The weekend of June 17-19, my 2nd last in Neuch before the summer (and the last that I could get away from the city) I took a trip to what may be my favorite weekend getaway trip in Europe:
PARIS
It was the third time that I went there this past year. I could keep going back forever and ever. It's just so full of life. There's so much to see and do, I love being anonymous and testing out just how good my French skills have gotten.
I went by myself and was a little anxious because I was staying at a hotel that I'd never been to before (found on the internet but booked over the phone after calling to confirm a couple details), and well, I'm usually anxious about ridiculous things...so yeah.
The train ride was pretty uneventful. It was a Neuch-->Lausanne-->Paris one since I'd booked the ticket sort of last minute, so there weren't any reserved seats left on the direct train. This also meant that I had to leave pretty darn early in the morning, but it seemed to work out well because I ended up getting a really cheap ticket because of my age. Who knew being a young-in had so many advantages?!?
When I arrived, I quickly headed toward the Metro. I felt like such a pro. I've said it before and I'll say is again: I love the Metro. I got off at my stop and surfaced at an area that looked unfamiliar to me. It took me a bit to find my bearings, but I did it, and got to the Hotel. It was cute and seemed family run. Not as scary as I'd imagined it could have been.
It was ridiculously hot that day (the sun was SO harsh), but I had no time to lounge around...I was on a mission. A wedding present mission. I took out the map and made a plan of attack. The hotel was pretty close to LaFayette and Printemps, and those were my best bets, so I figured I'd go there first, in my minimal amount of time remaining in the day and hopefully get lucky and then have the rest of the weekend to relax and do other fabulous things.
On my way out, I noticed that the Cirque du Soleil was in town on their European Tour of Saltimbanco. I'd never seen a live Cirque show, and even though this was one of their older shows, I figured, hey, I'm going to get a ticket because I deserve to go see something that I've always wanted to see (makes sense doesn't it? Usually I decide to flipside though for some reason.) Anyway, bottom line is that I splurged on a ticket and felt good about it. I figured I wasn't sure when I would have the opportunity to see a Cirque show again anytime soon, so I might as well go for it. I reasoned it (I ALWAYS need a reason) as a "congratulations for finishing your first year" present to myself. I was here in a fabulous city by myself, so I was going to do fabulous things...by myself. So I needed to get back to hotel in time to change for the show (so I had an even more limited amount of time to shop that afternoon).
I headed out and immediately turned into a sweating machine. It was disgusting, but I was on a mission, and I was sure that the fab department stores would HAVE to be air-conditioned, so I just had to get myself there and I'd be safe. I walked all the way there to soak up the streets of Paris. I just love to walk around and see different things. There are so many different areas of Paris, that I don't know if I'll ever be able to discover each one in enough detail to satisfy me.
Anyway, I go through the two fab malls with ideas of what I was looking for, but nothing really stuck out to me. What a disappointment. The ridiculously huge and lavish department stores had NOTHING?!? I couldn't believe it. A little depressed, I headed back to get ready to see the show all the while thinking about what I would have to do tomorrow to make up for the lack of items found that day.
The show was fabulous! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I think my mouth was actually hanging open in awe for most of it too. It was a smaller venue than I'd imagined, but it was really really nice. I was in the second row in almost the middle. I obviously had a great view. Of the stage, of the gags going on in the audience and of the doohickey-thingamabobber that held up the tightropes and other gadgets for the performers. It was neat to see how the crew worked so efficiently along with the performers. It was definitely a well-oiled machine. I wondered if a lot of the crew were Canadian (the performers sure weren't), or the people selling souvenirs and stuff, or did they just hire people in the area to do the job. I always thought it would be really neat to have a job like that. I still think it would be really cool to try and be a waitress too. Okay, there's a lot of things that I'd like to try to do, but I don't think that it's possible. There's just not enough time to do everything that I want to do. Such is life. My favorite act of the night was the Chinese Poles, and the clown was quite hilarious as well. I noticed that the Double Wire performer tried to repeat a trick after screwing up the first time. The second time around was a little bit better, but still not perfect. You could see her grimace, but I guess she had to keep going on. I loved the bright costumes and the music. The lighting and acting was incredible. It was better than I imagined it would be. I can't wait until the next show that I get to see. On the website, I noticed that Dralion's coming to Zurich in the fall. Wonder if I'll go or not?
