Périples 2
Second day in Paris! I have come to the conclusion that I've gone over the monthly allowance my card, what with hotels, two residence bills and repaying Ellen and Kerstin for the Easter trip. Oops. A massive amount of frigging ensues, skype calls home, trips to the bank, phone calls to the bank… I don't even remember in what order these things happened, and I don't care too. The only person who could raise the allowances on my card was away, no one knew when she'd be back, and she is the only person in the entire bank system who can do this procedure. The best solution was to get a cash advance on my Canadian card. (Since not having cash is the major problem, not not having money. No way for me to take the bus without cash, for example.) Perfect.
At 9 I'm in front of the bank, having the 'teller' kindly explain to me for the third time that EVERY. SINGLE. BANK. no longer has cash on hand. The only cash is in the ATMs. This means that a cash advance is impossible - my credit card doesn't have a chip/PIN and is not recognized by the machines. It was getting absurd.
Anyway, not too sure how it works, but someone in Poitiers managed to raise the weekly allowance on my card, which somehow allows me access to my cash again, even though it was the monthly one that had gone overboard. There are bills in my wallet and coins in my pocket, this is the only thing that matters!
Also a plus, all of the things I visited on this day were free with presentation of my travel visa - designating me as a (temporary) under 25 years old member of the European whatchamacallit. Neat.
Visited Notre Dame. I don't really have words to describe the entire of the cathedral… sure it's pretty, impressive, etc. There was a choral singing and I got chills despite the crowds of people. Oh yes. Had to wait outside in the rain to get in. (Really really should buy an umbrella - hardly see the point this late in the game.)
The cathedral is free, but there is a fee to visit the towers. This time I befriended the lady in front of me, who shared her umbrella! Ha. Don't need one after all. She was Spanish, but with good enough english that we could understand each other. We took turns holding the umbrella as we took pictures, to keep the cameras dry. The view looses its awe after being up the Eiffel tower, although I'm only thinking about it this in retrospect, as I was much too busy floating around in heavenly bliss at being on eye level with the gargoyles.
Next stop, the Louvre. My new spanish friend was going in the same direction, so we kept on sharing the umbrella until I reached the museum, where we parted ways. What to say about the Louvre. It is HUGE. You could do a section a day, and that would be more the enough. I did the Egyptian section first, which took two hours in itself, then rushed around the rest of it, trying to see all the 'greats' - Mona Lisa, the Venus, le Radeau de la Méduse - then got lost and wandered through the Mesopotamian artifacts by accident. (Which I'm quite pleased about, preferring them to paintings.)
There was a huge crowd in front of the Mona Lisa, as if she was a rockstar. People were pushing and shoving to get close, walking on toes, crazy! I have to say, there is nothing quite like seeing her 'in the flesh'. Photos don't do justice, and I was quite moved. Or maybe that was just the crowd shoving, you never know.
(Going to be arriving in Lyon soon. We travelled across a long stretch of flat fields, and now through great green hills, dotted with sheep and clumps of tiny villages. It's very beautiful, makes me want a horse and a tent. Doesn't hurt that it's nice and sunny. So far every travel day has been sunny, while the exploring new places days have been grey and rainy. I don't mind, it's better than too hot, although it is messing up my picture-taking. Humph. Going to spend my first week back home retouching in photoshop.)
Back to Paris, it was here I dumped out a whole mess of my clothing, deciding that having my bags that heavy was going to make the rest of my trip a living hell. I wasn't happy with leaving them behind, but am I every glad I did! Sorry M&D, guess I'm not ready to let go of your hands yet. You guys are ever so wonderful for putting up with me though.
At the end of that second day, where I really had not sat down once, everything in my legs was starting to seize up. Paris is really, really big!
No french for the moment, sorry about that.
At 9 I'm in front of the bank, having the 'teller' kindly explain to me for the third time that EVERY. SINGLE. BANK. no longer has cash on hand. The only cash is in the ATMs. This means that a cash advance is impossible - my credit card doesn't have a chip/PIN and is not recognized by the machines. It was getting absurd.
Anyway, not too sure how it works, but someone in Poitiers managed to raise the weekly allowance on my card, which somehow allows me access to my cash again, even though it was the monthly one that had gone overboard. There are bills in my wallet and coins in my pocket, this is the only thing that matters!
Also a plus, all of the things I visited on this day were free with presentation of my travel visa - designating me as a (temporary) under 25 years old member of the European whatchamacallit. Neat.
Visited Notre Dame. I don't really have words to describe the entire of the cathedral… sure it's pretty, impressive, etc. There was a choral singing and I got chills despite the crowds of people. Oh yes. Had to wait outside in the rain to get in. (Really really should buy an umbrella - hardly see the point this late in the game.)
The cathedral is free, but there is a fee to visit the towers. This time I befriended the lady in front of me, who shared her umbrella! Ha. Don't need one after all. She was Spanish, but with good enough english that we could understand each other. We took turns holding the umbrella as we took pictures, to keep the cameras dry. The view looses its awe after being up the Eiffel tower, although I'm only thinking about it this in retrospect, as I was much too busy floating around in heavenly bliss at being on eye level with the gargoyles.
Next stop, the Louvre. My new spanish friend was going in the same direction, so we kept on sharing the umbrella until I reached the museum, where we parted ways. What to say about the Louvre. It is HUGE. You could do a section a day, and that would be more the enough. I did the Egyptian section first, which took two hours in itself, then rushed around the rest of it, trying to see all the 'greats' - Mona Lisa, the Venus, le Radeau de la Méduse - then got lost and wandered through the Mesopotamian artifacts by accident. (Which I'm quite pleased about, preferring them to paintings.)
There was a huge crowd in front of the Mona Lisa, as if she was a rockstar. People were pushing and shoving to get close, walking on toes, crazy! I have to say, there is nothing quite like seeing her 'in the flesh'. Photos don't do justice, and I was quite moved. Or maybe that was just the crowd shoving, you never know.
(Going to be arriving in Lyon soon. We travelled across a long stretch of flat fields, and now through great green hills, dotted with sheep and clumps of tiny villages. It's very beautiful, makes me want a horse and a tent. Doesn't hurt that it's nice and sunny. So far every travel day has been sunny, while the exploring new places days have been grey and rainy. I don't mind, it's better than too hot, although it is messing up my picture-taking. Humph. Going to spend my first week back home retouching in photoshop.)
Back to Paris, it was here I dumped out a whole mess of my clothing, deciding that having my bags that heavy was going to make the rest of my trip a living hell. I wasn't happy with leaving them behind, but am I every glad I did! Sorry M&D, guess I'm not ready to let go of your hands yet. You guys are ever so wonderful for putting up with me though.
At the end of that second day, where I really had not sat down once, everything in my legs was starting to seize up. Paris is really, really big!
No french for the moment, sorry about that.