Hate to be a bummer but I’ve been in Paris 2 days and nothing has been working out LOL.
Monday, a few of us ventured out into the city to get our bearings of the street etiquette and attempt to find arecord store/ coffee shop a Cool Cousin recommended (@Morgan). After walking up to a closed garage shopfront, our spirits were only crushed a little bit. Instead we walked into the different boutiques and browsed some bookshops before heading back home to do laundry. Little blips like that don’t get me down much, since getting lost in new places is something I enjoy. It never feels like a waste of time unless there’s a time restraint on the end destination. Unfortunately for me however, the reaction most people experience in a situation like this is anxiety, which certainly surfaced on what was meant to be a quick trip to the Eiffel Tower Monday night. We only wanted to take pictures. We only wanted to bask in its beauty. Half of our classmates took the trip down the first night here, so we only wanted to be on their level of experience. We just happened to leave a little too late.
The thing is, we didn’t really get lost. It was understanding which way was north and which way was south that really screwed us over. First, we didn’t get off at the right stop. Next, we got on the right track, but it was going the wrong way. We mazed through some damn station and eventually found our way to the tower. The view was definitely worth the confusion, but I’ve definitely been studying the Metro map hardcore from here on out.
Oh, and Mez nearly died opening the subway door too soon and we all nearly died laughing from so hard.
Today was especially disappointing. Coming from Cannes, a place so sunny and beautiful it hurt (@sunburn), our hopes crumbled looking at the forecast in Paris for the week. As Floridians, we’re totally used to the rain coming down nearly every day during the summer. Most people I know in the “sunshine” state don’t even own umbrellas, despite the state’s tropical forest tendencies. I suppose we brought the drizzles from our beloved home state with us because the City of Love turned into the City of Rain quick.
The agenda for today was to metro ourselves over to the Catacombs with the anticipation of disappearing in an underground skull world while it rained overhead. Alas.. we walked up to a line that wrapped entirely around the park where people huddled under umbrellas. We asked a few people that were near the middle of the line and they said they’d been waiting for 3 hours! Decisions were made, and we all figured we’d just walk around the town. After all, there were plenty of markets and shops to explore, and it was best for us to escape the pouring rain.
------------
~A.J. :~~~~~~)