Je suis chez moi
Just gotten back from a brief stint in Paris with Aussie flatmate, Kate.
Honestly? - Was a painful experience at times. My tolerance levels have proven to be higher than I previously thought they could possibly be.
I really like Kate - nice girl. She's lovely to chat to, quite grounded, never mean, never moody - but when she bumps into some Aussie friends of hers and spends a lot of time with them... help!
I mean, really, the result drove me nuts. They were really false and eternally perky. Everything they saw, whether it be the Eiffel Tower or a paper napkin on the floor, was amazing. No, I mean, "oh my goddd.... (sweet voice) that's SO amazing!!!"
I thought these people were fictional - reserved to movies that exaggerate such characters for comedy value. As you all know I'm up for a bit of enthusiasm... but this was closer to an enthusiasm overdose.
The first night was great. We got to our hostel (in a REALLY dodgy part of town - which was "interesting". Although I was concerned to discover I'm not worth that much...) and Kate and I went straight out for dinner that evening. We tried out Au Trou Normande, which was a place my friends had recommended (he used to live in Paris) and we had a charming 3-course meal for only 20 euros. We tried snails for starters and I have to be honest and say I can't see the appeal. I'm pretty sure they're just a novelty and can't possibly be an integral part of today's French cuisine. It's like eating gristle and fat from meat that you can't seem to chew apart very easily. Also, they came bubbling away in a green garlic marinade and it made them both look worse and taste of pure garlic. We went to a few places, and I've yet to see them cooked a different way.
Anyway, it was a really pleasant meal and the waiter liked our attempts at speaking French so much he gave us several free shots towards the end of our meal.
Second day Kate discovered that her friends, who are on a tour of Europe, were in Paris all the week (and even in the same hostel) so we got together and did all the tourist stuff as a group: the Louvre; a trundle down the Champs-Elysees, dodging traffic to catch a good perspective of the Arc de Triomphe with our cameras; and insisting on walking up the Eiffel Tower before dragging our cold, hungry selves back towards the hostel through the Champ de Mars Park; along the river, then up past the Opera. Paris is really attractive at night all lit up... but according to the lot I was with... it was "SO CUTE!!!"
That was a really long and satisfying day. Kate and her two friends had seen all the major sites and gotten the gist of Paris from all the walking.
That night we again took note of Andrew's advice and took a look at the 5th arrondissement, going to the little restaurant in the cellar (L'Ecurie) and Caveau des Oubliettes, which a kind policeman had to point us to because Rue Galande was nowhere on my map. The meal was really good, although the 3 Aussies complained because their steak was excreting juices (as good steak is supposed to) and the fries weren't really as French as they were expecting them to be (???!!)
Then on arriving at the little jazz place, they showed absolutely no desire to be there, wouldn't have anything to drink, and just stood in one spot looking around disconsolately. They had said they were really into their jazz and were really exited to be there and that they definitely weren't ready to go just yet... but I don't know... I was a little disappointed with their attitude towards it. Maybe they'd ran out of their enthusiasm by then after splurging all day? I don't know. It just ended up being a little awkward and embarrassing, so I tried to make friends with a bunch of people next to me... but really, I can't speak French, so conversation was a little stifled. If I'm ever in Paris with slightly more grounded people I might try it out again because from my brief time in there, I really enjoyed it. Lovely atmosphere... although my excited anticipation over the grass on the floor was unnecessary - it was just mud (I wonder if it was slightly more like grass when my friend went...)
Our third day was another one for seeing the usual sites. Kate and I took a gander up to the Sacre-Coeur which I love. It was raining and it so wasn't as nice as it is in the summer, but inside the actually church it is really peaceful.
Notre-Dame (disappointingly touristy) and St-Chapelle (like walking into a kaleidoscope!) were next on the agenda before an afternoon of pointless shopping (places like H&M and Zara - which are everywhere) and then a wander back through some small backstreets in the north of Paris for the evening. It was this point when I got really frustrated because we happened upon a little street full of designer boutique places and it was at this point that the 3 Aussies went into overdrive with their squeals of delight and girlish encouragement to buy things that were daft and extortionately expensive.
I felt sorry for Kate who got coerced into purchasing a metal bangle (75 Euros) and a weird woolly green vest which was unravelling along the collar (195 Euros). I interjected once, assuming the role of a person who lives in reality, but was looked at as though I didn't understand "fashion" (which, admittedly, I don't) and decided to go and poke at the hideous (but real leather) shoes.
If the stuff that they bought had looked good on them and was worth the expenditure - sure. But from my perspective it was stuff you could probably get at a Saturday market somewhere. It just wasn't flattering.
On top of that, in each of these boutiques we spent hours (NOT an exaggeration) and it was a case of leaving one shop, walking past the window of the shop next door, everybody stopping, me backtracking to where everyone had stopped and was letting out little "ooohs" and "ahhhs" before pushing the door open and proceeding to stroke every item in the shop. I couldn't take it. I kept myself sane by planning how to escape the next time they were distracted by something shiny. I wanted to see and experience Paris, not waste hours watching people get excited about cashmere and gold (what's unique about that?!)
Was I expecting too much do you think? Was I missing something?
I don't know, but I managed to keep my cool, and finally I navigated us all back to the hostel after the shops had closed. I declined their invitation to go out and see the Moulin Rouge and the Eiffel Tower's light show that evening (Seen them before, so it's ok) and instead spent my evening chatting away to other residents of our hostel. (Some weird, some not - but mostly interesting and thankfully not particularly perky).
Next morning - trip home.
I actually enjoyed this bit. Kate had somehow exorcised the demon possessing her and was wonderful company on the journey.
In the end - not a completely bad experience, just a little testing. I will have to return another time with people who've done the tourist bit and want to get down to some real discovery of the place!
Pour maintenant, au revoir mes amis. x
(note: my references to the Aussies is not meant to be generalised to all who reside there... I think these people were special cases.)