It was an incredible night. The show made me so happy, but I was so exhausted when I got back to hotel. It wasn't even THAT late, but I just crashed. I had to wake up early the next day as well to make sure that I found all the objects that were on my list.
The next day, just as hot as the day before...it was torture. I had to go back to the hotel a couple times a day to cool down. After a full day of running around to so many of the shopping districts, at the end of the day, when I had basically given up, I went back to LaFayette and Printemps for one last look. Success! I don't know what happened the day before (I bet I had tunnel vision - I usually do when I'm on a mission), but there they were, exactly what I was looking for. Everything worked out. Well, not quite. I had bought everything I needed for other people like I was planning on, but at the same time, I was supposed to be looking for fabulous things for myself as well. I wasn't successful in that venture. It was a little sad. But, you know, you gotta make sacrifices for the better good right? And honestly, I could go back to Paris next year and find all of those fabulous things then. No biggie. And I got to see Cirque du Soleil for goodness sake. They couldn't take that away from me. Whoa. I'm rambling.
I went back to hotel with all of my purchases, and remembered that I hadn't eaten the whole day. No breakfast, no lunch either...and it was almost dinnertime. I'd only had a couple yogurt drinks that day. It was just too hot to eat, and I was too tired to go out to a nice sit down place, so I popped in to a grocery store and just picked up a couple things along with other items for the train ride home the next day. I got back and after just my soup, I was full. I guess the heat, along with not eating anything throughout the day just made me not have an appetite at all. So I saved all my food for the train (even though I probably wouldn't be able to eat all of it)...well, that's less groceries that I'd have to do in Neuch I guess.
I go to sleep completely exhausted, after having a little chat with the concierge in French. My French had held up pretty well that weekend. A sign that I had gotten better that year. Parisian French scare me. They just talk so fast that while my brain is registering what they're saying, there's that awkward silence in the air, and I hate awkward silences. I find that when I speak French in Neuch, I just register what people are saying to me, and it's all good. But in Paris (at least with the fast speaking ones), I have to repeat at my own speed everything that they said again in my head (in French) and then do some quick translations in my head. What a waste of time. It's getting better though, and that's all that matters.
Oh, I forgot to mention my haircut in Paris. I needed to get something done to my hair before the wedding, and since I wouldn't have anytime to go to somewhere in Toronto after getting home, I figured it'd be fun (and another treat to myself) to go somewhere fabulous in Paris. I was hoping that they'd go something super-duper great. I don't really care what stylists decide to do to my hair. I trust them. All I tell them is that I don't usually use any product in my hair, and I don't blowdry it, so please give me a cut that will work for that. I mentioned to this guy as well that I had a wedding coming up that I'd probably need enough hair to put up, but other than that I was willing to go with anything fabulous that he wanted to do. The salon itself was pretty fab. It was in a great area. I won't even discuss the price. It was a treat. I don't think the language was an issue (although there was less conversation going on than I would have liked...I said I hate awkward silences). The combination of fast talking and loud hairdryer didn't work well for me. Anyway, bottom line was, I was disappointed. I mean, when I walked out of the salon, I felt great. It was shorter than before, so it was lighter, but it really just looked like the normal layered cut that I always have. Sigh. I was hoping for something totally out there and fab. Another problem. This cut really only looks THAT fab when it's blowdried. I've already told you that that would never happen on my own. Darn it. Maybe it's just a sign. My face shape is calling for a layered look. With the same length everytime. I'll just keep trying different places I guess.
The next morning, I pack everything up, leave it by the front desk and head out for a last walk around town before I had to catch my train. I decide to head out to Montmartre and wander around the Sacre Coeur. Yep, I wanted to Amelie it up. It was another scorching day, but the walk was fabulous. It's such a beautiful area filled with life. It was the only really touristy monument that I visited that weekend. I had walked by a couple of other things, but hadn't really stared at anything except for the Sacre Coeur. I sat, read some of my book, people watched, looked at the world passing by. It was a great morning. The only thing that put a damper on it was the vendors who rudely thought I was a Japanese tourist. I hate that. There's nothing wrong about not knowing where someone's from, but the way they assume, or are pushy about knowing just bothers me. A LOT.
Anyway, I head back to the hotel to get my things after an all in all great weekend, and get on the train to head back to normal Neuch life laden down with bags filled with gifts. It's like Christmas in 30+ degrees weather.
I love Paris.
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