Oooookay. Do you guys think I’ve left you in suspense for long enough? Sorry about that. It is my goal to get my beforehand travel finished this week so that I can start on actual Romania blogs next week. Of course, that’s just a goal so keep your fingers crossed. Hokay So. Paris. The missing wallet. Well we wake up in the morning to find an internet place for me to buy a phone card to call and cancel my credit cards. Lucky me though, everything was closed because it was a Sunday. The one time I wish people didn’t keep the Sabbath day holy. Grrr. Luckily, the old man at the front desk had kind of become our friend and when I told him in broken French that my wallet had been stolen, he let me use the office computer to find a local number to call and he let me use the phone. He was so much help and I totally loved this guy. So much so that I even pretended to like his cat, and you guys know how much I am NOT a cat person. So I called the companies and put a hold on my cards until I could find out more info and we head off to church.
Well we of course are late and get to church about a half hour after it started, but we were just so excited to be there that we didn’t care. So we find the street, find the number and go to open the door... and it was locked. Yup, it was locked and all the lights were off and the curtains closed. So here I was, in a foreign city, my wallet had been stolen, and I couldn’t get into church! Let me tell you, I can definitely relate now to the five foolish virgins in the Bible that couldn’t get in because they were late! I just couldn’t believe I was locked out of church! And we were so close! I was so upset I almost started crying. I just wanted to go to church! There was a later service though so we just decided to hang around until church ended and we would see if we could catch anyone on their way out. So we were literally across the street from the Pompidue which is a modern art museum (kind of funny that the church is right across the street from it because the art in it is pretty much mostly porn.) Anyway, we decide to go hang out in the courtyard of the Pompidue and eat the world’s most yummy pastries. It was pretty fun and we got to see some random Tibetans chanting. So we go back to the church and we are waiting in the street talking when this guy comes up to the church door, punches in a code and walks through. We just stare in awe until Sheri LUNGES at the door and catches it before it closes. Let me tell you we were excited. Well the door opened into a courtyard and on one side of this was the church! We were SO HAPPY! So we walk in there and see a sign for relief society and a picture of Christ and we were just so freaking relieved to be there! Well we find an English speaking missionary and tell him that we needed some help because I had lost my wallet and I knew no one in the city and he hooked me up with an American couple that were living there. You guys, one of the best parts of this church is that it is the exact same everywhere and no matter what city you are in you in, if you can find a Latter-day Saint you will be ok. I seriously felt like Paul in the New Testament when he talked about being brothers and sisters in Christ and how no matter what sity you are in, if you found the Christians in that city you would be taken care of because that’s the way the early church was, they just looked out for each other. It was pretty cool. So the couple (the Williamsens) take us back to their place and feed us dinner and let us make as many phone calls as we needed and they were just so great. Not only did we get to eat spaghetti, but we got to spend the afternoon in an actual home with little kids running around and playing and it just felt so nice after traveling so much and spending all this time in hostels and dirty hotels and what-not. And these kids were so cute too. They were French and one of the girls who was maybe 5 or 6 came up to me and started speaking to me and I told her I was sorry I didn’t know French. Well she just looked at me for a second like “you’ve got to be kidding me” then she just rolls her eyes, sighs and runs and tells her brother how retarded we were because we couldn’t speak French. Let me tell you, there aren’t many things more humbling than that. She was really cute though and her frustration with us was actually really funny. Anyway, we got the credit card stuff worked out eventually and we start to feel much better. We decide to not let the fiasco spoil the rest of our day so we say thank you to the Williamsens and head off to the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower, was AMAZING! First of all there really isn’t a metro stop right there so we have to kind of walk to get there. Well it just so happens that the walk there is along this gorgeous park with beautiful flowers and trees and couples walking… just picture this, on the left you have the Seine sparkling in the sunshine, on your right you have flowers and birds and benches and grass, and in front of you to your right you have the Eiffel Tower rising up to the heavens. It was definitely one of those surreal, “Is this really my life?!” moments. Around this time we stopped at a souvenir stand and of course the vender was young and started hitting on us. It was really funny though because he asked what our names were and I told him Vicky, Sheri told him Courtney or something, and Marina just laughs. It was really fun. Until Marina and Sheri decide to go to a different stand and leave me with the guy! He proceeded to ask me to meet him later or tomorrow for breakfast and told me how beautiful I was yadda yadda yadda yuck! We made a new rule after that. No leaving Shannon alone with the horny vender guy! Aaaanyway, we finally made it to the Eiffle tower and it was incredible. The thing is huge and standing under the base and looking up was so cool. It was a lot of fun with people all over selling stuff and doing tricks and Albanian Gypsies running begging scams. It was quite the atmosphere. We decided that we wanted to take pictures in front of the tower first so we walk down this long grassy lawn to get a good view and then proceeded to take a billion pictures! It was a lot of fun. And the best part was that while we were goofing off and taking pics there was this guy kind of lingering around and at one point openly staring at us. Well we ignored him because we figured he was just another Parisian looking for a dumb American girl, but then he came up and talked to us and it turned out he was Californian! He had gotten this amazing bonus from his summer job so he booked a flight to Europe for two weeks before school started. He had literally started planning his trip about a week before he came. He had spent last night on a park bench, he hadn’t showered in four days and he couldn’t speak a lick of French. So when he was walking by and heard English he was like, “Americans! Glory Hallelujah!” So we spent like an hour talking to this way cool guy from SoCal in front of the Eiffel Tower! He was really interesting and funny and way into music and so obviously from Southern California that it was almost comical. It was a blast trading travel stories and talking about music and where we were headed and where we had been. Way good times.
