We have had a very, very busy couple of days. Our first full day in Paris we almost killed ourselves, and we didn't really let up after that. Not having alot of time there, we were keen to do as much as possible, but I'm not exactly wearing the most comfortable shoes, and we didn't get the hang of eating cheaply until Tuesday, so Monday was sort of spent walking around feeling hungry. Nevertheless, amazing - we were so busy we hardly noticed.
So, Monday morning we had breakfast at the hostel, then set off for the centre of town. We walked to Les Abbesses, which is I think the best example of the Art Nouveau metro stations, and caught the train in to Les Halles, which is right in the middle of things. It was a public holiday, which was actually great because there weren't huge crowds and it was very peaceful. We walked from there to the Centre Pompidou, which is a big hideous building covered in coloured pipes, and houses the modern art gallery. Then we made our way through back streets into Le Marais and to the Place des Vosges, where Victor Hugo used to live - a big square of mansions built in, um, I think the 17th century or maybe the 18th, enclosing a central garden square. After that we visited Notre Dame, where my camera ran out of batteries, which made me mad because I had spare batteries I had bought for just such an eventuality, but had left them at the hostel.
Anyway, we continued walking all the way down the river to the Louvre, and spent a good amount of the afternoon walking around its endless - I mean that, it's stupidly huge - galleries. We saw all the big ones, of course; the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, etc. But Margot is also scarily knowledgable about everything else, and was able to give me a running commentary, which I listened to carefully and promptly forgot. I was able to provide us with yet another camera incident, as I somehow lost Margot's camera. Luckily, the very nice gallery attendant had spotted it and it was returned no fuss. After all of this excitement, we collapsed exhausted in the closest end of the Tuilerie gardens, then I somehow persuaded Margot to walk to the Eiffel Tower. That almost killed us, and we jumped on the nearest metro and went back to the hostel, went out for a meal in which the conversation consisted mostly of blank tired stares (very nice little restaurant though, right up in the famous square next to the Sacre Coeur), and went to bed.
OK, still with me? Tuesday. Still exhausted from the previous day, we set off for Versailles. i had been a couple of times before, but it's something that Margot's always wanted to do, and I could go hundreds of times. The palace is just spectacular. Built mostly by Louis XIV, it is a monument to the glory of the french monarchy (deceased). Some of it would seem overwhelmingly tasteless if you tried to decorate in a similar way today - lots and lots and lots of gilded everything - but here it works. It took us several hours to get through the palace, even without fully utilising the audio guide, after which we sat on the back steps of the palace and had our lunch, which mostly consisted of mini baguettes, melted butter, and jam; stolen from our free breakfast. I know, classy. Afer lunch we took the outrageously expensive "train" to the Trianons - Grand and Petit - and wandered around thinking what nice little summer houses they would make. And they wouldnàt be complete without Marie-Antoinette's amazingly Disneylandesque "peasant village". All of this took us eight hours or so, and we returned totally, totally exhausted.
Wednesday. In the morning we climbed up to the dome in the Sacre Coeur - the highest point in Paris, and an amazing view. I couldn't find where I wrote my name there last time - I think they may clean it every so often then let it fill up again. Keeping the theme of steps (sigh), we headed to the Arc de Triomphe, and paid a ridiculous amount of money for the privilege of going to the top. I probably wouldn't have bothered, but you have to, don't you, and it's the only thing I hadn't done before. Following the Champs-Elysées downhill, our next stop was the Musée d'Orsay, which made Margot's head explode. After an overload of art, we retreated, and went home. Only to go out again, to meet up with my friend Scott from high school and his partner, who have been living in Paris for nearly a year. We drank a little bit more wine than our worn-out bodies could really handle, but it was a great evening. I always regretted not keeping in contact with Scott, but it was great to find he hadn't changed - other than being ravaged by time, of course, but who among us hasn't been?
Almost there now, keep going. Thursday was a quitish day; a peaceful river cruise on the Bateaux-Mouches, followed by another stroll up to the Eiffel Tower, then back to the hostel to pick up our bags and go to the train station. The train to Bologna was pretty horrible, I have to say. Amazingly uncomfortable "beds", carriages in not the best state of repair, and fellow passengers we had to basically kick out of our compartment so we could set up the beds, and who stood talking directly outside for another couple of hours. But, we made it, and found our hostel. I say hostel, but it is basically a gorgeous little boutique hotel. We dropped our bags there and were invited to the full buffet breakfast (oh my god) for 5 euros, which I presume is charged to our room even though we haven't checked in yet. Now, I am fully prepared for them to tell me it costs 100 euros each or something, because we paid 42 euros altogether, which really seems suspicious for such a nice, three star hotel. We shall see. In the meantime we've wandered to the centre of Bologna, found the tourist information centre (not as easy as it sounds), and bought a guidebook to replace the one that I for some reason did not bring with me. Bologna is a medieval town, with ancient palaces and churches everywhere, as well as its own leaning tower (which is nine hundred years old, no less). But honestly, we're just here for a day off.
Right, that's me done. Not up to the standard I'd like, but there was too much to get through. If we keep up this pace I'm going to have to do an entry every day. I'll try and get a couple of photos up at some point, too.
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