Wait, they said Metin's room wasn't going to be heated....
MY ROOM WAS COLD AS HELL!!!!
The heater in my room wasn't working and I was in full winter gear, wearing my snow coat, wool hat, jeans and socks, but it was so cold that I COULDN'T sleep!!!
And guess what, when I told the receptionist that the heater didn't work last night, she said," WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?"
So it's MY fault after all! Great!
The breakfast was AWESOME. Coffee/tea with plain baggett, with the option of butter or jam!
(When WonHo said his Korean hostel gave them rice and kimchi for breakfast, I almost wanted to kill myself)
So off we went on our adventure in the urban Parsian jungle.
This morning, we decided to tour the Louvre... LOUVRE!!!
Yes, it's the Louvre, the gigantic museum that is a must see! We heard that it's so big that it will take quite a few days to see everything. Well, that's not our intentions, but we still want to cover a much ground as possible.
First of all, I don't think anything I say will be able to describe the shear size of this museum. The main entrance is the glass pyramid which leads you into the basement. This makes it very easy to find the entrance, because it's right in the middle of the square, and against the surrounding classic architecture, this modern/international style glass and steel structure was an easy find.
After watching the Da Vinci's Code, I really want to see the inverted pyramid, so that was the first thing we did.
Another thing that I noticed was, the museum was packed with Japanese! This is the second time when I am in a major museum packed with Japanese visitors. The last was in Taipei's National Museum. It almost seems to me that if you want to find a Japanese, go the the museum! Wait.... this doesn't really sound like what I mean.... oh well, maybe it works the other way too.
So we started from the Greek art, then to the Egyptians, then to the early ones such as the Mesopotamians and the Islamic art. Metin, being from Turkey, became my convenient guide to these parts of the world that I am unfamiliar with. I used to read them in art history textbooks, but seeing them in person is magnificent. On top of that, with Metin's lively description, I felt that everything I've read in the textbooks suddenly all make sense now, and I was able to appreciate those early art much more. I think I learnt more in that 4 hours than my entire 4 years of undergrad art history classes. Thanks Metin! Next time, come to Taipei and I will do my best!
I find this very animated... Almost like a creature that you will find in Pokemon
A very very very very important piece of paper......
I think this is the Italian art section... I can't remember. Well, the Louvre is not something that can be captured with a camera lens, so video clips become more suitable.
Sculpture garden
Oh, and of course, the Mona Lisa
After seeing the great pieces from the Mesopotamians, the Mona Lisa seems a little underwhelming. Maybe it's the fence that prevented us from appreciating it in a closer distance, but if there wasn't the crowd around it, I would have not noticed it presence.
During the tour, Metin made an interesting but true point. I hope he's not going to get mad at me for putting this here. Basically, he said that the Louvre is big and magnificent, but it is also the representation that the French is the world's biggest thief, because they didn't get all this great collection of foreign art by trade! They have wars with other cultures and smuggle artifacts out of their place of origin. Therefore, another way to look at the significance of Louvre is, it's the biggest evidence of French's crimes on other cultures. I think the French are proud of it.
Oh, and we met WonHo 3 times in the museum, to a point where we felt that it's fate that wanted us to travel together, so that what we decided to do. Cheng Fei was with us too!
Next, we went for the boat tour. Well, I am not going to post any photo or video because the weather wasn't ideal and I think I've covered most of the sites already. It was more like nap time for me, which I used efficiently.
We got off the boat at the Effiel Tower. I have seen the tower at night, but this was the first time for Metin, Wonho and Cheng Fei, so while they were all excited with the blinking lights, I was taking shelter from the cold breeze in the telephone booth.... meh.
FRENCH PUPPY!!!
During my tour de Paris, I noticed that small dogs like Jack Russel Terrier and Bigels are very popular. While we were making our way to dinner, this little guy popped out of nowhere to intercept us.... We certainly gave in to him.
It seemed that he knew we were hungry, but hey, even though I'm a Chinese, I don't really eat everything! So he unwillingly returned to his owner, who's a Chinese too. Maybe that's why he wanted to come with us instead....
For the last supper in Paris, we decided to go to this little Chinese buffet style cafeteria, because I simply want to eat something that I am familiar with! It was nice, the girl was nice and friendly. Even though English was the language between us(Turkish, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong where the girl is from), we felt like we hav been on the same boat for a long time. This was also the first time that I had a comforting meal in Paris. I think everyone was satisfied.
After the meal, my stomach started acting.... from lunch I think. We had to head for Laura's place, but I decided that I needed to unload myself first, so I went back to the hostel and.... wait, I really don't need to include this...
Anyways, we headed to Laura's place, met her friends, had our cute little strawberry pie which Metin, who bought it thought it was cherry, then headed for the Monterey where her friends will be performing at a small bar. We got there, but the bar was too smokey for my liking. Soon after, a few of us decided to leave... sorry Laura.
The Last Straw?
So far, my experience in Paris has been hampered with my encounters with Parisians. A few words come to my mind. Rude, disrespectful, inpatient... I don't think this has to do with the fact that I am a tourist, foreigner, or a non-French speaking person. I think this has to do with how Parisians have chosen to deal with the diverse Paris population of immigrants and tourists. I can understand their frustrations, but look at New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Washington DC. They understand that cultural diversity and tourism is already in integral part of their lives and they have learnt to live with it. Paris, being such a beautiful city, should cultivate beautiful people with beautiful personalities. That's the experience I was hoping for.
On my way back to the hostel, I took the metro. The metro station has platforms on two sides with the track in the middle, so you see the passengers who are going to the opposite direction across the track.
So I sat on one end of the platform, and on the other end, same side, was an old man asking for money. Street beggars isn't an uncommon sight in Paris, and since I live in Detroit, I am not uncomfortable with this. However, something extremely disturbing happened.
A guy from across the track, on the other side of the platform grabbed a bunch of change(coins) and threw at the old man across the track.
The coins scattered and fell onto the track. The helpless old man then climbed down the platform, onto the track to pick up those coins, while everyone watched.
One lady yelled at the old man in French, perhaps to tell him to get back up, but no one did anything. The old man then tried to climb up. He had difficulty, but no one did anything either. His second attempt helped himself up the platform, then....
That same guy threw another bunch of coins at the old man again.
The same thing happened. The coins fell onto the tracks, and the old man climbed down to pick it up.
I don't know what that guy was thinking. I don't see any entertainment value in this. If he really wants to hand the coins to the old man, he would have either threw it coin by coin, or make his way to the other side of the platform. Plus, by judging the way he tossed the coins, he was aiming at the old man like he's a target. It was definitely not a "delivery".
Detroit is full of homeless beggars. I have countless encounters with homeless people asking me for money. Some are more proud than the others of what they do, but everyone treats each other with relative respect. After all, we are all just a part of this social fabric. We need each other, and we should respect each other.
I think this experience sealed it for me. I have no desire to go to Paris again unless I have a specific purpose to be there.
This night, the hostel did not give me the "extra privileged" blanket that they promised, claiming that they don't have any left. Well, they run a hostel, and they don't have an extra blanket? Fantastic!
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