Paris Hotel #2 : Hotel Notre Dame

Well, I woke up early this morning around 7am. It was weird thinking that it was just 1 am back in Indianapolis. I would probably be home cuddling with Kutya to keep warm and just thinking about getting to sleep sometime soon. Funny how comforting that sounds right now... being in the familiar.

But, I am not in the familiar. And I was due to be homeless in 4 hours so I was starting to get a bit stressed. Luckily, as I mentioned earlier, there are LOTS of cheap hotels in this area and so I made some instant coffee in my Starbucks cup from yesterday, showered and headed out in search of a new home.

I checked out about 10 hotels. Cheapest I saw was only 20 Euros but I didn't even walk in, for that price I could guess what kind of room it was. Not to mention I think the women washing the window was missing an eye. So I kept walking. :)


Turns out the hotel I chose is literally right next to the hotel I am in. You can actually see it in the photo above. The blue sign just past Hotel de Nevers to the left. It is only 48 Euros a night (about $75US). I have yet to see the room but the women at the desk were very friendly and the lobby looked acceptable. Also, they do not have internet access so I am a bit bummed about that, but the price is right. One hope is that the wifi (wireless internet) I am using in this hotel reaches my room next door. So there is a chance. If not, I will be online less often the next 3 days but I can still go to McDonalds (which offers free wifi in France) or Starbucks (which I have tmobile access but am not completely sure that will work here in France).

So, I have about 15 minutes now to pack and move my stuff next door. My room should be available in a couple of hours.

The schedule for today? Well I am unsure. I think I will look in my travel book and pick one of the sites. Napoleons tomb? His bedroom? The Louvre (with my camera)... :)

------- (later in the day: 12 noon)

Well I am moved out and in my new hotel. I can not actually check into my room until 2:30 but I can get the wireless internet from next door in the lobby. So thats good, I can at least come down here and go online. This bodes well for my chances in the room too.

The Louvre!

Today I went to the Louvre (picture above I took yesterday of the southside of the Louve).

First thing is first though. I woke up and got ready and went down to the front desk to see if I could stay at the Hotel de Nevers until Monday. No go, its booked. Of course, I easily could have seen this coming as this is par the course for weekends at cheap hotels.

So, I looked on line and started to consider the whole EuroRail idea. Travel unlimited 1st class rail for 15 days for $670. Not really that bad considering I was thinking I could sleep on the train a few nights. I thought it best to think on this and got ready and headed out for the Louvre.

I grabbed my camera (feeling confident because I had charged the camera battery last night) and grabbed a map of Paris from the front desk and started walking.

Now, something struck me while chatting with my Australian friend Dave last night when I told him that I had walked to the Eiffel Tower without a map. He said I was crazy or something along those lines.

Well, today, WITH a map in hand, I got lost twice while walking to the Louvre. At one point I actually walked about 15 minutes in the complete opposite direction as I wanted. It took me over an hour and a half to get there. Its amazing that yesterday I didn't get completely lost without a map.

So, once finally at the Louvre I walk in and all of a sudden have a panic that I did not put my newly charged battery in my camera. I look and sure enough, no battery!

This REALLY upset me. I admit, I am a photo nut! When I see something beautiful, I want to photograph it. And wow where there some sights in this museum. I decided I was not going to let the lack of photography ruin my tour, but I have to admit, many times while walking in the museum I couldn't help but think 'Wow what a great photo that would make'. I would even try to figure out what the best angle or shot would be. Pretty sad.

The Louvre was very impressive. The building itself was a historical piece of artwork (literally). There was an almost annoying amount of Jesus dieing in horrible ways paintings but I guess that was what people used to like to paint. Or possibly the church was the only one hiring painters at the time. Also, the french like to paint their women naked, ALOT. It seemed like every housewife and young girl always had at least one breast hanging out. I thought it was strange. Even the dieing mother surrounded by her mourning husband and crying children had her breasts exposed. I guess I am not really complaining, just thought that some of the cases were strange.

One fine painting did have a clothed women in it, The Mona Lisa! I was very excited to see this but was a bit underwhelmed when I finally saw it. Because it is such a big attraction you can not get any closer then like 10 feet from it at best. I probably never got closer then 30 feet because of the crowds. I like to see them up close.

