Paris, Je t'aime!

(Kim and Camille in the Musée d' Orsay, in the grand party room. A photo analogy of our time in Paris)

We have arrived in the "city of light", "the city of love" Tuesday and we have to say we are in love with the lights and are enlightened by the love. We've been warmly recieved everywhere we go here and are so grateful. And kind of surprised in some ways. We had heard rumors about Parisians, good and bad and were not sure what to expect. We prepared for the possible sneers and turned noses but were optimistic and it paid off; we've only received open arms, generous smiles and many, many kisses on both cheeks.

We arrived in Paris via Eurostar train from London at 9am February 3rd. We were exhausted. Neither of us had slept the night before so we were pooped, but full of adrenaline. And emotions. England was easy. Just some slight differences to get used to. And familiar faces to help. In Paris we would be greeted by a stranger, though vouched for, and we had no idea where we would stay after that first night. Paris was a large intimidating foreign city and we weren't sure what to expect. When we woke up on the train to a bright white sky and realized we were in France we were overwhelmingly excited, but when we entered the train station and searched for the Metro entrance we were overwhelmed in a different way. Everyone was speaking French. That's when we really realized that this was going to be different.

The Metro was fairly easy to figure out because it used the same system as London so getting to Phillipe's flat in Les Lilas, on the Northeast border of Paris, with our internet directions was not a problem. Phillipe lived in neighborhood that was not busy or particularly charming (at least by Parisian standars) but not dangerous and his apartment building was nice with several high tech key code entry pads which made us feel safe. We arrived to a smiley, kind and hospitable Phillipe who turned out to have excellent taste in home decor. This seems to be commonplace with the French as far as we have been able to tell. The apartment was small with only a few rooms but very light and homey. We were so relieved and felt comfortable with Phillipe. He came across as very gentile and genuine instantly so we felt so lucky to be there. He gave up his bed for us to sleep on while he slept on the sofa, an above and beyond gesture, so were determined to do nice things for him. We decided to cook him dinner that night which allowed us to explore the neighborhood looking for markets. What we found was an American-like grocery store and many people who did not speak English. It was a bit difficult to get around this but we found a way. Camille learned that despite not speaking any of the language she could still communicate in other ways, and I learned that despite studying the language for 5 years I knew close to nothing useful. I can read the signs a bit, speak with toddler meets cave-man french and understand small bits of what people are talking about. But I'm utterly confused through all of it. The rest of the day we planned out our week, sent out couchsurfing/wwoofing requests and generally chilled taking a really laid back first day which was much needed.

(Philippe and Kim in the living room, notice the shrine of antique sculptures behind.)

The next day we hung out with our friend Bryce, someone I (Kim) randomly met in the Dublin airport when I was coming in from the States, who was waiting for a connecting flight to Paris. We had a brief conversation about how we were both traveling around Europe, he had been in the Peace Corp in Jamaica which I found interesting, and we both thought it would be nice to talk to a fellow American while in Paris so we planned to meet when I got there. He only had a day to spend with us before traveling to Berlin, but it was a fun one day. We all met underneath the Arc de Triomphe, got an espresso, wandered down the Champs Elysees and headed on over to the Musee D'Orsay where many of the Impressionist's pieces are held. We loved it but were thoroughly exhausted after a couple hours of wandering so after we stopped at the apartment Brice was staying at right down the street, and just across the street from the Louvre, for some tea. There we met George, Brice's great uncle who is American and his girlfriend of many years Marie Aimee who is French. They had the most gorgeous place and we had a great time chatting over tea for a few hours and getting to know them.

(George's flat: Brice, Kim, and Camille)



(Kim, Brice, and Camille in front of the Louvre)

The next day we explored Montmarte, an older area of Paris way up on a hill that had a lot of cute shops and the Basilique of Sacre Coeur, an enormous elaborate Cathedral with an amazing view of Paris and lots of agressive portrait artists. They will seriously hound you until you give in or draw you without your permission and expect you to pay. It's absurdly crass for such a high brow activity. That night we said goodbye to Phillipe and headed over to our new residency with Karim, a guy we met through couch surfing. He lives in the 6th arr. very close to Napoleans tomb and the Eiffel Tower. He's a very kind, talkative, funny and energetic Algerian guy, yet native french speaker, who is living with his aunt here who is currently traveling. We are having a blast staying with him.

(Kim and Camille, and the view from Montmarte)

Saturday morning we explored the Rue Cler, a quintessential Parisian market street, then headed over to meet George in the 6th arrondissement for lunch. He treated us to a nice traditional french meal then had dessert and coffee at a famous retaurant called Les Deux Magots. It was so good and Geoge was so sweet to us. At the first restaurant we chatted so long they had to ask us, politely, to leave which is not custom and they felt so bad about it they treated us all to free shots of apple liquer. Amazing stuff. George is a carpenter who mostly does custom pieces and worked for famous actors in LA for awhile years back. He's had a very interesting life and we enjoyed hearing as much about it as we could. After we headed over to the oldest cathedral in France, across the street called Eglise St. Germain-Des-Pres, passed by the L'Ecole Des Beaux Arts of Paris, walked along the Seine river and it's famous vintage street book vendors, and said goodbye to George at Notre Dame. After exploring the wonders of Notre Dame we walked to the nearby Centre Pomidou and wandered before hurrying over to the Louvre where were told it was free for the day. What we did not know was that the deal was only for students and neither of us had the ID for that so instead we wandered for a bit before heading over to meet with Camille's friend of a friend named Lenora at a British Pub in what seemed to be a street of British themed establishments. She was English but was living in France for a bit to improve her french and we had a nice chat with her before she headed off to work a the same pub.

(Lunch with George at Au Pied de Fouet)


(The dessert waitress with a tray of tempting treats at Les Deux Magots)

Sunday Camille met up with an old friend from Jackson named Ariana Snowdon who she had dinner with the other night at Café Ruc near the hotel her and her mom were staying at called the Hotel Meurice, which is gorgeous. That day I stayed with Karim to figure out travel plans and to nurse my swollen eye. I seem to be allergic to this part of Paris because I woke up Sunday morning with a red puffy eye and only antihistamines combined with eye drops seem to make it better. It feels fine, but looks awful so I've been wearing the Carrera sunglasses Vero gave me everywhere. I feel so silly because until today, sun has been nowhere to be found, but I feel midly cool as well. I look like Elvis in them. And that song about wearing sunglasses at night plays over and over in my head.

The last few days we've just been shopping, hanging out and touring.

(Kim, aka Master-mind of the metro)

(Ooo la la, c'est bon!)

Tuesday (tomorrow) we leave for Deux-Sevres where we will be working on a small organic farm. More details later. Au Revoir for now! More pictures to come...

-Kim (photos by Camille :)