Paris! and Tolouse!

Ok so I know I’ve been very, very delinquent with this. Can’t tell how many times I tried to get this one started and finished. Unfortunately things started to get pretty hectic in the last part of the semester. I also had every intention of updating as soon as I got home for the holidays, but of course that didn’t quite materialize either.

So let’s trek all the way back to around the first week of November. I had a week’s vacation from school, so I decided I would use the opportunity to go to Paris! My friend from high school Twinny (not her real name, but she’s one half of a pair of twins lol), is living near Paris this academic year teaching English. Several other Jamaicans are in France working as English language assistants including another friend of mine, Davia. About 5 or 6 of us descended on Twinny that week.

Well my parents will not be the least bit surprised to hear that I almost missed my train. I don’t know what happened really. I got up pretty early, and I had packed from the night before, so I really can’t tell you what I was doing to make myself late. Let’s just say that it ended with me tearing down the street to the station and making it with about three minutes to spare. Luckily the train was departing from the platform right where I entered the station, if not I would have almost certainly missed it. Anyway, disaster averted and I was on my way. My mother will be happy to know that I think I’m getting the hang of packing light. I’m usually a “just in case” kind of packer. However, I didn't want to end up hauling heavy luggage the whole day in the city, so I managed to get everything into my backpack and a tote bag. Win!

The others had gotten there a few days before I did, and the plan was for them to pick me up at the station. Twinny and Davia were the only ones I had known previously, but you would never have guessed. Almost immediately we were all laughing, joking and chatting. So much so, that a random passer-by would have been convinced that we had been friends forever. Gotta love my Jamaican peeps J.

 The plan was to do a walking tour of Montmarte afterwards. Of course, we got carried away during lunch and didn’t make it in time to join the group by the time we took the metro across town. That may have worked out for the best though as we found another Montmarte tour on this cute mini-train that worked out to be cheaper (we even got a discount because we’re Jamaican!) and saved us a long walk. One of the main attractions in Montmarte is the Sacre Coer Basilica. While walking about the premises we came upon a guy playing his guitar, and on a whim we asked if could sing with him He suggested “Redemption Song” and so we went along with it. So began our string of impromptu performances in Montmarte. Quite a few people ended up stopping by to watch us and seemed to enjoy it. In fact, we got quite a bit of applause.  We exchanged a few more pleasantries with guitar guy and then we moved on to get a better view of the basilica. Here we came upon our second performance. There were some guys who I think are from a Francophone African country, who were performing for a crowd and some TV cameras. At this point I can’t even remember how we came to be singing this time, but yes there we were, typical Jamaicans, up inna the video light! This time around there was quite a crowd, and they seemed to appreciate our contribution. Our audience recorded and took pictures of us while we jammed with those guys. We actually ended up doing two songs with them. Yes, yes, you know how we Jamaicans love the spotlight!!!!

After Montmarte, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee. We passed a Louis Vuitton store and there was a long line of people waiting to get inside. I thought that line was long, but the a few blocks down there was a serpentine queue. Such a long line just to get into an Abercrombie and Fitch store? Really?

To bring our day to a close we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower!!! It really was something, all lit up in the night. 

Le Tour Eiffel

Of course we spent some time oohing and ahhhing and taking numerous pictures. While waiting in line to go up, it had started to rain and I saw many people start to leave. All the better for us, the line got shorter. Like I was going to let  a little rain stop me; let the serious cold  I had just before I got to Paris be damned! It was pretty cool being up there, with all of Paris at night laid out before us with a 360˚ view.

I must say that one of the best parts about the trip was simply being with the group I was with. We were always joking, laughing, holding a vibe and keeping up foolishness. At that point, it was a well-needed injection of Jamaican-ness in my life! There are so many memories that we created on that trip that will surely remembered. It was also very refreshing to hear and speak patois, trust me. It was nice to be able to use expressions that I use at home on a day to day basis, but can’t use at all over here because then no one would understand me. It may seem like something simple, but it was so good for all of us.

After all the excitement of the day before, we had a really slow Sunday. It took us forever to get out of the house again. Then it was off to Notre Dame to search for the elusive hunchback. Sorry to say, we had no sighting of Quasimodo J. Following that we had a rather interesting time trying to find the dock for a cruise of the Seine that we wanted to take. After walking around in circles and taking very bad directions from several people, we eventually found it (no thanks to the directions we got).We got there right on the wire, a couple minutes before the last boat for the night left.  The cruise was pretty enjoyable, despite the fact that we were nearly frozen by the end of it. The tour guide directed us to various points of interest and gave some background info.

The Crew

 Unfortunately, most of the others had to get back ( to Toulouse, Orleans, Lille etc ) the next day. It was a sad parting, we had had such a good time together. That afternoon, Twinny and I went to the Louvre, a lifelong dream of mine. I had a hard time trying to hurry Twinny out of the house. She kept saying “we have time, we have time”, not understanding that a few hours in the Louvre is nothing! I knew that there had to be a way to skip the long line outside. Coming from a country with a significant amount of tourism myself, I know there are usually ways to get around and get through the “tourist traps”.  Following my instincts paid off and with a little research, I found out about an entrance with a ticket office that nobody seems to know about. Thanks to that Twinny and I had our tickets in no time and got to by-pass all the poor souls standing outside the main entrance by the pyramid (think “The da Vinci Code”).

I made sure that we got some of the most important things out of the way first. Can’t go to the Louvre and not see the “Venus de Milo” for instance. Then we had to fight our way through to get a glimpse of miss “Mona Lisa.” Anyway I have a photo to prove I was there in the presence of this iconic painting (which I will confess I am not particularly fond of), so mission accomplished where that is concerned.

Mona Lisa

 We only got to scratch the surface in terms of viewing exhibitions, but it was wonderful all the same. I definitely have to return; my inner nerd was far from satisfied.

On the next day, Twinny and I ventured out to Chateau Versailles. This time around, my research yielded a way I could get in for free, which of course I did.  If you’re going to be a tourist on a budget, you have to learn to read between the lines and pay extra attention to fine print!.  Chateau Versailles was definitely a highlight. It really is an impressive property from the main palace itself to the extensive, well-manicured grounds. We ended up spending the whole day out there, and there was still more to see and do apparently.

Chateau Versailles

About two weeks or so after Paris was my birthday, which also happened to be a Friday and holiday  in France. Long Weekend! So I went to visit Davia, who is based in Toulouse. The night before I was out and about in Bordeaux with my Erasmus friends; one of whom shared a birthday with me. Due to the holiday the next day, hundreds of people were out on the streets.

This time around, I learned my lesson, and was at the train station way before departure time. Davia picked me up and we went by her house to have lunch. We then hit the streets and did a bit of a walking tour around Toulouse. Eventually we met up with a friend of Davia’s and some other English assistants. Her friend suggested that we go to this bar where on your birthday, you buy one case of drinks and get another free!

On Saturday we met up with a couple. Mathieu and Shakera (French guy and British girl of Jamaican descent) and went to Carcassonne. It was absolutely awesome!! A through and through medieval city; complete with ramparts, portcullis, moat, towers battlements etc ect. I felt like I stepped out of reality and straight into a book. I was totally living out a fantasy during that tour (which I yet again gained free entry to; stick with me kids and you shall save! Lol).

 After touring our hearts out, we went to Mathieu and Shakera's and had Raclette, which was a first for me. All in all it was a very enjoyable European birthday weekend.