The joys of sharing a hostel...

My ability to make friends was just to funny to not recount in this instance. Please note no harm is intended toward this person, she was odd indeed, but most people are and Ive always liked the odd ones better.

Let me mention our hostel room mate, who's name now escapes me. All i remember is that she was Romanian and she was crazy. She also seemed to have a funny love hate relationship with me.

If not previously mentioned our hostel in Paris was a hole... a large elevator-less, oven baking hot hole. As you can imagine this girl arrives with a flourish in our room after carrying her ridiculously heavy suitcase up 5 flights of stairs on a 40degree day. And so, the party began.

She was obviously about to drop dead of dehydration so the poor thing asked for some water, i gave her a spare full bottle I had. No thanks needed. Once her thirst was quenched however, she vehemently thanked me again and again demanding the right to buy me another 40 cent bottle if i would allow it. I politely said it wasn't necessary and she seemed to take offence and began demanding to buy me a new one. I relented and said she may do as she pleased- which shushed her finally. She never actually bought me anything in the end, i think she just wanted me to give permission for her to do so... if she ever felt like it...

Let me regale you with other funny things about my Romanian friend :)

Being so very distressed she asked if we could not speak to her and let her gain a few moments of composure as it was hard to switch from Romanian to french to English etc. etc. We all said she could take as long as she would need to herself. And we continued doing our own things, it got to the point however where she was very intensely staring at me and i started to feel awkward, like i should perhaps be including her in the conversation, i didn't at first. Only because i was mindful of her request to be left alone. It got to the point of ridiculous however, she was clearly following the conversation, staring at me like a bear sizing up a salmon leaping out of the stream, wanting to be included!!! or so i thought. I then asked her some nice pleasantries like name, reason for travelling, how was her flight blah blah blah. And she was quiet some time and then impossible as it was- her stare intensified and she said- "I'm sorry but did i not ask you to not talk to me for a while?!"....
I was so shocked! So shocked i had to hold in the laughter at the hilarity of it all, so i ''coughed'' apologised and began talking to Joanna once again. Im laughing right now remembering it haha. I'm sure Joanna and I have never had our mouths drop open so fast before hahah.
She later joined in the conversation- rudely interrupting with an opinion that made me grimace in an attempt at keeping at straight face. haha.

NEXT...

She was very interested to know what time the sun set in Paris and what times stores closed. She would not accept an answer from any of the other 9 people in the room and so i was left to answer. Using all my powers of logic i deduced that Paris- being at least within the same time zone as Amsterdam or one hour in front of said time zone- would see the sun would disappear completely between 9.30 and 11pm on a clear summers day. I was then argued with about the sun not possibly d such a thing 'as in Romania the sun always sets at 7.30 pm. therefore the sun will set this evening at 8pm sharp'! It was already 7.30pm in the evening and the sun was not even casting shadows. I was kind enough not to point this out and diffused the situation by talking to someone else.

I was then argued with about the closing hours of stores; having been in the store around 6.45 and noticing the staff pulling in the articles from the street and cashing up the tills i began to suspect it was close to closing time, the final clincher however was that i was asked to leave soon after arriving in the store- and not nicely may i add. I'm not one to complain about the french i think they are all hilariously sexy but in this instance the cliche was proven.
Having forgotten about her second question (after our first debacle) Miss Romania quickly reminded me of her need to pick up a new blouse or some shizz. I mentioned stores close around 7pm and quickly turned back to the other conversation at hand... now imagine the immense patience i had to summon- especially after my shopping experience- when i heard the words 'But Emily, I'm sure you are mistaken, shops should still be open at this time off day!'
I really really wanted to be smart and reply 'what so close to the sun setting' and pull a shocked face but i didn't, i merely remarked i could be wrong and then- having perfected my escape already a few times before- returned back to the conversation at hand.

The next few encounters with her proved only slightly odd;
- a changing story about why she was travelling
-constantly adding another day onto her stay
-walking about naked in a room full of people
and so on and so forth...