There were other Da Vinci's that I could get close to which I enjoyed. Not to mention countless other famous works of art that I can not name, but recognized. And again I can not go on enough about the building itself. Probably could have gotten some great shots today. :(

On my way back I stopped for some coffee at a nice cafe and realized I was getting bolder with my French. After the tiny coffee, I stopped at a Starbucks and got a green tea (my usual). This is the only Starbucks I have seen in Paris. As opposed to London where there is one on every block. McDonalds is very prevalent here though, as is KFC. I have managed to avoid both so far.

My food of choice in Paris is the grilled panini sandwich with tomatoes and mozzarella. It is very tasty. Found a nearby shop that sells them cheap with a soda for 4.5 euros.

Also found a mexican restaurant tonight for dinner. Got a burrito. It was pretty good, but not really what I was expecting. More like a French/Mexican burrito.

So, with more exploring and the help of my brother, I found that the EuroRail pass is not an option for me. Apparently you need to buy it before you leave the US. I can still buy one but it would be 20% more expensive and I would have to pay to have them ship my pass to me. Oh well, turns out they would have charged me extra to sleep on the train. :(

That being said, I am now homeless with no lodging in 12 hours. There are a lot of cheaper hotels in this area though and I am thinking I will stay in Paris until Monday. First thing is first, in the morning I will hunt for a new home.

The Eiffel Tower

I slept in late today on accident. I woke up around 11am! But I found a beautiful sunny Paris day awaited my arrival so I quickly got up and showered (in my room) and dashed out to hit the city.


Taking the advice of my Australian friend I met on the flight here, I walked everywhere. Turns out, it was sunny, but it was chilly so I wore my thick Banana Republic sweater with the massive neck on it (it also looks european i think). My body kept warm, but my hands got cold quick.

Anyhow, I decided not to carry my Europe guidebook with me because it is so big. So I left without a map. I knew I was in the northernly eastern part of the city center. Also, at almost every Metro (the rail line) stop, there is a handy dandy map.

I found Paris streets to be even more confusing then London streets. They spider off in all directions. You go down one street and it spiders off in all types of directions. Each of these branches can contain marvelous markets and shops.

I started to really see the beauty of Paris... which to me, is in the details. Sure, most of Europe has cobblestone streets, but do they make designs in the cobblestones? Paris does! Sure London and even the US has food stands and markets, but do these markets create works of art with their fruit? Paris does. It just seems the French go that extra step to make things just look nicer.

This can certainly be seen in the architecture and the random beautiful statues found on random small branched off streets. Or the way a gate is painted in front of a flat. Its all in the details.


Along the way, I did manage to find the:
MOST EXPENSIVE BEER IN THE WORLD! This was very exciting for me. Little did I know when I entered a small pub that I had found the one and only 'most expensive beer in the world'. I ordered the French's own 1664 beer and was quite shocked when the waiter asked for over 8 Euros. Thats over $12 US dollars, FOR ONE BEER! My first reaction was I figured they were pulling one over on the stupid American. I didn't even tip! But when I got outside, it was right there on the menu: 1664 8.20 Euros. I don't think I would advertise those prices. Considering I have paid that much for a cheap meal AND beer here in Paris at other spots.

A bit later I found a nice cosey little spot where I braved another beer, a smaller one I must admit, but it was only 2.10 Euros. I was so happy I got two! And I tipped!

Which reminds me. You don't tip in the UK. At first I had a hard time dealing with this and I would still tip. Then I progressed to not tipping but feeling like a jerk. And finally I wouldn't tip at all and had no problems with it. This was me acclimating to life in London.

Now that I am in France, I am again unsure what to do. So I tip.

So, after 3 beers and zig-zagging back and forth in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower, I pass from behind a building to get my first view of this metal monstrosity. Or, so I thought. Once I actually saw it, I was surprised how pretty it looked. And the closer I got, the more I was mesmerized by it.

When I finally got to it, I was freezing but hastily paid my 3 Euros to climb the steps to the top. I could have paid 9 Euros to take the elevator, but not me. Im tough!




