Part 3
Please Note
This Journal Contains
Drinking and Swearing
Deep Thoughts and Emotions
Personal Opinions and Observations
Paris 7
Tour Eiffle
ET
Kook is writing a book
where her heroine is trapped in the Eiffel T. It's a psychological
thriller. A big thing for her in coming to Paris was to spend some
research time at the tower. We went that one evening, but being
waylayed by promiscuous Greeks arrested the procedure. So today we
are to go back and we were to go to the top. I am doing this for Kook
as I enjoyed the night vision but once is enough for me in general as
there are just too many tourists to keep me excited. The morning is
overcast and as we get into the pretty long line it starts raining.
Kook is pissed about the line. We decide to do the stairs. It's easy
as pie even though there are 700. This goes to the 2nd floor then you
can go the rest of the way on the elevator where there is not
such a line. When we got our tix to walk up there were like 20 heavy
middle aged Russians in the stair line and one was there yelling and
swearing. One by one the hefty group is turning around and busting
back past all the younger and in shape people. Obviously they were
mislead and Boris the boss is not happy about it. When we go in we
have a double purse search. There are no signs and on the second one
I don't unzip my purse cause I assume there is an ex ray. Knowing
damn well I am not French the snotty worker dude in a suit starts
yelling at me in his language. I figure it out and unzip my purse. He
still yells at me as I walk away. Jeez Dude I say, sorry I wrecked
your day. I am super pissed to be treated like this. Fuck face French
labor worker.
It's now raining like a bitch and windy. This has been a heyday for
the hawker dudes selling umbrellas and ponchos. There are peeps all
over wearing and using them. I don't want to go to the top in pouring
rain with no view and it's cold. I tell Kook I'll meet her at home.
But she says lets just eat at the restaurant here. It has nice
atmosphere and the lunch prices were only a tad bit higher than a
normal cafe. The staff is very nice and we get an OK table. We
splurge on the big beers. This is Kooks last meal to pay for. All
they have is Heineken but that's ok. The food is ok, no better or
worse than anywhere. Ironically, they serve it in like, airplane
style containers which really reduces the opinion and feeling of your
meal. The place looks like a metropolitan club and your food comes in
a glass dish with a Tupperware top. How stupid of them. The waiter is
nice and speaks almost flawless English. He was educated at an
international school in Belgium. I have met other Euro workers
educated at international schools and they have all been really class
acts. Kook decides she will go up another morning. This gets me out
of it. As we walk down the stairs in the rain I start to make up a
little song. "Eiffel Tower in the rain, Au bon pain, Au bon
pain. Kook wants to come back and do it again. Totally insane,
totally insane." This is a master work. Perhaps I can sell the
rights to the Rodin museum and they can have it inscribed on a
wall to make up for my pilfering of the garden sign.
We come home and I need
some down time. It rains all day. Kook goes around the corner to sit
at a cafe and write. She is approached by some local crone who seems
to think she is the Parisian fashion expert. She tells Kook that
wearing purple is the sign of prostitution. Kook is wearing purple.
Then she tells her some malarkey that sounds like she got stuck
about 10 years ago, in what is cool on the fashion scene. She says “
I was born in Paris and I will die in Paris!” When Kook comes in
the door she says; "I've just been mistaken for a French
whore".
We take long naps and I
make some fresh pasta with ham. The ham inside looks like spam and I
am a bit grossed out. There is no hot water and I am having an
anxiety attack that what if something is wrong and I'll have to make
a phone call. We can't find a hot water heater in the apt. Maybe it's
shared and the neighbors used it up. We watch Date Night with Steve
Corelle and are winding it down. Kook says she'll go to Sacre Coure
and Montmartre if it's nice tomorrow. Yeah! I am excited about this
place and am putting on my scamming armor.
View from the ET landing
Reflections
The Big Beers (9 Bucks!!)
