Well, it's been awhile since we blogged for realsies, and I am a fan of being complete and thorough (everyone who knows me can stop laughing now), so I'm going to go back and recap Paris now, then Scotland - although might not get to Scotland today. I'm about to go eat a delicious breakfast, prepared by Cane's uncle Bruce (a true Scot, yo) (NB from Cane: Bruce is actually of no relation, but I call him uncle Bruce anyway.).
Apologies for the preceding paragraph, it's a bit spastic - I'd delete it, but then I'd have to start again. Mehnyway, Paris. So we departed from our hostel in Bruges at around 5:45 in the a.m. to catch our train into gay Paree. It was a rather uneventful trip - the train was a bit crowded, but Cane was able to sleep and I was able to pass the time listening to my ipod and looking out the window, so it worked out nicely for everyone. When we arrived in the city, we made our way
to our super-close-to-the-train-station hotel, where we dropped off our bags and left for breakfast (we couldn't check in until around 2 in the afternoon). We had som
e tasty omlettes and croissants and formulated our plan of attack for the day. We also managed to reapply some makeup, which we pooled from our pockets and bags (always prepared!)...we were ready to see the most fashionable city in the world. Okay, truthfully, we still looked like scrubs, but there was nothing to be done about it.
First stop: the Louvre. We didn't go in, because, really, what's the point of spending, like, an hour in the Louvre? We saw the pyramids outside - the exterior of that building is beeeyuuutiful. Also, it is effing HUGE. Like, what the hell. Next, we took the Metro to Notre Dame cathedral, home of Hugo's hunchback. The interior was really nice (obvs), but the real highlight was the completely ghetto Christmas tree out front. It was Charlie Brown quality, with the most hilarious balls (insert your own joke here).
The Eiffel Tower was our next stop. Out in front of the Tower there were dozens of people attempting to sell you mini Eiffel statues or draw you as a caricature. Holy Jesus, they are annoying and as tenacious as vultures. I was ready to choke a bitch. Once we got to the middle level of the Tower (the top was under construction), we admired the view and took our pictures.
It was, unfortunately, a bit hazy up there, so the pics weren't the best, but it was a pretty astounding view nonetheless. There were a bunch of children there, so once again I had to be
restrained from stabbity revenge. We made our way down to the base of the Tower, ran through the packs of vultures, and hopped on the Metro to go back to the hotel. We had originally hoped to go to Versailles at this point, but it would have taken too long, so we went to McDonald's for lunch. "Why McDonald's?", you might wonder; the answer, obviously, is that I wanted to order a Royale with cheese (a la Pulp Fiction). I should also mention that I have never eaten a Quarter-Pounder in my whole life - verdict: it wasn't bad, and was definitely worth it for the PF reference. After stuffing our faces, we took a fast food induced
nap.
When we woke up (late as per), it was dark. We decided to Montmartre, then to the Arc de
Triumphe, then to a restaurant on the Champs d'Elyse, and then back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle. Montmatre was notable for the Moulin Rouge (shout out to Mepa!) as well as the Sexodrome, and the McDonald's next to the dirty cinema. In short, Cane was in heaven - she was finally home! We only spent about half an hour on Montmatre before heading down to the Champs d'Elyse for a bite. The Arc de Triumphe is on the Champs, so it was two birds with one stone. We ended up in a little Italian resto called Vesuvius, where we had a three course meal (highlight: goat cheese salad starter mmmmm). We took a bit longer than we thought to eat, so we missed the first 'sparkling' of the Tower, so we kinda wandered around a bit, then hopped the Metro again (sweet, sweet day passes - Cane's, hilariously, stopped working about halfway
through the day, so she had to keep getting it 'reset' by the transit people. Finally, she got them to replace it, but that was right before our last ride, so a bit useless).
What to say about the Eiffel Tower's light show? Well, it was spectacular. We ran through mud and nearly killed ourselves, but it was worth it. Cane was so excited! It was a real highlight of the trip.
Well, I think that is about it for Paris. I will note that I didn't speak any French (it never really came up, as people heard us speaking English and so addressed us in our preferred language), and that Paris is less French than Quebec. So, make of that what you will.
Stay tuned for further updates from the UK! We're heading out to Dublin this afternoon - there's no real plan, but I'm sure that we'll see some pretty sweet sights.
Nanoo nanoo, bitches!
KDu
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