paris and then some

Being Parsian part 2

Hola!
I shall say hola because though I will write of our final days in Paris I am sitting in a very shady Internet cafe in Madrid where everything is extremely blue, as in colored. Our Second to last day in Paris was my favorite so I called dibs in writing about it. The morning started off getting up bright and early for the Louvre so we wouldn't have to wait in line as long the idea was and haza it worked. Once in the Louvre we decided to split up with a designated meeting place for a certain time (don't worry padres we are responsible in our separation) because we were moving at different paces. I had bee to the louvre two summers before but this time maybe because I was older I found the majestic museum spectacular in particular I enjoyed The dying Slave by Michelangelo. I decided I love Michealngelo partially because it is the greatest name ever and partially because ever time I see it i can hear my father reciting part of the poem The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock "In the room the women come and go speaking of Michelangelo" that might not be exact since it is from memory but you get the gist.

We then wandered about till we came across notre dame and went in there and it was large and pretty and churchly. While we were in Notre Dame it started down pouring so Grace and I meandered about in the rain appreciating how the river looked and all the tourists crammed into cafes. After exploring the ile de st. louis, I got the I- heart -Paris -so -much -my -ribcage- is- cracking feeling Grace had the day before.

We happened to be in Paris the day a annual music festival was taking place. We traveled down to the Latin Quarter with our roommate (went on a joll as she would say) and danced it up on the crowded streets. the roads were closed off and on every corner was a different band from heavy metal to latina to a marching band. the cobblestone streets were brimming to capacity with people. we encountered some very friendly Italian guys with whom we took a jaunt down the seine as he exclaimed in that typical Italian way of the magic of Paris (pronounced pareeeeeee).

+ Asian karaoke

- Cheap wine not as poetic as we had imagined

+ our last night in a hostel

- our last night in a hostel

Sending you all bread and wine which here equals love
-Liz (and Grace)

More time in Paris (But still not nearly enough)

Yesterday we started off by a traditional and much desired French breakfast. We had incredible croissants from a local bakery- chocolate for Liz and traditionnel pour moi, along with some banging cafe creme. We enjoyed just sitting at the cafe and watching everyone walk by on their way to doing whatever it is that Parisians do. 

We then headed to the Latin Quarter of the city for another joll. Liz´s fabulous Lonely Planet book had a special Literary Loop walk, which took us past the dwellings of many a famous writer. We saw where Ernest Hemingway lived and worked and where James Joyce got his inspiration. As two interested writers, it was a very cool place to imagine doing similar things. Our loop ended at the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, which is a charming magasin packed with new and used books of every kind, with a quaint library upstairs and an old typewriter. All of the workers there are writers and the couches in the library turn into their beds at night!  

After enjoying the words and the streets, we indulged in our last real meal in Paris. Sitting outside, we received the classic Croque Monsieurs, vegetarian-style. It was an incredible experience- toasted bread with tomato, pesto and melted cheese. A religious experience, real foodies may even claim. I eyed up the cute chien at the table next to us and wished I could pet my own not-so-little beagle.

We received our backpacks from the hostel (which somehow continue to grow in each stop) and made our way to the train station for our night train to Madrid. I will admit, I may have gotten us there a little early because I was stressed, as usual. Maybe it was just my backwards way of not at all wanting the leave the French paradise. The night train was a fun experience. We were glad we had a cabin for four people with only the two of us in it. We satisfied our chocolate craving in the cute little dining car and then jammed ourselves into the bunkbeds for the night, setting our books back every now and then because they kept falling from the jolting on the rails.

We´ve been in Madrid since 9 this morning and have been absolutely loving the hot weather! After rain and dampness, wearing tanktops and actually being warm feels incredible! We spent the day exploring the area, seeing the national cathedral, many plazas, and the royal palace. I learned that we must be very careful because the meaning of meat is very different in Spain. I made sure my salad at lunch today didn´t have meat, and was appalled when the waiter brought out lettuce and tomatoes covered in fish! It was certainly a stretching experience for me to just move the meat off the plate and actually eat it, but Liz was quite proud. Even greater is our VERY OWN hotel room, which is quite trendy, as the website claimed it would be. Being the great inventors that we are, we just finished washing up our underwears and tee shirts and such, rinsing them in the badet (yes, it´s just that fancy) and hanging them across the bathroom. The idea of clean clothes, being able to leave our passports there in a safe, and a room to ourselves is quite nice after more than a week in hostels.

 (Our room actually looks just like the one on the right!! But with a whole twin bed for each of us)

Hope that at least caught you up a little bit as to our goings-on. We are beginning to see how people could do this for long periods of time, as you just kind of fall into a routine of seeing things, enjoying the food, and finding ways to make do. The traveling is still just incredible, but I´m beginning to see how it can be a hassle, as I´m majorly stressing over the work that I was supposed to do for pre-registration for college classes and am almost missing all the deadlines! Might need to spend some more time focused on that in this very blue internet cafe, but it´s so hard when the streets are filled with sunshine and music!

+ Our final Parisian lunch (thankfully not with any of Liz´s crap cheap wine)

- Sore backs from the night train mattresses (Sorry, chiropractor daddy)

+ CLEANLINESS

- The need to be aware of pickpocketers. Apparently a very real issue. Easy to believe with the sad number of homeless people in the streets here.

Sending you all my sweaty Spanish love,

Grace (and Liz)