Well around this time the sun was starting to set and we wanted to be up on the tower for that, so we said good-bye and headed up. And by headed up I mean wait in a series of very long lines. It was ok though because the security guards were very cute (all the Eiffel Tower personnel wear very sharp suits) and friendly and it was a lot of fun to talk to them. They entertained themselves by seeing where everyone was from and would sing songs if you were from some place famous. (Like they sang some random rap song when they found out I was from New York). They really were funny though and quite cute. Eventually we got in the elevator to go up and let me tell you it is HIGH! And all the elevators are glass so you can see out of them. Good times. Well, it takes us about an hour to get to the top (kinda like the Empire State Building with elevators, lines, elevators, lines) but it was ok (and SO much cooler than the Empire state Building) because the line goes along the outside of the second level which is pretty freakin high and we got AWESOME views of the city at sunset. Plus there were Americans everywhere so you got to know the people around you and it was actually really fun. There really are no words for the time we spent in that line. I took lots of pics though so you can see. Well at long last we come to the top and all I can say is wow. It really was magic. It was dark by this time and the city was just laid out before you, lit up and glittering like a thousand diamonds. Sheri, Marina and I just had to keep looking at each other and saying, “We’re in Paris, on top of the Eiffel Tower!” Really, I don’t have words for this one. But it was at this point that I really did fall in Love with Paris. You would think being at the top of the Eiffel would actually be really cliché and somewhat of a let-down since there are all these expectations, but it was everything you possibly could imagine. So so beautiful and really, there is just this aura of exoticism and magic and beauty and romance there as you look out and see the Seine and all these landmarks like the Notra Dame and the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacra Coeur all lit up and you just can’t help but be giddy. And as if it wasn’t perfect enough, I was taking some pictures when I could have sworn I heard the word ‘dreapta’ which is a Romanian word. But I was like, “naaahh, my head’s just messing with me.” But then I hear the word ‘biserica’ which is the word for church and I realize that there is this girl standing next to me pointing out the Notre Dame to this little boy. So I hit Sheri and tell her that the girl next to me is Romanian and we just look at each other like “no way.” We ended up talking to her and her mother and little brother that was there with her. They were so cool and so friendly and we exchanged emails and the mother invited us to stay with her if we ever were in Sibiu! And she was serious! It was so crazy to just be talking to Romanians on the top of the Eiffel Tower and it just made our experience that much cooler. By this time though it was freezing so we go into the bathroom, sign our names on the door of the stalls (I know I know, I’m generally not a vandal but come on, it was the top of the Eiffel Tower!), and then we head down. Of course we couldn’t find the right elevator so we ended up walking the last part of it. Talk about vertigo. Our calves were killing us by the end but it was actually pretty neat to be climbing down all these catwalks that were lit by a bagillion lights. Good times.
After that we make our way home through this kind of street festival by the tower and there was a guy that hit on us that wasn’t disgusting. He was actually nice. We were standing across the street from the tower and Sheri was taking some video and I was kind of tired (it was around 9:30, 10:00 and it had been a long day). So I yawned and this guy passing me kind of makes fun of me by fake yawning at me and I just smile and hit him as he walks by, nothing more. Well we end up catching up to his group about 5 minutes later (we walk fast) and he just looks at me and says, “Hey are you following me?” I say “But of course!” We ended up teasing and talking for a bit while we walked along the bridge and he was actually pretty cool. It was fun. And on the way home we stopped at the McDonalds on the Champs D’Elysse (only food place still open) and met some really nice guys (nice in a nerdy kind of way, not nice I want to pick up on you kinda way) in line and sat with them and talked to them for a while. I was even able to talk with them in French! It was fun. And I seriously love the Champs D’Elysse at night. It’s just so alive and there were these French break-dancers having a party over by the metro entrance and they were putting on a show and laughing and joking and there were people and lights everywhere. Awesome. So yeah. That was Sunday. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it’s so freaking long. I wish I could convey this day to you better, but seriously, no words. Enjoy the pics!
