Paris

Bonjour! I really had to dig deep into the dark corners of my memory to pick out some French words I recognized because I just felt like a silly Americaine (all french words are said in a french accent in my head as I write this) most of the time in Paris even though it was just a quick little trip. The metro line looked comparable to that of New York's so it was actually pretty easy to get from the bus station to Clement's, my Couchsurfing host, and as much as I try to not look like a tourist, it gets pretty difficult when you're carrying a large orange travel pack.

The metro map - Pretty easy to navigate

Scrabble in the Metro?

Luckily, Clement spoke fluent English so we didn't have to play any charades. I just felt bad every time he had to translate between me and his friends. But anyway, even though it was fairly late when he got finished with work and I met him, we still grabbed a drink down the street, where his friend owned the bar. I spent most of the night just staring at them while they spoke because I was trying to pick up the words I recognized but I guess it must have looked pretty awkward of me so every so often, they would ask Clement a question to translate or they would try to speak to me in English. They also gave me a drink called anise I believe because it's a traditional French drink but none o them liked it so wanted to get my opinion. It was odd and I couldn't figure out what it tasted like but as I almost finished it, I realized it tasted like licorice and I'm not a huge fan of licorice. No more anise for me.

Ikea sofa bed

Since I felt so bad having to need a French translator, I'm making the commitment to relearn French and to come back after having a better speaking knowledge of it. I know I might feel like that after going to every new country that doesn't speak primarily English but for starters, French.
The next day called for a lot of rain but I was on a mission to see everything so with my trusty hoodie and rain boots, I was off. Since Clement lived in the northern part of Paris, I started at the Sacre Cœur and walked around it to get to what I believe were palace steps. I stumbled upon what looked like a very touristy marketplace and there were artistes walking around asking if we wanted to get our picture drawn. I walked through the little shops then decided that my first french sustenance was going to be crêpes so I got one with nutella and bananas. Yum! And I continued to walk through the marketplace and down the palace steps when these street hustlers approached me. There were a bunch of people selling bags and hats and trying to talk to people and I tried to avoid them the best I could but one of them somehow got a hold of my hand and he wrapped a string around my finger. I kept pulling my hand away but he kept making conversation and telling me that it was okay. I told him that I had nothing to give him but he kept on anyway until he wrapped the bracelet around my wrist and told me it was Hakuna Matata. I told him I didn't have anything to give him but he insisted that since I was American, he was going to be nicer to me and I could give him whatever I wanted so I just grabbed a two euro coin from my pocket and gave it to him. That will be the only time I am getting swindled!

Sacre Coeur

With guards outside

Touristy marketplace

Front view of the Sacre Coeur

View of Paris

Paris "souvenirs"

Waiting for my crepe!

Crepes!

The Hakuna Matata... Apparently

By the time I got down the palace steps, the rain had started just a soft drizzle and it wasn't too bad by the time I walked by the Moulin Rouge. Lots of sex shops near there. I had already mapped out my route in my head so the Arc de Triomphe was next but it was a bit of a way away so I tried to walk under overhangs as much as possible to stay somewhat dry. That didn't happen and the rain started to really come down at one point. To try to stay dry when it started to rain harder, I was looking for some sort of café but many places were closed due to it being Sunday. However, I did pass by this one boulangerie with so many different fresh breads that I was just overwhelmed by the fresh-smelling carbs. I wanted to get one of those stereotypical French baguettes and walk around eating it all day but I was not tempted by the idea of soggy bread so I ate a few samples and continued on. I'm so glad that there were many bus stops with maps that point out where you are and shows you a radius of where you can go in approximately five minutes and ten minutes by foot. I kept looking at those maps to make sure I was going in the right direction. One or two times, I found that I had taken a random turn and had to backtrack but there was always something to see so it was alright.
Finally making it to the Arc de Triomphe, it was really cool from afar but I couldn't figure out how everyone was getting to the actual structure so I looked around to see if anyone was walking directly through the large roundabout above ground to see if I could follow suit but no one was so I searched for a tunnel of some sort. Eventually I found it and joined all the other tourists in the center. The Arc is pretty much a hub for streets and I circled around to find the right one to get me to the Eiffel Tower and trudged on. Finally arriving there, I walked along the river while staring at the Tower. The stony street reminded me of one scene in Ratatouille and I couldn't help but smile thinking that I'm actually in Paris. I did that on a few occasions throughout the day and it still amazes me as I write this.

The Moulin Rouge

Shops after the Moulin Rouge

Walking through the rainy streets

Le pain!!

The park has such nice gates

Just randomly beautiful architecture I saw while walking across a small street

Getting close!!

Le Arc de Triomphe

Got to the center!

There are actually a lot of electric car chargers out and about

Walking away from the Arc

Made it to the Eiffel Tower!

Before getting to the Eiffel Tower, this is what lies across from a beautiful view of it.

Place de la Concorde

The Notre Dame was next and I walked along the river and passed by this market that seemed to be sampling all types of local foods. I tried some different cheeses which were very delicious and when someone tried to talk to me, I could only reply with an apologetic "Je ne parle pas le français." Walking across the bridge to get to the Notre Dame, there were so many locks with names on the railings to the point that there were larger metals pieces coming out horizontally from the railing to make room for more locks. And all along the streets, there were stands set up to sell drawings and postcards and various other Paris paraphernalia. Actually, it was all quite cute to me.

Local food market

As I walked along the river, I passed by so many beautiful structures that, to be honest, I'm not quite sure which was which. I do know that I crossed the river when I had gotten to the Notre Dame. After passing by the Notre Dame, my last planned stop was the Louvre. When I got there, there were so many people taking pictures like they were holding the pyramid structure that I was wondering if I should do that as a tourist but I decided against it and sat down to people watch for a bit. At this point, the rain had subsided so it was actually nice to sit down and just enjoy the fact that I was in Paris. As I walked to find a metro station, I passed by a lot of large fountain areas with people sitting around so I joined them. At this point, I had been walking for about seven hours so sitting was nice.
When I finally got up to walk again, I made my way out of the gardens that surround the Louvre and noticed that several of the notable sights were all nicely aligned with each other. From one direction, I could see the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower right behind it and from another direction, I was able to see the Arc right behind the Louvre pyramid. It was pretty convenient how these structures are situated.

The Notre Dame

The Notre Dame - side view 

Walking across the River

The Notre Dame up close

The pyramid at the Louvre

I made it! Nice out now

Chilling out by the fountains

Finally making it back to Clement's, we decided to cook a small dinner which I was actually really excited for since I haven't had a home-cooked meal in over a week and I had a knackering for one. So with that decision, we went to a local supermarket to get some ingredients and cooked ourselves a very non-french dinner of pasta with some veggies and lardons, which is like little chunks of pork that look similar to bacon. After some dinner and wine, we headed out to a little bar called Le Super Coin and I tried some different beers of which the names I don't remember. While at the bar, I attempted to roll a cigarette (the French smoke a lot!) but wasn't too successful. However, I did hash a plan to cut Clement's hair because he mentioned that he needed a haircut so after trying the three different beers on tap at Le Super Coin and talking to some Swedes, we made our way back to Clement's and I ended my last night in Paris as an amateur hairstylist.

The sliced baguette looked like bunnies!

Italian dinner?

Dessert - La religieuse chocolat

Snapchat geotag of Paris at Le Super Coin

Petit coin (small corner) is what the French call the bathroom for little kids and we were at Le Super Coin :)

Attempting to roll a cigarette

Success?

Being a hairstylist