today was so good that we're going to take the company's Versailles tour tomorrow morning. It'll mean waking up in time to make their 11am meet time. I hope we're up to it!! :)
Location:Paris, France
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