Paris

Well, this is it. My last night not only in Paris, but in Europe. Tomorrow, and actually in less than twelve hours, I'll be on a plane back to the US. This will most likely be the last post of this blog, unless the journey home is so eventful that it requires a post itself.

I got into Paris late Friday night, and found my friend's flat without difficulty despite the late night. I've been sleeping on her convertible couch, but it's been completely fine. She actually even has something of a view of the Eiffel Tower; only the top, of course, because there are buildings in the way, but quite a good location.

My first actual day in Paris, my friend and I went for a picnic in the Buttes Chaumont park, which was quite nice. I actually fell asleep for about an hour, making that the fourth park and fourth city in which I have fallen asleep -- London, Hamburg, Salzburg, and now Paris. Traveling is exhausting.

Saturday night I actually spent at the opera, seeing The Valkyrie, the second part of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung cycle. It was not at the actual Paris Opera house, but the Opera Bastille, a much more modern looking building, and of course it was sold out by the time I got there for all the seats so I had to get a standing ticket, but the standing ticket was not as bad as I'd been thinking it would be. There were backrests for us to lean against, or even hop up and sit on if necessary, and there was no one behind me for me to block if I did sit, so I frequently did. It was actually surprisingly comfortable, because I could stand if I needed to stretch my legs, and sit if I needed to sit, which is more than I'd got for any other theatre. And considering this was a show lasting five hours, I very much appreciated it.

I definitely enjoyed it, even though it was in German and I couldn't see the posted subtitles, not that subtitles would have done me any good because they were probably in French anyway. I still got quite a lot of the story, and looked up the summary later, but it was really good. Of course I was expecting that from Paris, but I'm glad my hopes were not disappointed. I actually like opera. Who would have thought?

Sunday was my day for Versailles, because Versailles was the one thing I knew I wanted to do when I decided on Paris as part of my trip. The day was more overcast than sunny, but that did not deter me, nor even the slight rain of the morning (early in the morning there'd even been a thunderstorm). There was no rain once I got there, at least. The line for the tickets was ridiculous, but I dutifully queued up and got my ticket, one for the palace and one for the gardens.

I did the palace first, and spent about two hours there. That was now the fourth royal residence in Europe I've seen, from Charlottenburg in Berlin to the Residence in Munich to Schoenbrunn in Vienna, but wow, there's a reason people tried to model things on Versailles. Every room I went in had ceiling paintings, most of them were quite full of gold, and the Hall of Mirrors was gorgeous. And this not even touching the grounds.

Because I spent the rest of the day on the grounds. Fountains everywhere, and because it was a weekend they were turned on and playing music for a couple hours in the afternoon. So many different groves and statues and avenues...I got rather a lot of pictures there. Amazing. I only left when it was just about to close.

I had dinner, then went back to my friend's flat, where we watched a movie. I slept in, because I am trying to screw up my sleeping schedule a bit for tomorrow. Hopefully I will get little enough sleep tonight that I will need a nap tomorrow afternoon, on the plane. I certainly do not want to be awake the entire time I'm traveling, because the time I get back to Reno will be roughly twenty-four hours after I'm going to try to get up tomorrow. That will be a lot easier to endure if I can sleep on the plane.

My only plan for today was to take a boat ride down the Seine. What I ended up doing was just walking to the boat, which was across the Seine and down a bit from the Eiffel Tower, which is within walking distance of my friend's flat. I did get a picture of it, and I'm glad, because my camera's battery was about ready to die the entire day and I couldn't find the charger. Hopefully I will be able to find it when I finally get to unpack everything.

Anyway. I took the boat ride, then walked up to the Champs-Elysees. I took a picture of the Arc de Triomph from a distance, but I wasn't intending to get closer, because I'd decided to go to the Ile de la Cite, which is in the opposite direction. I had crepes when I got there, because I've always wanted to have crepes in France, but while it was good, the best crepes I've had were actually in Galway.

After crepes, I went to Notre Dame. Outside it a family asked me to take a picture of them, and they must have noticed my American accent when agreeing, because they asked me where I was from, and when I said Nevada, they said they were from California. And not just from California, but from Chico. Chico! Small world. I walk around Venice with a girl from Seattle and take a picture in front of Notre Dame of a family from Chico.

I went inside and got a few pictures, and after that went to the Saint Chapelle. I've seen so many churches on my trip, but I'd heard about this one's windows, and wanted to see them. I spent the last of my cash getting in, and wow. Those are definitely the most amazing stained glass windows I've ever seen, in any church or out of one. Most of the walls were windows, and apparently they tell stories from the Bible, but I do not know the Bible well enough to know the stories the windows depict.

After the Saint Chapelle, I walked along Pont Neuf, then headed to the Opera house because I'd forgotten to get a picture of it the first time I was there, and then from there I headed to Place de la Concorde, with its fountains and obelisk. There my camera died. Hopefully it took the picture of the obelisk, but I'm not sure.

I was tired by then because I'd been walking for most of the day, so I headed back for my friend's flat. On the way I bought her a bottle of champagne, which by complete accident (because I certainly don't know the difference) ended up being a rather good one. I'm glad, because she's been awesome enough to have given me a place to sleep and most of my meals for free, and I wanted to give something back. Her boyfriend even cooked a really good French meal for me tonight. She appreciated it, at least.

So, tomorrow I leave for home. I have my ticket for the metro and the bus to get me to the airport, so all I have to do is get there, check in, and make it to the plane. Then I change planes in New York, and then Dad picks me up from San Francisco. Eight hours on a plane, then six hours on a plane, then four hours in a car. It's going to be a rather long day, but it's just one day, and then I'll be home.

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It seems just a few weeks ago that I was getting settled in London, but now it's over. It doesn't feel like I've been four months away from America.

I learned so much on this trip, though I think I won't know how much I really learned for quite a while yet. Still, I think it's definitely time for me to go to bed on my last night in Europe.