Paris

Alex, Sohail and I went to Paris last weekend. We made our plans the night before, but decided to buy our train tickets at the station, rather than online, along with youth cards that would give us discounts. When we arrived around 9:30 AM, we discovered that fares had doubled since the night before. We ended up taking a 4 PM train (for a bit more reasonable fare) and arrived in Paris around 5:30. We checked into our Etap hotel, which was a great deal for the three of us - 110 euros for 2 nights, and then headed out to the Louvre to make the most of our abbreviated day in Paris.

A giant column at the Louvre, see the woman in bottom left corner for perspective

After half-heartedly taking in art for two hours, we made our exit. We passed a street musician, clad in construction-style sweatshirt and work boots, who made his cello sing as he smoked a cigarette. In the Latin quarter, we scoured for a decent meal, circled the entire area, and finally agreed on a Thai restaurant. The menu was an overwhelming book of different combinations and price ranges. We had a dining area to ourselves up a split-level, but could still see the street. Next we headed to the Pont neuf and drank a bottle of wine amongst the younger thriftier Parisians. As it got late, we decided to call it a night and enjoy the nightlife more thoroughly on Saturday.

The next morning, we checked out the Centre Pompidou and, as at the Louvre, were admitted for free with our passports. Apparently the French student visa in the passport warrants free admission in many museums. I will test it this weekend in Germany. The Centre Pompidou houses the Musee National d'Art Moderne, which was the draw for me. The architecture of the Centre, with its bright colorfuls and guts-as-exterior was a site itself. Inside, the main exhibition was "Elles", a feminist art exhibit, much to the chagrin of me and my 2 male friends. Even when the art was not clearly feminist, the blurb by the artist often had some harsh words. The strongest blurb called men "walking abortions," basically botched versions of females. I must say, though, that I found it more interesting than the antiquated albeit esteemed pieces of the Louvre.

Bottom floor of Centre Pompidou

Famous Exterior Escalators

And Video

The garden of Luxembourg is across the Seine river and a kilometer or so south of the Louvre, so we ventured over and relaxed for a bit.

We developed quite a thirst at the park and decided to investigate happy hour possibilities. I had hastily revisted a NY Times article that morning which listed an "ancient dive bar" supposedly called Le Baron Rouge. We agreed to check it out, and spent the better part of an hour walking it but were greatly disappointed to find a bustling wine bar. I had misread the article, but we got to see a new area of Paris, outside the typical tourist quarters. Not wine experts and not feeling a part of the mature crowd, we returned to the Latin quarter to a student bar called the Hideout. After a few beers there, we moved to a restaurant nearby. The waiter mentioned how much better the 16 euro menu was and I took offense. Emboldened by happy hour, I explained in faltering French that we might not have 16 Euros to pay for such an expensive meal, but I don't think the humor was properly communicated.

The next day we had a scare while entering Gare de l'Est, when we noticed that the departure time we had in our heads was 15 minutes later than the real departure time. We sprinted through the train station, and along the track while conductors encouraged us to "Courez" and "Dépêchez-vous" lest their train be delayed. We boarded with a minute or two to spare, at which point I mentioned to Alex that he had made a pretty serious mistake in checking the time. Sohail reminded me that I had had the tickets out that very morning to see if we were all seated together. I hadn't even glanced at the departure time.

Louvre Palace at Night

Canal lock near our hotel

Next to Notre Dame