Bonjour mes amis! Just got back from Gay Paris once again (this is my 4th time going hence my clever blog title which I stole from the new Die Hard Movie). This trip was wet and cold just like last time. I do not know how these Parisian woman remain so beautiful when I am walking around the city looking like a wet dog. Met up with Andrea who came into the city the day before but firstly I have to tell you folks about my amazing (cough cough) 10 hour bus ride from London to Paris. Why take the bus you crazy person one might ask! Well there, as expected, is no real sane reason. Just to save a few pounds I guess but still no sensible person would think that spending that amount of time on a bus is ever worth it. I would agree…but it still has not beaten my record of 13 hours from Berlin to Paris on my birthday that bus ride was epic. Anyways I get on this overnight bus at 8:30 on Saturday night and the bus was filling up quite fast so I was stoked to find that no one had yet to fill the seat next to me. Yet in true ‘Lyndsay Luck’ form in the last minutes before departing there was a straggler! Right beside me! How dare he take the seat that I designated for my head to rest on! Well on the bright side he did not smell or want to talk the entire trip (no one likes small talk on a bus where there is no escape). He did however take up more than his share of the little room we had to share. In my brilliant pre- thinking however I had brought my pillow which I thought would be helpful in trying to sleep comfortably but the seats were so close together I could not get a good angle so I ended up uncomfortable anyways. There was no room to even cross my legs so sleeping was a luxury I would not be experiencing that night.
So after a bit of a ride we end up on this huge ferry and we were allowed to wonder about even though nothing was all that interesting to see. I did get a mocha and a chocolate muffin at 3 in the morning (regretting that move). So I call my parents and my dad was not impressed with the mode of transpiration and me explaining that it was all an adventure did not seem to ease his mind.
So finally making it into Paris at 5:30 in the morning I made my way in the rain to my hotel. I was shocked to see the streets were not as deserted as one might think they would be at that time on a Sunday morning at 6 am. Maybe they were still up from the night before. Maybe early church goers…I was too tired to assess the situation so I chose not to think about it. I did not have the mental capacity to analyze.
I got a few hours sleep (first time all night) before Andreaa wanted to head out. She told me the story of how it took her 5 HOURS to find our hotel! Poor girl. It was raining all day and we did what we could considering Andrea’s feet were in no condition to be doing anymore walking. For those who do not know us Me + Andrea usually equals a verbal disagreement or two (ahem) and this was no exception. We had it out in front of Notre Dame which led me to not want to talk to her. But we made it to the hotel for a little nap and everything was good after that. We went to the Latin Quarter for dinner (or as Andrea says Latin Town) and had a really good meal, a delicious crepe and then a cool night listening to a band play. All in all a really cool night. Bien.
So I left the hotel and went to wander the streets of Paris since my plane did not leave until 10 (yes I took a plane back!). Had a brilliant lunch and was sitting outside – it turned out to be a really nice day (sorry Ang). Sun was shinning and everyone seemed very happy. I suddenly became desperate for a toilet and the café said it had a loo but really it was just a hole in the ground and I was not having that. The waiter was trying to make conversation with me and I was doing my very best to speak French but after a few attempts and him laughing at me I resorted back to English.
Finally found a toilet – sorry for being vulgar but that is what we call it in Europe! Not to sound perverse but man am I glad I waited! I got into Luxemburg gardens and headed straight for the washrooms. It was 40 cents but it was money well spent I tell you! Usually when you pay to use the toilets in Paris you get some dinging, disgusting hole but this was heaven people. There was no line, the paper roll and paper towels were all fully stocked and there a friendly lady there to maintain the cleanliness. Ok enough about toilets haha. Unless of course you are interested and then I can give a full account in an email or something.
I know I have said this before in past blog postings about loving Luxemberg Gardens but I have to tell you this. I went into the grounds a different way (thank you again toilets) and discovered a whole new area I had not seen before. I love it when that happens! Just when you think you know a place (or person) something happens that takes you completely by surprise. I know I am philosophizing but hey I AM in Paris after all. It turned out to be such an amazing day, sitting and relaxing on a chair admiring the view. Nothing better folks. Nothing Better.