Then comes something i will never forget. And i cannot remember my reaction to this situation. I think i may have laughed aloud or giggled, but i cannot be sure. All i remembering is the line WTF MATE running on loop through my head for half hour afterwards. Anywho i am getting ahead of myself!
So its late all the occupants of the room are lying about trying to catch the breeze from the open window and chatting amongst ourselves. Miss Romania is once again naked but surprisingly absent from the conversation. The conversation was situation around an American girls tale of presidents and such other American trivia when we began talking about Jackie Kennedy. Now i remember my dad telling me of the fabled 'Kennedy curse' and so i then brought up the poor ladies misfortunes and personal tragedies in the conversation and we each had something to add, after a lull in the talk i see Miss Romania sit up on her bed and state my name- i knew something good was coming- But i had no idea she would come out with the line "let me tell you something about those people, they are not even worth the breath you are wasting on them and they are all blah blah blah" basically to the tune of why we should not idolize the famous and how everyone really is worthless inside themselves. I wish i remember he exact words because it was such an off topic rant that it once again rendered us speech-less and killed the conversation.
You could feel the silent groan of everyone in the room and hear the eyes rolling in their sockets but Miss Romania was so sincere as to her knowledge of Miss Kennedy's terrible character that we all came to the conclusion that Miss Romania must have been a Soviet Spy and was no doubt recording our chatter for government purposes back in secret Headquarters. Such was the amount of crazy in her sentences!

What a funny thing she turned out to be! I mean it wasn't her poor English skills, She spoke it well and her French was good too. So she knew what she was saying or maybe she didn't. Perhaps she was just suffering heat stroke, or was an eccentric, or perhaps, just maybe. She really was a foreign spy, trapping us into politically explosive conversations and ideas.... Nahhh!
Haha, It amuses me to admit that we actually did think she was a spy and thats why her story and stay kept changing, what was only meant to be a long weekend turned into us waving her goodbye on our way out of Paris. Never have I met such an impressionable person!!!

Just another photo of me at the eiffel tower, so you dont get bored of all the writing :)

Paris Day One

Now I didnt chance to mention that we arrived in Paris at 5am in the morning- an hour before schedual and of course and hour before the Bus Deopt opens its gates. We were not however dumped on the streets to mingle with the rabble and babble of the city, we were simply locked in the bus and told to go back to sleep... impossible seeing i was finally in the Paris i had dreamed of for so long- albeit i was in a dingy underground tunnel on a smelly and cramped bus full of sleep dishevelled men. But that didnt matter at all! i was finally here! so i stupidly stayed awake until the gates opened and we were at last unleashed into the city...

Joanna and I had no plan. Only the idea that we should check into the hostel and go go go! So that was where we headed. The Blue Planet Hostel near the Gare de Lyon Metro station. Now being sensible ladies our bags werent to heavy or numerous and we only got lost a few times before we saw the fluorescent sign of respitely promise... or so we thought.
Turns out the first Parisian we were going to meat was going to do the old cliche justice- this french individual was seriously weird.
We arrived around 7am and asked to please check into our room- this rather be spectactled middle-aged man with a serious yet  flumoxed look, hastily told us to sit and wait for 10 minutes. Exasperatedly asking us if we knew what the time was or that it was early.
Too tired to wittly point out the clock above his head Joanna and I simply sat down... At which point our esteemed concierge proceeded to help 5 or 6 people who had formed a line behind us.
Dont be angered loved ones. We were not. We were however just a little peeved at being told (when the man finally deemed to help us rabble from off the street) that we could not check into our room until 3.30 pm. I distinctly remembered wondering where the pretty owner/ manager from the website was hiding and if she would spring out at any moment screaming. 'Just kidding we French are really quite agreeable!'. She did not spring out and save the day. But we were able to store our luggage in the luggage room....

Great thing about the luggage room. Its the only place with air conditioning in the building and also surveilance cameras. I did not notice these until i was in my underwear changing out of my comfy bus clothes and into a cool dress. I bravely waved, aware that should anyone have been standing within eyeshot of the front desk (where the survellance television was unneccessarily large) they would have gotten to know a whole other side of Emily McLeod. I didnt care thought. it was too hot and sticky at this time in the morning to care.
I must however admit that once dressed and refreshed i walked head down very speedily out the door, lest anyone should recognise me hehe.

