With the beginning of November came les vacances de la Toussaint – two weeks holiday just 4 weeks in to
my clearly taxing role as a Language Assistant. I decided to make the most of
my temps libre (well, the addition to
the free time that already seems to characterise my working week…) to travel
slightly further afield. First stop: La Paris. Not only the most obvious
where-to of the francophone world, and thus a year abroad essential, but also
home to my good friend Lauren. Wearing more clothes than contained in my
suitcase, I stepped off the TGV into the heaving pre-rush hour Gare du Nord.
Considering where I live passing traffic equates to a dog walker or pensioner
on a bike (it seems literally everyone cycles…) the task of navigating the
metro amidst a crowd of clearly time-poor Parisians left me more than a little
flustered and very much in need of the cup of tea that awaited us chez Lauren. . Following a traumatic
arrival, I luckily adapted to city life in time to make the most of my visit to
the Capital, and by Monday I could handle the claustrophobic maze that is
Parisian public transport (A particular highlight in this domain was an amusing
moment on Saturday evening when I found myself directing some Italian tourists
on the RER…. slightly odd considering that my tourist status was double-fold
that weekend) We made sure to fulfil all the touristic requirements of a sejour a Paris, and added a few
particularities of our own to the itinerary. The highlights were as follows:
A walking tour encompassing all the post-card hotspots:
Notre-dame, le Louvre, les champs elysées…. with ample refreshment breaks to
fill a chocolat-chaud quota and make
the most of wet weather…
Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up in the evening… and an
embarrassingly keen run from the metro to make it in time to see it twinkle on
the hour
A matinee performance of the comedie musicale “1789: Les Amants de la Bastille” – with power
ballads, dance numbers and a bit of French history thrown in, what wasn’t to
like?! (Bonne anniversaire Lauren!)
A romantic evening walk along the Seine, followed by dinner out. I even summoned the courage to sample un escargot, reasoning when offered that it must be done at some point. Verdict? Not as degoutant as i had feared. Indeed i was slightly underwhelmed - it had the consistency of a mushroom and all traces of snail were covered by an overpowering but agreeable sauce. At least it's one to tick off the list however.
A romantic evening walk along the Seine, followed by dinner out. I even summoned the courage to sample un escargot, reasoning when offered that it must be done at some point. Verdict? Not as degoutant as i had feared. Indeed i was slightly underwhelmed - it had the consistency of a mushroom and all traces of snail were covered by an overpowering but agreeable sauce. At least it's one to tick off the list however.
A trip to Versailles, which left us feeling sufficiently
cultured (and with better interior design taste than had the French monarchy…)
My very own personal tour-guide,
with habitant status and knowledge,
and not to mention the welcome dose of familiarity and good company that came
with it.
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