Snack Attack: France - Wednesday, June 24

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

I am actually amazed at how much ive been doing each day, getting up early really helps but i am certainly exhausted at the end of the day. and about shoes, i have comfortable shoes for everyday wear but not for the type of walking ive been doing, my feet are killing me and ill be giving myself a nice long foot massage tonight. my legs arez also sore from all the random stair walking. maybe i wont end up gaining any weight from all the food im eating!!

i enjoyed verseilles...it was huge!!!!! definitely worth seeing but not my favorite thing so far. i breezed through the chateau stopping in each room to take a look around and read what it was all about, then moving right along. i spent the most time in the gardens, which i thought were fantastic to look at but not so great to stroll through with all the gravel. granted they are huge and take awhile to walk through but i was amazed how many tourists just stopped on the perimeters and took pics but didnt walk through. also, tourists are the rude ones in france, not the french...they dont say thank you, dont say excuse me, are loud and obnoxious, dont hold doors, walk in front of photos, push and shove.....and many of them seriously smell!!!!!

since im such an early riser these days, i was out the door at 7:30 and at verseilles when it opened at 9, then i was leaving a little after 12 when most of the crowds started arriving. i was happy to be back in paris...my home base (i wish it was really my home!!). i had expected the trip to last later into the day so i had some time in the afternoon to do as i pleased. i decided to go to the orsay museum since i was too tired to go yesterday, but first i had to eat lunch. after wandering for awhile i stopped at a small cafe and got a salad. during my wandering i stumbled across a chocolatier id been planning to visit called patrick roger (sidenote, the chocolates i got yesterday ended up being a dissapointment...i didnt like how the flavors meshed together and 2 of the ones i picked ending up having hazelnuts, which i hate...so i needed to redeem with some good chocolate). i went inside and went into immediate sticker shock...this choco was pricey!!!! they had these really cool looking green round chocolates that i tried asking about but the girl only spoke french...a box of like 9 was 44 eruos! yikes!! i ended up getting a small bag of chocolate covered orange peels (for the bargaing price of 13.50) and ate most of them on my way to find lunch. they were worth it though, soooo good!

after lunch on my way to the museum i stopped in a patisserie id seen earlier. i got a passion fruit entremet (a small dessert made of laers of cake and mousse) but it ended up being a disappointment. the mousse was good but the cake was really dry. i guess not everything in paris can be wonderful! so then i finally made it to the orsay...this museum is mostly known for its impressionist collection, which i quite enjoy.

at this point it was a little after 4 and jenny was planning to call me at 5 so i had some time to kill. i decided to take the metro over to the eiffel tower and lounge in the park nearby til 5, then go up in the tower after our call (another sidenote...i wanted to do 2 visits to the tower: one by day and then one by night to see the fantastic light show and the view of paris after dark, but it doesnt even start getting dark here til after 11!!!!! i dont stay up that late so im not sure im going to see this nighttime view). so i hop on the metro and this guy gets on at the stop after me and asks me a question in french so i tell him i dont speak french, so he asks another guy his question then sits down and starts chatting me up in english about his recent visit to the US and how he like paris better (i tried to expain that yes paris is infinitely more amazing but there are more exciting places in the US than detroit). so then we got off at the same stop and he offered me to come meet up with him and his friends tomorrow night so i gave him my email to contact me since i dont know my phone number. well see if he emails and if i check it in time...i wouldnt say im lonely but i think it could be fun to hang out with some parsians for an evening!

so i make my way over to the tour de eiffel and await jennys call while lying in the grass. we chatted for a bit and then i mustered up the strenght to make my way to the top. the tower has 3 levels at 200 ft, 400 ft and 900 ft. you can climb stairs to the fisrt 2, then have to take an elevator to the top (good thing bc my feet were killing me and im so nuts i probably would have tried to climb the whole way if it were an option). the first 2 levels were fun....the ride to the 3rd was frightening, but it wasnt so bad once i was up there. the ride back down was equally frightening and i was glad to be on solid ground.

i walked across the river from the tower to see it from the trocadero, which is supposed to be the best viewing spot. the trocadero it pretty freaking amazing itself. a huge fountain surrounded by people lounging the way lounging should be done...shoes off, feet in fountain, leaning back looking over at the eiffel tower. if that isnt the life i dont know what is!

at this point my poor feet had had enough so i hopped back onto the metro to my little hotel in monmarte. im finding it less charming now that the internet has been down for 2 days. luckily, the internet cafe is literally next door, though its generally filled with qbout 65 percent creepy people at any given time.

ok time for a much needed shower...im contributing to the smelly tourist problem i complained about earlier. goodbye for now!!!!