Paris- You Stole My Heart (And My Scarf)

If someone had given me a synopsis of what was going to happen in my life for 2010 at the end of last year I would have told them they were crazy. I had finished my Bachelor of Environmental Science, I was living in Geelong with my (then) boyfriend and his family, working part time at a Gym and was looking at potential career jobs with no real plans to be anywhere but Geelong (Victoria at the most). Within the next five months everything was turned upside down with every single part of my life being altered...and within ten months I found myself standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris wondering how I got there... People say things happen for a reason and I believe this to a certain extent. But more importantly I believe The Butterfly Effect- where changing one thing in your life can cause dramatic differences to the path you are on. If I didn't study my Masters and accept the scholarship to study in Europe, my ex and I would probably still be together (although unhappy), I wouldn't have completed a three month internship at Barwon Water and in turn been given a full time job as a Sewerage Planning Engineer for when I return in February... This all has a point...bare with me...

So as I'm standing on top of the Eiffel Tower by myself at about 9pm (I pretty much got into Paris and headed straight for the Eiffel Tower) listening to Angus and Julia Stone on my iPod (I know guys- I'm still obsessed) watching people look into each others eyes, stroke each others hair and kiss on one of the most romantic places with a breathtaking view I didn't really know how I felt. I was happy and grateful to be given the amazing opportunity to study in Europe and be able to jump on a train for 8 hours and be in Paris- something that I had always wanted to do. I was kinda sad because I wanted to share it with someone amazing and really wanted a cuddle...and I was curious to think where I'll be and how my life will be this time next year. Cos if I can be in Paris when I hadn't dreamt of it last year who knows what will happen by next year. As much as there were some terrible times this year, I've also had some amazing days and weeks that I wouldn't take back for the world as well and I don't think I would change a thing that has happened this year- it's all caused other things to happen which I am super thankful for. To get back to the whole "Blog about Paris" it's made me be able to see beautiful monuments like this:

That create views like this:

After my emo hour or so in one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, I wandered the streets of Paris listening to conversations in French and soaking it all in. It didn't take me long to decide that Paris was amazing. There is just a fabulous vibe there that say "My name is Paris. I am vibrant and full of character, my language is sexy and everyone who lives here is happy and in love". So the next morning I woke up and embraced the city I was in. I had a nutella and banana crepe for breakfast (a-may-zing) and went on a free walking tour of the city that is done by students for students. I had a great tour leader named... actually, I forget... But he was great (Perhaps Scott or Sam?). Anyway, we walked around the city for four hours and he showed us: 

 The Notre Dame- built in 1160 and took 200 years to complete. 

A fine example of French Gothic Architecture

These steps are where "Friday 13th" superstition was created. A dude was burnt at the stake here on a Friday 13th aaaages and whilst being burnt he said that the King would die within the year with no hair on his head... It happened.. it happened for the next 4 years straight... ooooOOOooOoOOh 

 This is the boat the firefighters of the Seine River work on. Apparently in nice weather they do sit ups and work out on the deck... I cursed the rain at that point... :oP

This is where the "Immortals" work. They are the keepers of the French language and work on keeping French... well, French. In other words protecting it from the English language e.g when the "computer" came along, they decided in French it would be called an "ordinateur". They also decide what article goes in front of a word, in English we just have "the", but some other language have "male, female and neuter" e.g. German "der, die and das" and French "le, la, les". It took them three months to decide what article goes infront of "iPod"... three months...

The Louvre and the Pyramids of the Louvre. The main pyramid is the entrance of the Louvre. I went in and saw probably 1/10th of the 3500 articles in there. Apparently if you look at each article for 30 seconds during opening hours it would take you 20 years to get through it all. So I think i'll need to go back there...I did take some photos which I'll get to later. The President of France in the '90's wanted to leave his mark on the Lourve (as most senior people did in France e.g. Napoleon etc...) and he decided to have an "invisible pyramid" built that was made of a special glass that didn't create a reflection. However, as you can see, they are very much visible. The glass would collapse under itself so metal reinforcement had to be constructed... AND he made 5 not 1... When it was revealed the Parisians weren't too impressed...AND the glass totally gives a reflection..lol, I think this is hilarious! 

and a nice garden in the city...

It was a massive day of walking and saw so much. Yet, still didn't see half of it all. The amount of museums there are crazy... There is one for EVERYTHING! 

Even a Museum specifically for counterfeit items... The Musée de la Contrafaçon- True Story. 

Afterwards, I met some Americans and a Kiwi back at the hostel and had dinner and went out to a few bars. We met some fun french people who owned one of the bars we went to and they took us to a few more as each one gradually had last drinks. We got hooked up pretty well and it was fun to be away from the touristy stuff and be in the proper French nightlife... I woke up slightly worse for wear the next morning and less one scarf :o( but made my way to the craziest place I've ever been... the CATACOMBES!!

Now, this was reeeeally cool/morbid/surreal. The Catacombes in the Old Quarries running under Paris were made as a giant depositary of human remains from the Cemeteries of Paris. Over 6 MILLION BODIES are stacked up in the quarry and a section of 1.7km can be viewed by the public. Pretty cool right? I definitely recommend clicking here and reading up on the first four groups of sentences (too small for me to call then paragraphs and turn you off clicking) to get a feel for it.... and then marvel at these photos...

1.7km of this! And it goes for longer then that but only the 1.7km is open to the public! Pretty crazy right?! I could have played the bongo's on their skulls and used their arm and leg bones as an xylophone...may they rest in peace! 

I guess I can't leave you with 6 million dead people so here are some pretty pictures from in the Lourve:

Miss Lisa herself... however seeing her made me realise how much I don't really care for paintings all that much... I found cooler stuff!! 

An actual Easter Island head!  Which was really massive. 

A cool Hawaiian wood carving from ages ago

The Winged Victory of Samothrace was made in 190 BC and is a marble sculpture of the Greek Goddess Nike (also called Victory). What I thought was pretty impressive (if it wasn't already) was that it's been displayed at the Lourve since 1884. 

Cool hieroglyphics. Pretty sure it says something about me being the most awesome person you know... 

Fancy Roofs...

The centre of the Lourve (which, if you've been there you can vouch) is the most confusing building I have ever been in! You could very easily get lost and its really hot and it feels claustrophobic. Honestly, it wasn't the highlight of the trip for me...

All in all, a pretty awesome trip... I spent a mint load of money, the weather was pretty crappy and my night train was cancelled cos of the train strikes so I had to stay another day and pay for another night in a hostel- but it meant I got to do more so that was good! It feels like I could have lost my luggage and I still would have loved it... There is something about Paris that I really loved. Oh! P.S The food was amazing! Every single thing I had was the best of its kind. e.g. crepes, chocolate crossaint, orange juice (I don't know how, juice is juice) and the most delicious ham and cheese baguette EVER! again, its just ham and cheese but the bread was so good... I wish I bought another one... 

I'll be looking at going back to Paris. Not sure if again on this trip- I'd prefer to be there in Summer...But next time I want to visit the Palace of Versailles and Montmarte which is where the majority of "Amelie" was filmed if you've ever seen it.

So I say au revoir to Paris... Dresden and University for the next two weeks, then The Netherlands and Belgium with my "new friend" and Prague buddy Alice! Super pumped because my friend Stephen who I lived with in Hawaii lives in Amsterdam with his girlfriend and we are staying with him for two nights!

Yay for reunions! 

But ohhhhh I miss Hawaii sooooo much!!!