From the Flat
Paris 8
Fat Bottom Girls
Out of Time
So there are these auto-street terlets
in Paris. Like an out house only elite. You will find one---a very
painful ONE--here and there at a bustling area. There is never much
of a line. There is a very good reason. The whole thing is automated;
and retarded. If you make one wrong move it won't let you in , or
out. I thought I was trapped at the Eiffel tower. For real, in the
terlet, not in Kooks book. People stand around perplexed at the thing
and friendly Parisians stop to help and explain. But you are not
seeing them use these things. It lets you go, then runs a hand
washing system, then a dryer, then maybe lets you out, without
flushing, then washes the floor. If you make a wrong move it shuts
you out or runs through the whole system while you are peeing your
pants outside. Kook wanted to use it today. We tried to go in
together, oh nono, you can't do that. Then I hear her trying to get
out, then I go and force the handle to open it. It is the soup natzi
of terlets. I am not using it again. I will pee in the street in the
Marais like the dude we saw this afternoon. Yep, the Marais is like
Broadway in Manhattan. A very prestigious, fancy, perfect area of
Paris. And the street dude was just holding out his sweater and
standing on the side of the street and peeing while all the fancy
Parisians walked past. Ahhh Paris, the city of Pee.
It was pretty nice though a bit breezy today. We head out to
Montmartre and Sacre Coure. This is the "top" of Paris on
the north side and is a very up the hill area to the top where you
see the very Turkish looking Mosque. I think it's beautiful and all
my pictures are crooked. Gosh Dangit! I lost my basic straightening
program when the microsoft editing software went obsolete and now I
cannot straighten my buildings and I am cursed, and my friend Itzick
on flickr will never let it by, so I can't post half my pictures. I
am going to have to put that ridiculous grid thing up on my
viewfinder or I am doomed. I hope it has one! Anyway this is known
as a scammy trappy area but it was not too bad today. I had to blow
off 3 bracelet scamming dudes but they did not bug me and Place du Terte, with
it's artists and toury shops was kinda cute. Another rude-ass
Parisian worker slammed my camera into my face and said "photo
outside" in the Sacre Coure; as mass was starting. Everyone had
a cam but I was unfortunate enough to be by him when they started
blabbing and crooning the mass. I hate the tourist parts of Paris
due to the crowds and horrible workers but you have to see them. I
am not going back to the Eiffel. I pretty much hate it except for
the night view. Kook is going alone tomorrow and I will wander
through St. Germaine or go to some Gardens where I can have peace
and enjoy Paris. I am totally in love with Paris now and I am so
glad I came. There are a million things to see and do and I have
just scratched the surface. I love the vibe and the variety and the
metro and the streets and the fashion of the true Parisians.
So back to Montmartre. This was my
next fav part of Paris. It's like gritty street Paris right next to
beautiful hilly old school Paris and the two mix with just the right
symmetry. (spell checker please--I tried to make it work but
couldn't find it) I mean there is alot of graffiti and cobblestone
streets and big old buildings all in a row and fun market streets
with all kinds of little fooderies and cafes and boutiques and it's
all got a feel of run down old romantic Paris and they are doing
alot of fixing up here and there and this is where the red-light
district called Pigalle is, and the old real Moulin Rogue. It's a bit
dirty but it still has that feel of history trying to hold on in all
it's ugliness and character. I have been walking a fuck-ton of
stairs all week but my legs didn't hurt until today after walking up
and down in this steep area. Our lunch was mag. As we scoped
out cafe's I see this place with giant salad bowls that everyone is
getting and they have fried potatoes that look like chips on top of
the salads and I smell garlic. This is the place for me. So we go
back later and it is so good. My salad has the usual ham and I get
roquefort cheese and olive and the fried taters are amazing. Also we
get the big beers again. When I say this I mean like 18 oz. and it
costs about 9 bucks US dollars but this place had it a bit cheaper
to ad to the goodness. Beautiful place and great food. My picture
sucks. ;(
Then we go to the Erotica museum. I
have no interest in this and it is expensive for a small museum but
I go for Kook and am very glad! I have loved every museum. This had
6 little floors with everything from ancient stone penis's to modern artist displays
and it was very cool. The music was jazzy and fun and there were no
crowds. The art was great and I just ignored that it was weird. The
main featured artist did modern comic book like pencil drawings,
very detailed; all in black and white. It was amazing art of the
most bizarre thing. It was a naked lady with a sort of French Betty
Boop look (but realistic) and she had big boobs and the HUGEST ass
ever. The ass was the star of the drawings. Now this is gross but
bare with me. The other character was like a little Greek slave man
about one forth of her size and in every single picture he was
chained under her with his face buried in her crotch. She was doing
a million different things like, working at an office, drinking at a
bar, bathing at the beach, or whatever, and naked with the slave guy
smothered by her giant female parts. It was so weird and
fascinating. There was a beautiful book of the art with a bit of
color and I know it sounds gross but I may have to go back and get
it. It is the strangest and wildest thing I have seen and would be a
good memory of Paris. I just don't see it on the coffee table
though. Anyway they had posters for sale from past artists and I got
a cool one I will probably frame.
