Susan Says

later in the evening, i went to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur - sat on the church steps to admire the view of paris. the place du tertre area was bustling and the cafes and restaurants were candlelit and packed with customers.

i took the train to Versailles this afternoon. the grounds are vast and the palace is well - palatial. it makes the Vanderbilts who owned the Breakers mansion look like paupers. the grounds are well manicured and there are lovely fountains and even a manmade canal. it was very beautiful and impressive but somehow i found it a little disappointing. i don't know - i expected it to be larger, more grand, etc. that's the problem about visiting places you've heard so much about - you tend to render them so impossibly grand in your imagination that the real thing seems unimpressive in comparison. ok, it's a lesson in managing expectations...

afterwards i went to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed the stairs to the top. i'm used to walking nowadays but i was still a bit winded when i reached the top. the view was nice and i'm sure it's even better if you go in the evening to admire the nightlights. i walked along rue de Champs Elysees - more expensive shopping here. i stopped by Laduree and bought some macaroons (this was a must-do for me) and was slightly shocked at how expensive they were. i followed rue champs elysees toward place de la concorde and near rue tronchet (madeline metro stop) i saw Laduree, fauchon and hediard all located within a few blocks of each other. Cool! only unfortunate thing is that these shops were closed as it was a sunday evening. i need to revisit during open hours.

Tonight I'm staying at the Aloha hostel. i'm in a room with three other girls from Belgium. They're just visiting Paris for the weekend since it's only a 2-3 hr drive from where they are. imagine being able to go to Paris for the weekend...i'm very jealous. They recommended that i visit brusges and ghent, which i think i will be visiting in a little more than a week. i'm leaving my belgium itinerary with A and T's capable hands. i'm not sure if i'll like it here at the hostel - they're blasting music on the main floor now where i'm clacking away at the keyboard. um, i really hope i won't hear it when i'm sleeping. the cool thing is that they are located within walking distance of a pierre herme and close to several bakeries. but i'm not so sure if it's that centrally located. at least it's closer to the orly airport train line, where i need to head tomorrow early afternoon.

i hope to see the pompidou center and les invalides before i head out to portugal tomorrow.

so far, the french have been very kind. maybe it's because i've been trying to practice my rusty high school french...though a few times i think they take pity on me (or want to stop my mangled french) and start talking to me in english. i did notice this morning that if i speak in english (before my caffeine, it's more difficult to converse in a foreign language!) the service i received wasn't as good as when i spoke French. i know that they have a lot to be proud of (historically, culturally, PARIS alone is enough to give them something to be proud of) but still...