-
October 17, 2004
Paris, France
-
I met back up with Sean and Sara in Paris. We were supposed to meet at the hotel, but coincidently arrived at the same time and ended up meeting up on the street corner. After trading stories and showing pictures, we headed out to see the Eiffel Tower and get something to eat.
My impressions of Paris were of a dirty, angry, impatient city. I never really felt comfortable there, completely not what I was expecting. Maybe I was just staying in a bad part of town but it certainly lacked the romantic atmosphere I traditionally associated with Paris.
We made it down to the Eiffel Tower just in time for it to flash with blinking lights, something it does every hour on the hour for about five minutes. It started to rain, so we headed into a Korean restaurant for something to eat. We had seen everyone at the restaurant eating from big bowls of rice, green beans, and other vegetables and meat. We wanted to eat this, but the waitress acted like she had no idea what we were talking about. Instead we had to order from the regular menu. Though, while we sat there, groups of ten people would walk in and instantly get served this meal with a giant bowl of rice, and we had to buy tiny little cups of rice and use it sparingly. We really never understood the conspiracy against us.
Early the next day, I went out to check out the Louvre. Sara and Sean went to see Jim Morrison's grave first, then met up with me later at the museum. The Louvre is a giant museum, though somehow it doesn't seem as big as I was expecting. I was able to see all the paintings in just a few hours, and ended up backtracking to give more time and appreciation to things I had practically jogged by earlier on.
The Mona Lisa was overly crowded, everyone trying to get the perfect picture of it. Same with the Venus De Milo. Most visitors to the Louvre apparently only go to see these two pieces for some reason. I found that besides being overly familiar, these two pieces were nothing spectacular compared to the many other portraits and sculptures throughout the museum.
One of the most spectacular parts were the rooms containing Egyptian sculptures. The rooms themselves were amazing, the ceilings painted and the walls intricately decorated.
