Catch up time

Monday 4th July- an early start...

We met Bex nice and early to go and visit le Louvre – we arrived about 8 and a queue was already forming – crazy!

Once in we headed straight for that weird painting everyone wants to see – Mona Lisa or La Joconde.  My opinion is that people just want to see it because it’s famous and they can say “hey, I saw the Mona Lisa!”, which sounds better than saying something like “hey, I saw the Untitled by a relatively unknown artist!”. 

I think the best part was the Egyptian mummies and other remains which are all downstairs – slightly creepy and me and Bex had a good giggle!

We also wandered over to the Sacré Coeur – but unfortunately there were railings everywhere as the day before or so someone had tried to break a record for jumping on rollerblades the longest distance or something like that. I really like the view of Paris you get from the Sacré Coeur, and it’s strange to think it’s a stone’s throw from the Moulin Rouge (which is a bit of a dump).

Ooo how could I forget, shopping! Shoes!! Decathlon is going to become the new Dance Direct :-P Got two pairs of trainers in preparation for Disney for €29 and they are sooo comfy! What you do is buy the insole for €9 then buy the shoes for €10, so you only need one pair of insoles and then can buy many shoes :-D  This could be my new obsession...

Tuesday 5th July– Disney!

It’s taken 20 years for me to get there, but got to Disney at about 9and it cost €45 for a student ticket for one day for two parks.

First impression wasn’t great, as we queued for Big Thunder Mountain and it had broken down which was really annoying as we were quite near the front, but meh! I ended up going on it twice, which is pretty good for me as I hate rollercoasters. Also did lots of other mini rides – Buzz Lightyear was great until I got off and banged my knee and now have the bruise to show for it! Later on we watched the Parade and then rushed off to the Studio park where we watched one of the best cinema pieces I’ve ever seen, it’s called Cinémagique – but I won’t spoil it! We ended the day on Pirates of the Caribbean which is very clever and we also went on it twice.

One of the highlights though had to be Bex who seemed to think that a baby chicken is called a duckling and her impression of mining which looked like she was trying to stab someone. Oh, and the jumping in unison in front of the pretty castle thing! All in all a good, but very tiring day (with terrible food, but good chips... But I guess that’s because I’m a “picky veggie” in a very loose sense of the word).

Wednesday 6th July– Bank attempt number 2!

Not much really happened today, apart from my second attempt to get a bank account, which seemed to work with the Post Office (I’ll find out in a few days if my studio contract counts as proof of residence or not). Also tried to find some white t-shirts for Nick, but the French habit of smoking seems to have shrunken all their men.

Thursday 7th July- the pylon and then some real culture...

Eiffel Tower – yes, Nick managed to get up this time! We met Bex and some Americans in a queue and had the normal hustling of people trying to sell diddy Eiffel Towers and other people trying to get us to sign papers pretending they can’t speak GRRR.

We then went to a place that I’ve wanted to go to for ages – Musée de l’Orangerie – essentially the place where Monet’s huge paintings of waterlilies (les Nymphéas) are housed. They are some of my favourite paintings ever and they are displayed so well in an oval room which is light and really shows them off.

On the way to the Musée de l’Orangerie we walked over Passerelle Solférino and it reminded me of Florence as there were all these padlocks attached to the bridge, a symbol of everlasting love.

For lunch we ate at my local – the crêperie called la Cuillère en Bois. Two courses of crêpes = NOM! Savoury and a sweet. Just NOM. Another time for a good giggle, the waiter trying to speak English, Bex replying in French as he walked away, Nick spilling water over Bex’s napkin, asking the guy next to us which desert he was eating and chatting about how fat I’m going to be at the end of these six months and how I’ll have to waddle through the door sideways and will become friends with the old lady who also seems to go in every day.

Following a nap, me and Nick went off to Ecole de Danse de Paris, but mon mal, I got the times wrong and we were there two hours too early – oops! Especially as I thought we were running late! So we had a sit down by the Tour de Saint Jacques which is one of the starting points for el Camino de Santiago or le Chemin de Compostelle. Then we did a little shopping (found a white t-shirt for Nick in real men’s sizes) and grabbed a Subway, then wandered back to dance.

Dance was AWESOME. Nick managed to get by with copying stuff and ignoring the French and in our first lesson (level 2, whatever that may mean) we did 3 different types of link and whips in jive and then spent half an hour doing an open hip twist in rumba (not so awesome). Then came level 3 and I was just wishing that it wasn’t Paso. Guess what it was? Yep, Paso! Joy! *Makes horns with fingers* Still, managed to pick it up and met a guy who also hates Paso, so all good. The second half of level 3 was more jive and this was a bit more challenging with some chicken walks – but French-style (I hope I don’t come back with terrible technique!). 

I definitely agree with what Nicole said, I think it’s going to be the highlight of the week. But I’ve got to wait till mid-September till it starts again – so in the meantime two months of getting fat on crêpes!