Sunday, our last full day in together, was dedicated to the Louvre, one of the biggest and most famous art museums in the world (home of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and my other well-known pieces), as well as the Arc de Triomphe, the famous avenue Champs-Élysées, and the cool big graveyard Père Lachaise where Jim Morrison, famous French singer Édith Piaf, classic writer Oscar Wilde, and other notable people are buried.
We got up extra-early so that we could get ready, eat, and get to the Louvre by 8:45 (right before opening at 9) and beat the lines. Of course, we weren’t the only ones with this idea, and still had to wait in line for a while….but it was nothing like it was when we left.
The Louvre is so massive that a person needs a full week to really look it over thoroughly, and we only had 4 hours. However, unless you are an art history person, this is about all you can take at one time before you get “arted out”.
Margie and I bought these little English audio guide things so we could learn more about the art work as we went (unfortunately for us, all of the descriptions next to the paintings and sculptures were in French). They were recommended to us by a roommate at our hostile, who was very enthusiastic about the necessity of having them. However, we weren’t as pleased because only a few items actually had numbers that corresponded to descriptions on our guide (very lengthy, detailed ones at that), and it wasn’t worth the 6 Euro a pop that we had to pay for them. You get just as much out of it just by walking around and looking at things (again, unless you are an art historian). Oh well, that’s life.
Next, we walked down Champs-Élysées , the historically-rich avenue that leads up to the Arch de Triomphe. Unfortunately, at this point my boots had become completely saturated because we had walked through so much deep slush and water that was everywhere, and even the protective coating I sprayed over them wasn’t enough to block it out. My socks were soaked, and every step I took went “squish…squish…squish…”. It was absolutely miserable. I believe “soggy” is right there next to “sticky” on the list of most uncomfortable conditions a person can be in.
Champs-Élysées is probably the most famous avenue in all of Paris. It extends from the Louvre to the Arch du Triomphe, which is approximately a mile and a half. Since the late 1700s, this avenue has been known for being fashionable, and people would dress up in their finest to come here and shop. Champs-Élysées was also the site of several famous military marches, including that of German troops celebrating the fall of France in 1940, as well as French and American soldiers celebrating the city’s liberation from German control in 1944. Today, it is full of extremely expensive stores that only rich people can even afford to look at.
After walking down Champs-Élysées, Margie, Nate, and I approached the Arc de Triomphe. Of course it is surrounded by a very busy roundabout, so we contemplated how to best cross it without being killed. There were maybe a dozen people under the arch, whom we estimated to be hobos, what with their garbage-barrel fire presumably lit for warmth in the cold December wind. Soon we discovered there was an underground bridge that would take us to the arc, and when we got there, we realized that the people weren’t actually hobos, but tourists….and the hobo fire was actually a memorial lit for the “unknown soldier.” Oops!
Next we took the subway to the famous cemetery Père Lachaise. Unfortunately, all of the gates were locked shut. We went into a little café nearby to ask someone, and apparently it was closed thanks to flooding caused by all the snow melting. That sucked, but oh well.
At this point, I was so uncomfortable thanks to my stupid wet boots and socks that I just had to go back to the hostel and dry off. Luckily, this was ok with Margie and Nate, since I told them they could keep going to check out a few other smaller things on the list. I went back, dried off, and relaxed for a while until they came back a few hours later.
We ate dinner at the bar/restaurant downstairs in our hostel, and Margie and I shared a pizza and apple pie a la mode. It was really good. Nate got a cheeseburger, and we just chilled out for a few hours until we went to bed. Margie and Nate had to leave by 9 in the morning to make it to the airport and fly back to Sweden together (Nate will be checking out Margie’s place next).
The next morning, we all got up and ate breakfast together before they left. I had to stick around for another 6 hours or before going to the airport, so I just skyped and messed around online until 4, when I realized my flight back to Berlin was cancelled….and that’s where the nightmare began….