I started up the steps and after about 5 minutes, I was hurting. But, like all famous climbers and mountaineers, I kept going. I got to the first lower platform, took in the view and started heading up again. At the 2nd platform is where I felt like I had one pulled over on me. Turns out that I hadn't paid to go all the way to the top, just to the 2nd platform. Possibly this was explained somewhere in French, but I was not the only one confused. So I paid another 4 Euros to take the elevator to the very very top (no stairs option at this point).



When I got to the very top, wow, what a view. Also, it was windy and freezing up there. I stuck around as long as I could, shot lots of photos and video and headed down.



On my way down, it started to get dark and the lights on the tower made the whole thing look beautiful. I was really shocked how pretty it was.



On my long walk home, it was strange how I kept running into the same alleys and branches that I had on my way back. I even stopped for a third beer from my earlier spot.



Once back at the Hotel de Nevers I was ready for bed, but ran into a nice Australian (another one) named Dave. He is also staying in this fancy hotel. We chatted for a bit and decided to get some drinks. So, I got my second wind and we headed out to a bar he had seen that he described as 'mellow and cool'. When we finally get there, it was packed and crazy. Both of us were under dressed. But we made the best of it and had a good time. We even met some english speaking women (one american, one irish, one brit and one Aussie). It was a fun time. I was happy to meet Dave, but unfortunately he flies out tomorrow. He said that has been happening to him the whole time on his 2 month travels in Europe. He had just come from Italy. He was staying in a small town in a hotel with only two other people, a homeless man and an italian. Neither of which were very friendly. On his way out, he said a bunch of pretty english speaking girls checked in. I had to laugh at that one.

So I am back here now and it is almost 3am so I need to go to bed.

Tomorrow, The Louve!

Paris!

I am in Paris, France!

My plane landed at 5:15pm (an hour difference in time from UK, so I am now 6 hours difference from east coast USA). I met a nice Australian who has been traveling since MARCH! He slept the whole flight but when we were approaching Paris he woke up and we talked. He flew in from Italy yesterday and instead of paying a fortune for a room in London, he 'slept' at the airport. His brother lives in Paris and so he was desperately looking forward to a bed and shower.

Turns out he (Jeremy) was heading the same direction as me and so he helped me along the train routes in Paris to get me to my new home. The Hotel de Nevers. Its not Hilton or even a Days Inn, but its cheap, it has wireless and its in a good location. So it will do.


Once I got settled in a bit, I took off for a short walk in my new neighborhood. I stopped at a restaurant and got some pasta and two beers (total cost 21 Euros or about $30US). Looks like food is expensive here too. I also got a tasty almond cookie!

I have spoken some French. I can really only say hello and 'can you speak english'... thats about it. I had a begger on the street say something to me. Turns out he speaks fluent English and asked for change. All I had at the time was a British Pound and I told him this. When I handed it to him he seemed upset. But not upset enough to give it back. :) Ultimately, I need to work on my French.

I am booked here at the Hotel de Nevers until Friday but my Australian friend just shook his head and said "not enough time for Paris". He recommended I stay a bit longer, so I am considering rebooking my room until Monday of next week, which will give me 6 days in Paris instead of 3. Jeremy also recommended walking... everywhere. He said some of the best finds in Paris will be found by just walking, turning a corner, and there is something amazing you didn't expect. Not to mention it is cheaper then the Metro.

I am also considering, after I leave Paris (whenever that might be), taking a train or bus to the country in France. I can go north and check out Normandy or south and check out the villages there. Might save some money and see some beautiful country. So this is what I am thinking. Course, I could still see what cheap flights are available and get one of those. Some cheap destinations I have found from Paris - Madrid, Rome and Brussels.

Today I was efficient! I got up early, repacked all my clothes (which I got to wash all of them last night!), wrote down everything I needed on one piece of paper and left early for the trains to the airport. Amazing how much better things can go for you when you do a little planning. Hmm, I might have to try this again! :)

Everything went smooth. I wrote this at the airport waiting for my plane:

The train ride was nice though as I got to see some beautiful UK countryside along the way. Luton is a town north of London. I am down to about 30 pounds cash and I figure I can just hold onto that until I get back in mid December. I will probably end up spending a couple days in London at Renee's before I leave. The price is right!

