My opinions, updates on my life, all sorts of "randomness"...

Well, I'm in Barcelona. The train wasn't bad at all, the bed was more comfortable than my bed in the hostel was! Finished my Tom Clancy book ('The Teeth of the Tiger'), and slept the rest of the way. Too dark to see anything out the window, but at least I didn't have to waste a whole day on travel. Got in at about 8:30, stuck my pack in a locker at the train station, and just set off walking, my only map being the little one in my Let's Go. The weather's beautiful, so it's been great. I'm meeting Jo in about an hour, so I have until then to chill. My only complaint so far about Barcelona, is that for some reason they seem to have an aversion to toilet seats...

Tuesday, October 24th
In the morning I went to Musee de Orsay with one of my roommates from the hostel, Roomie (no joke, that was her name...she's from Japan...). Amazing museum. The building itself is gorgeous, this old train station converted to a museum. It also makes for a great layout--all these little nooks with amazing painting and sculptures...makes you feel like you're "discovering" something new every time you turn a corner! Plus I love impressionists, so that obviously added to me loving the museum. Spent about 3 hours there, which is pretty much my limit for how long I can stay in a museum and still enjoy it.

After Musee de Orsay, I walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Decent walk, but not bad. Paris is such a walking city, I love it. Chilled at the bottom for awhile, then decided it was completely worth 11 euros to go to the top, so waited in the line for that. Ended up in line behind Americans, and at one point I laughed at something they said, clearly giving up the fact that I could understand them, so we ended up talking and hanging out for the rest of the day. Nice guys, in Paris on business. So anyways, the view from the top? Wow is all I can say. I obviously took tons of pictures, so I'll try and put those up soon. The Renault team was filming some type of commercial thing by the fountain at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, so that was cool to watch. Then we walked to Notre Dame.


Now, I know I said it was a decent walk from Orsay to the Eiffel Tower, but this is even further. Such a long walk. Nice, but long. Took some pictures from the outside, but we got there at closing so we couldn't go in. Ate dinner is the great little neighborhood nearby. After dinner Kyle (one of the guys) & I walked over to the Louvre, got to see it all lit up. Gorgeous. Then we just walked around for hours, enjoying the city. Tons of fun.


Wednesday, October 25th
Went to the Louvre in the morning. The Louvre is crazy overwhelming. I was actually really glad I had already seen the building the night before with Kyle, because otherwise I think it might have been a bit too much. But at least that way I was prepared. It was obviously incredible, but the part I like the best was actually the building itself. Every room is different, many with gorgeous paintings or carvings in the ceiling. Impressive stuff. Started off with the French & Italian paintings, and of course the Mona Lisa. While in the Mona Lisa room, I ran into this Australian couple I had met on the train from the airport to the city, Billy and Jen. They were with a girl from their hostel, Lauren. The four of us spent the rest of the day together. After the Louvre, we had lunch, then headed over to Notre Dame. This time I actually went inside, pretty cool.

Lauren had the Lonely Planet Paris guide, so we did this walking tour from it. Chilled on the bank of the Seine for awhile, walked through the Louvre area at sunset, up Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, ending at the Eiffel Tower. After that 7 mile walk (not counting all the walking we had done before that, and my walking the day before) we were spent. So we treated ourselves to the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. Yup, I went back up. And once again, it was amazing. Billy & Jen are basically doing the same countries I am in Europe, but the opposite way (they should be in Amsterdam now, ending in Spain). So we exchanged e-mails so we can give each other advice. Everyone I've met has been so awesome...

Thursday, October 26th

Made my reservation for the night train, then headed over the Jewish Quarter. Had lunch at this fabulous falafel place, where I heard more Hebrew then French, then went to the Museum of Jewish History & Art. The Jewish Quarter was great, fun to see, but I don't recommend the museum. Poorly laid out, super confusing, not such interesting pieces, and only sporadic translations, even with the audio tour. I was disappointed, but oh well. After that had a little more time to chill and explore Paris, sipped my Irish Coffee at an outside table with some great people watching, then headed out to catch my train.



So that ended up being the longest post ever, so I'll leave it at that. Later, kids!