PARIS leftovers part 9

HEY FOLKS


So I still haven't finished my story about Paris. Lets hop right back into the time machine and go back to....October. Wow. 

The Eiffel Tower:
If you listened in to the waiting line, out of context, you would think it was a line for visas or for the UN or something. Goodness, I heard more languages at one time than in any other place, except maybe the IHOP in New Jersey. It was seriously impressionant. 
We ended up waiting for around 20 minutes, so honestly it wasn't too ridiculous... Except that this eastern European lady (Sorry, I'm really bad at distinguishing languages for that part of the world) kept cutting the line and then working her way back and forth; apparently she was a part of two parties, one at the begininning of the line, and one apparently right in front of me. It wouldn't have been a problem except that she wouldn't stop whipping her hair, hitting my face each time she turned around.  


And as always, I became very preoccupied with how the elevators worked that I forgot to look at the view for the first 30 seconds or so of ascent. 

It looked pretty awesome though! Kind of like the perfect imaginary airplane cockpit, or the laboratory where they transformed Captain America. 
So the first floor was a maze of people asking in really interesting accents where the line was for the top floor. I found it interesting how English was the language of reference for everyone. The signs are first in French, but then in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and others too. But if a non-french tourist was asking a question, it was always in English, because that was the common language between pretty much everyone. The people working there could respond in English and most foreigners could get the general idea. Interesting. I also shared some funny looks and moments with the French group ahead of us and the English group behind us, commenting in both languages about how funny all of it was. 
And of course I became preoccupied with the bolts on the giant iron beams, just as the tower became illuminated!

 And I had my first Ben and Jerry's sighting! VT PRIDE

That's actually not my photo, my camera failed me for that one, I was jittering to much. Partly because I was so excited and partly because I hadn't brought a jacket, so I was freezing. So perhaps not buying some delicious Whirled Peace was a good decision. 


Next stop: The top floor. Immediately greeted by...

I mean of course they sell champagne on the top of the Tour Eiffel. What's better than tipsy tourists with vertigo? 
I also saw the office of M. Eiffel. Because apparently he actually worked from home, and home was the top of the tower. Wow. What a hassle. 

He looks pretty good for 180. Granted, he's been locked up in that little room for decades... 


And I'll close the Eiffel tower part of this story with my favorite picture that I took, actually probably my favorite picture that I've ever taken I think. 

It was total total luck. I literally took it while walking, not looking at the screen, without any special effects or settings checked on my camera. So how it came out like that, I'll attribute to the magic of the city of Paris. 

...

The Louvre: 
A maze of confused foreigners. A greenhouse of an entry. A death trap for small children. A library of large naked ladies on canvas, and large naked men in marble. A treadmill of a museum, logically laid out en longueur instead of hauteur. 


Here, I attached the floor plan:

But nonetheless we ended up getting to a good number of the exhibits. We didn't get to the Emperors of China because it was too far away. But we found our way through the crowds of every-possible-language tourists all the same and saw some really incredible art. Because that's the real goal of the museum, despite what kids, security officers, and handicapped people will tell you. 


So not to down on my host brother all the time, but if I hadn't kept my head on my shoulders, he might have ruined my visit. This is a reoccurring theme though, so I try to ignore it. I guess I can't blame him for not being interested in the incredible, magnificent, and culturally significant, but it sure makes for a lousy day. I would have greatly appreciated viewing some of the most famous art of all time without the constant 15-year-older snide comments.

In the end, it wasn't even famous European art that I liked the most. It was the Egyptian wing. Just like in NYC. Except way more intense. 
I especially jived with this guy, I don't know why:

I also got really dizzy trying to study the Egyptian calender:

Oh and then there's the ancient foundations of the chateau that the Louvre is built upon. 

Really awesome totally intact medieval kind of stuff. Here's an idea of how giant the current Louvre is, with the layout of the old castle (see square) underneath. That rounded tower above is one of the corner turrets on the plan below:

Then of course I saw the Mona Lisa:

And of course I thought the crowd in front of the painting was more interesting. You can see that one guy in the front just totally confused, thinking "Wait, but I thought it was gonna be a big painting!"
Also you can really tell in the picture, but the security guard was in the process of grappling some little kids that had pushed their way through everybody's legs to get to the front. Right after I took the photo they got strong-armed out of the room. Pretty funny. In France, everyone is your parent. 
And on the opposite wall from the Mono Lisa there's this giant last supper painting, just for the ironic juxtaposition. 

Speaking of juxtapositions....
Other things I saw: 

Can't really explain this one. let's move on to what I think is the mother of all ironic juxtapositions so far:

Omnipresent, America is. 


Oh, and I had another hilarious cultural exchange. I was looking at this painting...

...when I noticed this group of young French teens cracking up and trying to talk to an elderly Chinese lady in broken English. I exchanged a couple smiles with the kids and then they told me she didn't understand French or English, and so I gave a go at both languages but still couldn't figure out what she wanted to know. Then we finally deduced that she wanted to know where Belgium was (whaaa?) and so we tried to draw a simplified map on a museum guide pamphlet, of France as a blob with Belgium right to the north. It was pretty hilarious. We kept pointing at it saying "Belgium! ... La Belgique! Waffles! Frites!" until she finally made a facial expression like she understood. It was adorable. 

Anyway, the Louvre basically took the whole day; we were in the room with the 20 or so giant Rubens paintings for Catherine de Medici when it was announced that the museum was closing. We went back home on the metro and ate a bunch of pasta and steak!


And bien sûr I had another moment of absolute French-ness. I told my host aunt that the Louvre was awesome and everything, but I pretty much came to Paris to see the Musee D'Orsey; that was tops on my list. And what other answer could she give but that, well, it was closed because the workers were on strike. La greve follows me everywhere apparently. 


However, as you shall see in the next post, we successfully got to the museum nonetheless! More on that later. 


'Till then, sleep well, drink lots of water, and don't forget to turn the radiator off before you fall asleep. 

Affectionately, 

Will