Airports are a bit different here. You check in, thats about the same. Then you go through security, which is similar but often does not require you to take off your shoes. Then you sit in a 'Lounge' and watch the video boards. They prefer that you do not go to your gate until the boards tell you that your plane is boarding, then the board will say 'Proceed to gate 5'. So far I have flown on British Airways, Ryanair and Aerlingus and notice that on the smaller flights within Europe, the space between the seats are about as tight as I have ever seen. The flight back from Ireland on Ryanair was so tight that none of the seats would recline.

I had probably one of my best breakfasts on my trip this morning at the Luton Airport. It was 2 sausages (bigger then US), 2 eggs sunny side up, bakes beans (common item for breakfast) and chips (french fries, also common for breakfast). It was a big plate for 5.99 pounds (over $12 US).

Bacon in Europe is not the same as bacon in the US. Its more like a fatty ham. Also peanut butter is different and most Americans will bring it back with them from the states. Apparently Ranch dressing is hard to come by.

Tomorrow, The Eiffel Tower!

Cliffs of Moher

Monday we woke up early (before sunrise) and packed up and left the Doolin Activity Center in Doolin, Ireland. It was by far the nicest place I have stayed in. This town is a big tourist draw in the summer because it is close to the Cliffs of Moher. But, in late November, it is near empty and the prices are cheap.

Lots of locals though. Sunday night we went down to a little pub right down the road. It was a nice little place. Got my last Guinness in Ireland and Renee ordered some mussels. I am not a fan of seafood but I forced 3 of them down. There were locals sitting at the tables with instruments playing authentic Irish music. It was charming.

But Monday was our last day so we took off towards the Cliffs of Moher.


On the way, we passed this cool tower castle thingy!

They were amazing. I will let the photos do the talking on this one. (More photos on my flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kutyadog/

After the cliffs we drove to Shannon, Ireland and caught a flight back to London. The roads in Ireland are funny, they are thin and usually have stone walls on both sides leaving very little room to move around in your lane (which is on the left side of the road). Also not many highways or stop lights. Instead of stop lights they do the circle round abouts. Took us a while to figure those out but we managed. Nice driving Renee! :)

Also, I am getting old. My left ankle (achilles tendon) has been giving me trouble. Must have strained it at some point - I am doing a lot more walking then usual. So for the past three days I have been walking like a gimp! :) Bit better today.

So, right now I am at Renee's and am all packed and shortly will be catching a train to a station that I will catch a train to the airport, where I will fly to Paris!

Am very excited to hit continental Europe but nervous as well. Language barrier and all. I figure I have finally found comfort in London and am once again leaving my comfort zone. But, I have reservations in a pretty cheap little family run hotel in central paris for 50 Euros a night. Hotel de Nevers.

Really excited. Also am working on my French (apparently the French really appreciate it if you try to speak their language)... though, when I try to speak it, it usually sounds like I add a Spanish accent to it... not sure why. :)

OK I need to go. Next post will be from Paris.

Guinness is the drink!

Tonight is my last night in Ireland.

Me and my Ireland travel companion Renee flew into Dublin Friday afternoon. We got a decent hotel room and headed out the to pubs.


I quickly found Dublin to be a very friendly and outgoing city. Much more so then London. The people in the pubs were very happy to talk to us and would often jump into a conversation with us or stop us in our tracks from drinking our Guinness before it was settled and ready to be drank.


The pubs in Ireland really have personality. Even more so then London. And I think the stereotype of a red faced, smiling, drunken Irishman holds pretty true. Not to mention the red hair! Also, unlike many other countries and the beer that represents their country, the Irish actually drink Guinness. No joke, you go into a bar and EVERYONE is drinking Guinness. Pint after pint. They fill the bar with them. The girls even drink it here. So, doing my best to follow the saying "When in Rome"... I have been drinking lots of Guinness! Oh and lots of Jamesons whiskey.

Saturday we got up and went to the Guinness brewery but the queue (line) for entry was too long so we just went to the gift shop. Also, Friday night we found out why our nice room was so cheap. Apparently it was directly above a Kerioke bar and you could hear it clear as a bell late into the wee morning. The guy who sang 'Girls just want to have fun' at 2:30 in the morning should be shot!


At around 2:30pm Saturday we jumped on my first train ride of my life (i was pretty excited i must say) to go from Dublin to Galway. I was sad to leave Dublin as I found it a fun and friendly town. (And cheaper then London). I really enjoyed the train ride and we were prepared and brought 4 large beers with us for the ride (cider beer, which is also big here in Ireland).

