Day 3

Day 3:

Monday, March 23, 2009: Today, I woke up, showered, dressed, and missed breakfast at the hostel.

I decided that since it was my last day without friends, I would explore the Marais neighborhood. I took the metro to Place de la Bastille after buying a carnet of tickets for the metro. A carnet is ten tickets at a slightly less price; my problem was that I bought the child’s carnet for those under 10. Well you don’t have a problem until a controller verifies your ticket, which happens completely randomly every day. Karma for flying first class direct I’m sure.

So I played the stupid American tourist part and acted like I had no idea what was wrong, not knowing what was going to happen. I spoke in English and explained that I must have bought the wrong carnet by mistake. The controller was not happy and let me go with a warning of a 25E fine is I was caught using the wrong tickets again. Keyword: caught.

This is where the Bastille stood before the French Revolution. It was besieged because of it symbolized oppression and the peoples’ disgust with Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette’s opulent lifestyle at Versailles while the San-Culottes starved and paid extreme taxes, part of which paid for the French’s American aid during our Revolutionary War.

The Colonne de Juillet obelisk commemorates the victims of the July Revolution in 1830. It is large and relatively insignificant but I can now say that I’ve seen it. So then I decided follow Frommer’s walking tour. I went to La Place des Vosages, a huge square that Catherine de Medicis built in memory of King Henri IV after his jousting death left her Queen. It was really cool and I took lots of pictures.

I observed some more from a park bench and watched a toddler play in the sand. Victor Hugo lived in this square and his house is now a museum so I went there. The only problem is that it is closed on Mondays, of course.

I walked north toward the Revolution museum – La Musee Carnavalet. Well it, too, is closed on Mondays: strike two. Finally, I found something that was open and interesting: Musee Picasso. I paid 5E and checked my coat and backpack and wondered at his works of art, actually very interesting and relaxing.

After that, I wondered out la sortie (the exit) and into the courtyard. Amie Schneider yelled my name and I didn’t pay attention at first then I saw them. These are my family friends that I was looking for yesterday and we just ran into each other today!

Amie was with her daughter Lindsay, brother-in-law Bruce, and his sister and brother-in-law. I went with them for the day. We walked back to La Place des Vosages and checked their flights for Thursday because they were flying standby on Delta (Bruce’s wife, Susan, is a flight attendant).
So then we found a café and took away lunch to eat in a parc. I had crocque monsieur – like a sandwich with egg and ham covered in melted cheese.

After that we walked to Centre Pompidou, the museum of modern art. The building is perhaps known more for its controversial exterior more than its contents. All the pipes for air, water, heat, etc., are all color-coded and on the outside of the building. It’s very interesting.

Well the group had the museum discount card so they went in but Lindsay and I waited for them and had ice cream. After that we walked to neighborhood known as Les Halles. We found the church St-Eustache which was built in 1637. Frommer’s says there is a Rembrandt painting there but we never found it.

After that we walked back to the Schneider’s apartment and relaxed for a few before going to buy the best dessert I had in Paris. Of course I do not know the name of where I bought it. We returned to drop off our treats them left again to find a place to eat.

I had pizza avec jambon then we walked back and had dessert. After socializing some more, I excused myself and made my way back to the hostel. I wrote in my journal and went to bed at 11pm.

(Google any proper noun that you are unfamiliar with)