stars became champagne and caviar
Waking up (crazily) early to travel always casts a certain haze of purposeful excitement over everything. 10pm the night before, after a wave of killthebadguys!! MGS4 nostalgia -- Guess where we're going for Valentine's tomorrow? I don't know, Oxford? Cambridge? It's well known for the shopping...What? Huh? I sat there, absolutely excruciatingly clueless, for the longest time.
Paris. NO WAY. NO FREAKINGGGG WAY. When I get excited (and that happens quite a lot nowadays), my words all get thrown out the window and my vocab shrinks to the size of a peanut. NO WAYYYYY. ARE YOU SERIOUSSSSS? And I couldn't stop smiling for hours after.
(Omg, PARIS.)
At 4.45am, up, showered, brushed, shiny. Run run run to King's Cross. Passport control, and wandered into a half-empty (half-full!) carriage where I fizzled with excitement for two hours. Speeeeeeeed! Then, stepped off the train and into a completely different world (where no one knows my name; also figured out why people like to go on holiday so much).
I'd like to give myself some credit for successfully navigating the Parisian transport system, but it's mostly just reading the signs and then hopping off the train when the stop has the word 'LOUVRE' on it. We were nothing if not downright heretical about most of the art (ehh he looks like Smeagol leh), slightly unappreciative of the exhibits (no time la!), fascinated by the arrows poking through a man's thigh. Also, there's a perfect CS map somewhere in there.
(I was seeeeeriously on the verge of something when I rounded the corner and saw the stupid glass pyramid; it's just completely overwhelming to suddenly be whisked off to a place that you've always wanted to visit.)
From the Louvre --> Notre Dame. Train train train, and munched a pain au chocolate. Then learnt that when a poor-looking woman comes up and asks DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? The correct answer is an emphatic NO. No no no no no. I used to watch this show about gargoyles when I was really really young, some cartoon on TV. And I thought of that! The ground outside the Notre Dame was also a bit sandy and there were pigeons. Then we got almost lost because I'm not a real GPS, the real GPS is on the PHONE.
Walked to the Pantheon, which had dead people inside. IT WAS PRETTY (like all of Paris), and very BIG.
Poked around looking for a nice lunch, and instead found ridiculously priced hot chocolate! Artichoke hearts were scraped to the side, and I don't really like full olives on my pizza! (Olive theory phailz.) Then had to run off to the Champs Elysees! And the Arc de Triomphe. (Forgive the lack of French accents I'm too lazy to put them in.) Apparently, he says, Paris is famous for tiny tiny cars. I saw a tiny car. And also a place where people go to watch other people dance around without their clothes on. And the LV shop omg I don't like their stuff but the store was SO SO PRETTY! Exciting.
Last stop for the day: Eiffel Tower. But we were early! And it was still bright. So sat in a restaurant which sat on the Seine River and downed a bottle of wineeee. And french fries ma, because we're in France. Seriously, quaffing a bottle of wine on not much food is kind of a bad idea. And there was this bright camera flash because people were taking self-timed shots of themselves making out. -_-"
Then went up the tower, where is was COLD. VERY COLD. I think the diagonal lifts are absolutely fascinating! Slightly scared of heights though, thank goodness I didn't have to look down because I was otherwise occupied. Second level. Walked around a little, snapped photos, tried to STAY WARM STAY WARM.
Top level, walked up a flight of stairs. There's a slightly odd feeling that I get whenever I'm really high up looking at a fantastic view; semi-drunk on the exhilaration and the sheer thrill of height, coupled with a giddy prickle of invulnerability. I don't know how they go together, don't ask me, but that's a pretty potent rush regardless.
When you're in that sort of a situation, your world is really what you make of it.
Listened to the preamble.
ohmygod it's happening it's happening
Listened to the question.
i think i'm going to collapse right now
Yes.
There's that one photo where we're both smiling crazily, feeling young and so so alive. That's what I will remember.
I'm in Paris with you.
Paris. NO WAY. NO FREAKINGGGG WAY. When I get excited (and that happens quite a lot nowadays), my words all get thrown out the window and my vocab shrinks to the size of a peanut. NO WAYYYYY. ARE YOU SERIOUSSSSS? And I couldn't stop smiling for hours after.
(Omg, PARIS.)
At 4.45am, up, showered, brushed, shiny. Run run run to King's Cross. Passport control, and wandered into a half-empty (half-full!) carriage where I fizzled with excitement for two hours. Speeeeeeeed! Then, stepped off the train and into a completely different world (where no one knows my name; also figured out why people like to go on holiday so much).
I'd like to give myself some credit for successfully navigating the Parisian transport system, but it's mostly just reading the signs and then hopping off the train when the stop has the word 'LOUVRE' on it. We were nothing if not downright heretical about most of the art (ehh he looks like Smeagol leh), slightly unappreciative of the exhibits (no time la!), fascinated by the arrows poking through a man's thigh. Also, there's a perfect CS map somewhere in there.
(I was seeeeeriously on the verge of something when I rounded the corner and saw the stupid glass pyramid; it's just completely overwhelming to suddenly be whisked off to a place that you've always wanted to visit.)
From the Louvre --> Notre Dame. Train train train, and munched a pain au chocolate. Then learnt that when a poor-looking woman comes up and asks DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? The correct answer is an emphatic NO. No no no no no. I used to watch this show about gargoyles when I was really really young, some cartoon on TV. And I thought of that! The ground outside the Notre Dame was also a bit sandy and there were pigeons. Then we got almost lost because I'm not a real GPS, the real GPS is on the PHONE.
Walked to the Pantheon, which had dead people inside. IT WAS PRETTY (like all of Paris), and very BIG.
Poked around looking for a nice lunch, and instead found ridiculously priced hot chocolate! Artichoke hearts were scraped to the side, and I don't really like full olives on my pizza! (Olive theory phailz.) Then had to run off to the Champs Elysees! And the Arc de Triomphe. (Forgive the lack of French accents I'm too lazy to put them in.) Apparently, he says, Paris is famous for tiny tiny cars. I saw a tiny car. And also a place where people go to watch other people dance around without their clothes on. And the LV shop omg I don't like their stuff but the store was SO SO PRETTY! Exciting.
Last stop for the day: Eiffel Tower. But we were early! And it was still bright. So sat in a restaurant which sat on the Seine River and downed a bottle of wineeee. And french fries ma, because we're in France. Seriously, quaffing a bottle of wine on not much food is kind of a bad idea. And there was this bright camera flash because people were taking self-timed shots of themselves making out. -_-"
Then went up the tower, where is was COLD. VERY COLD. I think the diagonal lifts are absolutely fascinating! Slightly scared of heights though, thank goodness I didn't have to look down because I was otherwise occupied. Second level. Walked around a little, snapped photos, tried to STAY WARM STAY WARM.
Top level, walked up a flight of stairs. There's a slightly odd feeling that I get whenever I'm really high up looking at a fantastic view; semi-drunk on the exhilaration and the sheer thrill of height, coupled with a giddy prickle of invulnerability. I don't know how they go together, don't ask me, but that's a pretty potent rush regardless.
When you're in that sort of a situation, your world is really what you make of it.
Listened to the preamble.
ohmygod it's happening it's happening
Listened to the question.
i think i'm going to collapse right now
Yes.
There's that one photo where we're both smiling crazily, feeling young and so so alive. That's what I will remember.
I'm in Paris with you.