When the train arrived in Galway we found that most of the hotels and hostels were fully booked. We walked around with all our stuff (something I feel like I will be doing a lot of the next couple weeks) for about 45 minutes. The last hostel we went to was booked but recommended a bed & breakfast that was cheap and so we went with it. Betty would pick us up soon.

And so about 5 minutes later an older lady entered and introduced herself as Betty. She had a hard to understand Irish accent and seemed tough as nails. She drove us about 5 minutes to her house just a couple minutes from the downtown area in a residential neighborhood. She had converted her house to a bed and breakfast and when we got into the residence was happily surprised by it. We met a couple other travellers who were also staying at Betty's. She made us some tea and gave us some cookies. Funny thing too, she would only talk to me. "Chris would you two like some Tea?", "Chris would you like me to make you two breakfast in the morning?". It was funny, she would not talk to Renee while I was around.

We hit the town last night (saturday) and I think I probably drank 7 Jamesons whiskeys but in true Irish fashion I managed to hold it pretty well and didnt get too drunk. Galway is a youthful town and I found most of the bars to be a bit too 'college scene' for an old guy like me. The average age in most the bars here was probably 22. So, I enjoyed Dublin more then Galways as far as nightlife goes.

This morning Betty woke us up and made us breakfast, we got up a bit late and she had to come wake us up a couple times. By the time we got up and out it was noon and when we got to the bus station we found that we had unfortunately slept through the last bus to Doolin, the town we wanted to go to. This was a learning experience as our only other option was to rent a car and drive. A process that added a bit more stress to our day and cost us about $130 each.


But the drive was great and we are now settled in easily the nicest place I have stayed for the cheapest amount. I am writing this now, but soon we will go to a nearby pub in this tiny oceanside town and get some Guinness. Nothing too late though as we plan to get up very early and visit the nearby cliffs and caves. And possibly just walk on the beach (if there is any beaches that can be walked on).


The country here is beautiful. So hopefully we can see as much in the morning as possible. Our flights back to London leave from Shannon (20 minutes drive away) tomorrow around 1pm. I might cancel that flight and get one directly into Europe. We shall see.

Ireland!

We landed in Dublin a couple hours ago. Had a bit of difficulty finding out how to make local calls and even then, most of the lodging places in my travel book were just not answering their phones.

We spent probably an hour at Starbucks in the airport just getting situated. When we finally went downstairs to the tourist booth, we got set up for a room and the bus to downtown Dublin.

I am happy to be out of London. I really enjoyed it there but was ready for some new sights. Also, Ireland is on the Euro and the exchange rate between USD and Euro is much better then the British pound. So, my standard of living has gone up just like that!

When we finally found our room that we booked at the tourist center it is very nice. By far the nicest place i have stayed at on my journey so far. And they have decent wireless. The room even has 3 beds so I told Renee we should go find some weary traveler who is on their own and let them buy 1/3rd of our room. Probably wont end up doing that.

We wanted to hit up the Guinness brew tour but it stops at 4pm and that would leave us an hour to get there and rush a quick tour in. My book says it isnt that exciting and is overpriced, but you get the best free Guinness at the end of the tour.

I am starving and havent really eaten anything all day. Flight was uneventful.

I put on a warmer sweater cause it is COLD... sunny, but cold. The location is great and me and Renee are ready to get some beer and food in our bellys and explore. I will bring my camera so should get pictures up soon. (and I still have London photos I need to get online cause my internet connection was flaky yesterday).

Had a great Thankgiving dinner last night with fellow Americans. It was tasty!

Ok, off to tour Dublin. Tomorrow we take the train out of the city west to Gallway, Ireland for two nights.

Last night in London

Today is Thanksgiving and my last night in London.



Yesterday I went to visit the newspaper the Telegraph. It was nice seeing how this large paper deals with graphics and online convergence. Overall though, I was given the feeling that papers in the UK do not take graphics as serious as the US or Spain does. After my visit I joined a graphics artist for a couple pints.

Through contacts at the Telegraph, today I went and met with a multimedia developer at the Guardian. Again a very educational visit that I enjoyed very much.

