Rogue in Paris!

Firstly, there's a picture to prove that I was in Paris (I need to prove it to myself too because so much has happened in the last few days.)

The trip started when I barely made it to the train station in time to activate my eurorail pass and catch the train (I worked late and also failed to subtract properly -- military time requires too much thinking). There were three important things I learned on the train ride: 1. Talking to random strangers can be lots of fun (orthopedic surgeon + social science major); 2. sitting upright and sleeping = not fun; 3. when you are asleep, someone will steal your wallet!!!!!!!!!! Imagine this, next morning, when Adele came to pick me up, I find that I am destitute in Paris. With only 50 euros, no student ID and no debit/credit cards :( To my horror, I learned how long 50 euros would last me ( about let's say, 6 hours in Paris). I canceled all my cards and luckily, Adele was kind enough to lend me some money (thank you, mademoiselle). Now here, let me not go in specific chronological order but let me just give you a highlight reel of these days.

1. Being touristy:
Eiffel Tower: I did not get to see this great monument until halfway through my trip, there was always a tree in the way for the first few days. All I have to say is that it's big and I liked it when it sparkled at night, although we had to wait in the cold until 1 am, while sketchy peddlers offered us wine, champagne, or cigarettes. Last day, I also climbed up to the top. The wait was long but i did get a nice view of Paris (so much bigger, whiter and prettier than I thought just walking through...)
Louvre: The museum was huge and beautiful. I saw the small Mona Lisa painting. This museum really deserved more of my time because all the paintings started looking alike after a while...
Versaille: This was an insight into how they lived back in days of royalty. It was a little too gaudy and extravagant for my taste but I wondered how the maids/servants lived? We were only shown how the royalties lived.
Sacre Coeur: My personal favorite, it was a powerful experience... the cathedral was beautiful and serene.
Notre Dame: Amazing architecture especially the back and the sides!
Moulin Rouge: Not that impressive, it was small but the street it's on was filled with sex toy shops and other equally risque clubs.
La defense: The impressive Manhantanized part of Paris-- didn't look like Paris at all, very modern!
Champ de Elysee and Arc de Triomphe: The street was filled with brand name luxury stores among others and the Arc reminded me of the Brandenburg Gate (Ahhhh, Berlin!)
Boat ride on the Seine: Beautiful! Things I love all combined: river, bridges, and being on the top deck of a sailing boat!!!
French Riviera: Oh, did I mention that we managed to squeeze in Nice, France? It was absolutely lovely (although the weather was not being good to us at first), but the stone beach was nice and the ocean turned the lightest of blues after the sun came out. However, the real adventure was in getting to Marseille to spend some time there and get back to Paris. We dozed off and missed our train! The scarcity of trains that could get us to Marseille on time forced us to break some rules: hop on trains we had no reservations for... we got caught but the guy was nice enough to just let us go with a warning. This train to Marseille turned out to be running extremely slowly and was late. Several times we were faced with being stranded in South France but in the end we hopped on a train to Paris in another city. Whew! Close calls, close calls.

2. The wild side:
Apparently I'm a crime magnet (Adele told me she hasn't seen this in her entire month in Paris). Okay first there was a big fight on the Metro among Algerian boys with too much testerone, too much beer, too many Algerian flags and too much pride. Punches were thrown and we were caught in the middle scooting our way to safety. Then there was another fight on the Metro towards the end of the trip. Sometime in between, a drunk French girl screamed in my face in loud French. I slowly back away as her alcoholic stench and drunken screeches invaded my personal space, however, she, drunk out of her mind, continued this for about 3 minutes until something else distracted her (thank goodness).

3. Food!:
Here, let me tempt you-- let's just say I ate my share in France. Crepes? Of course! For dinner and dessert. Sandwiches? For sure, the French know how to bake. Pastries????? Loved them, in fact, I am having withdrawal right now... I need some everyday! Baguette: did I mention the French can bake?? Panini? Who knew those were good in France too, oh but it was so crunchy and flavorful. Oh and of course, I had French fries (forgot about those....) and gyro sandwiches.
Sit-down dinners included a three-course lunch by the port in Nice: mussels for entree, paella for main dish, and tiramisu for dessert! We also had a dinner at a Parisian cafe where I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered lamb and french beans: not bad especially with a glass of wine.

4. Feeling like the ugly duckling:
I dress fine for Berlin where it's more casual but in France, the girls are pretty fashion forward. I looked like I was ready for an urban hike (because I was...) while they were dainty with their blazers, heels and accessories. Oh, and also, a side note, the French are big on PDA. Are you staring? Because they don't care.

5. Aaaaah Berlin: easier on the wallet (or my lack thereof), nice and casual! I'm glad to be back. And I missed the science (my cells); I'm glad to be back to feeling like I know what I'm doing. It was a close call getting back as well. I got on the train as it was pulling out... and realized that I got on the wrong end so I had to run the length of the train. This time, my seatmates included two French people, a Swiss young man who was on his 3 month journey hitchhiking Europe after studying milk technology (cheese-making and the like), and a German university student who studied in Paris.

LILY