Back we go on the Metro thorough
Stalingrad. There are more than a few German names on the transport
system which must have come from when they occupied Paris during the
war. They beat the crap out of Paris and I am really surprised that
the German names were not changed. Either way, an interesting bit of
history as there is also a Franklin D. Roosevelt station! We hang out
and nap and then I need a desert so off we go to the Monoprix. It's
super crowded as it's after work time and unlike America everyone
buys just one or 2 days of food at once. I get some regular bread so
I can make Croque Monsieurs which is grilled cheese. Mine is not as
good as the one I got at the cafe. I also get puddings with cream and
a lemon tart. Then I get an apple to look good. Then both Steve's
skype us at the same time. We can't do a conference as we do not have
that download on out computer. We call Sadak back and Lake (my son) comes on and looks pissed
but he is just sick. He got in his car and drove home so Steve will
have to call and excuse him. He has no problem with this. This is why
I love him. Also now that we know the apt. has a loft and a couch he
is going to check if he can get an earlier ticket cause he actually
had 2 days off before he comes but I thought there would be no room.
It will probably cost too much but it's worth checking. I am so full
as I ate more paella also and have had a bunch of wine but I'm not
buzzed 'cause I ate so much. I wonder if I will dream about giant ass
slave boy oral sex? Sorry but that was weirdly obsessive. Don't worry
though, it did not turn us on and cause us to have lesbian sex.
Sacre Coure
Place Du Tertre
This is it
In Montmartre
Featured Artist
Moi
Coolness
Paris 9
Finding Falafal King
Today Kook took off early to go to the
ET again. She HAD to get to the top. I don't give a shit and never
want to go there again. She ended up climbing the steps again as the
line was even longer in the morning! Yuck. I was gonna shop or go to
a museum but I took my time enjoying the apartment and jamming on my
i-pod and being able to pee whenever I wanted. I kid you not I went
6 times before noon. I need a bladder replacement. Kook got back and
we walked around and went to lunch at the Falafal place. Really nice
people and great platters of food and a good ethnic beer. But we
should have split a platter. The schwarma and falafal were fantastic
but alot of other stuff came and we left half. How dumb of us. Then
we got lost in the Marais for awhile but I liked it because it is
like winding through a different world of people and shops and
buildings and cobblestones molded with time and class and culture.
It has been looking like rain all day but hasn't, so we decide to
head to Luxembourg gardens, one of the last things on the check
list! It's quite deserted which I love, and there are pear orchards
and men playing bocce ball and a big group of bee keepers in their
bee keeping outfits which confused us for a moment. This palace and
its gardens were commissioned by Marie de Medici who was the widow of
Henry IV. She was Italian so the fabulous Fontaine Medici and the
palace, which now houses the French senate, are built in that style.
The Medici fountain is currently my single most favorite eye candy
in Paris. Gorgeous statues surrounded by an arch type backing sprout
small fountains and steps into a lovely small canal. Surrounded by
greenery and shaded pathways we took some great pics and admired the
peace on a not too busy day. It smells fabulous to walk through the
gardens still with perfect late summer blooms.
We head home and I want to pick up a
sammy for later as I'm sick of meat and cheese. Walking out of the
Bastille is my ideal item waiting in a tiny little case with a
friendly clerk who is super happy to speak English even when I am
trying to speak French. We are deciding what to do for the last day.
Now that Kook has "been to the top" so to speak she is happy
as a clam. I have not wandered St. Germaine yet and speak my desires.
She is in. Yee haw! Then we will go back to the book sellers on the
Seine and get what we passed up the other day. It is supposed to rain
on and off for my days alone. I have loved the museums so I can
always do that if it's wet. Otherwise Paris has many more secrets and
lots of shopping for me to partake in. I know just how to get to the
H&M........Kook has got the Hobbit on again. We lost TV ability
on the first day so I hope my computer will stream me some Trailer
Park Boys in France. If it did on the Greek Islands, I think I got a
pretty good chance.
Falafal King
Falafal Queen
Mona in the Marais
Luxenbourg Gardens
Fontaine de Medici
Garden Kooks