After my visit with the Guardian I just started walking around and saw the top of what I thought was St. Pauls Cathedral. I really wanted to see that cause I remember hearing so much about it during Germany's bombings of London in WW2.

I also wanted to see St. Pauls Cathedral because it was named after my dad, who as everyone knows, is quiet the Saint! Pretty cool that they knew he was going to be born and be a saint all those years ago.

Anyhow, St. Pauls Cathedral was originally built around 1100 AD. It was burned during around 1500 and was rebuilt with the dome around 1600. It is an amazing building. During the German bombings in 1943 everyone in the city worried about it. After hours and hours of bombings one evening the people of London were sure the Cathedral had been destroyed. They came out from the shelters and walked to the streets only to see that almost everything around it was burning and destroyed, but St. Pauls was undamaged. Odd, a 500 pound bomb actually hit the roof and went through into the Cathedral only to not detonate. You could actually see where the hole was.

There is also those famous photos of everything around London burning except for St. Pauls Cathedral.

I took photos when I could, but since it is an active place of worship, it is considered rude to take photos in the Cathedral. So I really only have exterior photos.

I am trying to upload my photos now but I have to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner and the internet connection is running very slowly right now. Hard to say when I can upload them.

Heading to Ireland tomorrow morning with Renee. Flying into Dublin and will stay there for a night. Saturday we should head west on bus or train to Galway for two nights. Flying back to London Monday from Shannon, Ireland. Then I catch the underground to Europe... most likely... or flight to Amsterdam. We shall see.

I have lots of thoughts about it being my last day in London but am out of time. I will write more later in this post.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I am thinking of my family and friends and look forward to seeing all of you again. Hope your holidays find you well.

Chris

Tower of London

Today, Tuesday, I went to the Tower of London. I had heard it was one of London's top spots to visit and also contained the amazing crown jewels. I read up on it in my book and found that it is a fortified structure of towers and walls that was originally built on an old Roman fort site around 1200 AD. Since then additions had been made up until about 400 years ago.

Unlike the other museums, this was not a free visit.

When I got there I went through a small tour with a guide then broke off on my own. Immediately I went to the crown jewels cause I had heard so much about them. Turns out it was about a 4 minute tour and I was really disappointed. Lots of gaudy gold jewelry that didnt even look that well crafted to me. Honestly I found most of it ugly. Though, the 3 foot by 2 foot punch bowl made out of gold was pretty impressive.


Then i started through the towers. The history of the place, with all the famous prisoners held in different towers on the grounds and many people who had been killed on the site was pretty powerful. Inside some of the towers you could see messages scratched into the walls. In the chapel, they used to bury the dead under the floor. When excavated they found thousands of bodies down there.

The towers themselves were like a castle really and I loved walking through them. The little stairwells were smaller then my flat's. The high ceilings and huge fireplaces. Very charming I thought. Walking through these towers really takes you back in time.

There were also suits of armor and weaponry.

Besides the crown jewels, I really enjoyed the Tower of London.


On my exit from the Tower, I came out along the River Thames near the Tower London Bridge. It was beautiful so I took lots of photos and took my time, even though it was raining.

Now that I am back, getting some work done and Renee is meeting me in a bit and we are going to schedule our Friday trip to Ireland.

I played poker last night at the nearby casino. Made a nice little donation. Might make another tonight. :)

The British Museum

Went to The British Museum today. I enjoyed it very much. The stand out difference between it and the previous museums I had been to was the overwhelming number of items that were about 2000 years old. We are talking ancient world history here.

One of the more impressive was the Rosetta Stone. It carries the same inscription in several different languages including ancient Egyption hieroglyphic script. This stone alone allowed us to decipher and read Egyption script by comparing the hieroglyphics with the languages we know. Very cool!


The museum also contained lots of ancient texts (besides the Rosetta Stone). I found them very fascinating and rather beautiful to look at. Many of those, including one which has a story very similar to Noah's are linked at bottom of this post.


The fella above was a nice brit who was pounded twice on the head and had his throat slit before being thrown into a bog. It was hard to photograph him cause the lighting was very low. You could clearly see his face, beard and hair. You could see his belly button. All pretty amazing considered he died almost 2000 years ago!


Almost as amazing as the different artifacts found through out the building, was the architecture of the building itself. A large and beautiful building that was both modern and ancient in design.