We headed off with no real plan other than to enjoy ourselves in the city of love! We crossed the siene and started along towards Notre Dame but not before i stumbled across a place i thought only existed in my dreams. A very popular train station with giant glass roofs that i'd once dreamt myself running across. We naturally stopped to take photos and for me to talk joannas ear off about how amazing deja vu is... i can be a bit like that occasionally :)

further along we came to a place called Jardin des Plantes; its a series of gardens, animal enclosures and greenhouses. It also houses a famous menagerie dating back to the turn of the 19th century. Such beautiful sections of posies and roses and pine trees and palms, it was a lovely place to be at 7.45 am on a monday morning; peacefull and filled with the occasional jogger in the 30 degree heat.

Such a beautiful view of the Jardin des Plantes and a artsy shot of the neighbouring greenhouse! there were even a few sickly looking wallabies in the menagerie!



We enjoyed walking in the shade of the trees and looking at the nature photographer of the year exhibit on display on the path leading back to the main road. It was around this time that joanna brilliant mind she is decided we shouldn't restrict ourselves to the road next to the Seine, instead we should be on it! And so we boarded the hop on hop off river cruise and made our way towards the centre of Paris.

 Arent the river houses just gorgeous! Joanna and I are just lapping up the scenery and cool air from the boat- im sitting because being in paris i wanted to wear cute shoes a size to small... and my feet were blistered at 9am in the morning... Vanity- thy name is Emily hehe

What a welcome change the cool air from the river made! It was a beautiful sunny day and the views from the river of the gourgeous town houses ,julliette blaconies, nauty french lingerie hanging out to dry  and old men fishing made for an atmospheric and somewhat cliche first impression upon us. Due to the route of the boat we switched plans and decided to disembark at the Lourve. We seemed to think that because of the heat (37degrees),the hour (10am) and the day (monday) that the line for the Lourve would not be as long as it's reputed for.... WRONG.
it was long, hot and sweaty, filled with americans and their chinese flags. So we skipped the line and decided to play in the fountains and photograph all the wonderful things we could see instead. Then it came time to push on once again, after all it was only getting hotter and we still had quite a few hours before we would be allowed to head upto our rooms at the hostel.

the glass pyramid looks very serene at this moment- thats because the line snakes around the other side, right back to the entrance! 

 Joanna and I excitedly posing for our first photo in the Lourve! This was before we had seen the que... we thought we would simply walk through the front doors, red carpet rolled out, trumpets and harps announcing our presence! hehe

We decided to jump back on the boat and head north. But not before we had crossed the wonderful padlock bridge, where lovers would come and lock a padlock onto the bridge, throwing the key into the water below and forever sealing the love in an unbreakable bond... cute huh. It was also somewhat amusing to see the spots where a jilted lover had decided to remove the symbolic bond with a pair of bolt cutters and a whole lot of hurt... Poor dears.

View across the bridge and the many padlocks adorning the rails

Back on the boat i began to feel the excitement building. Paris was unfolding before my eyes and it was so beautiful to behold. As we began to see the Eiffel Tower i started rapidly snapping pictures and smiling like a bit of a fool. The tour guides on the boat were fantastic, with lots of little tib bits about the areas as we floated on by. They even had the captain manouver about so we could capture some fantastic photos of the Pont- Alexandre-III (famous bridge) before disembarking for the Arc de Triomphe.

Now things started to head a little south at this part of the day, I'd hardly eaten or slept on the bus the night before and despite my best efforts at keeping myself hydrated i was beggining to feel faint. Thankfully joanna was feeling quite sympathetic and we began to slow our pace looking for a shaded tree to rest under for a moment. We were lucky enough to find the tree a few minutes walk away and with an unfenced fountain in the shade to boot. Thinking back i must have looked like a desert nomad finding an oasis in the sahara desert, because i threw myself into that water faster than anything ive ever done in my life. And then we stayed there. In the water, watching the French police blockade the road for some dignitary to drive through. Inviting other tourists to join us and generally enjoying our Parisian oasis.

Splashing about in the shade, trying to determine what to do next!

After our watery sojourn we walked towards the famous Arc de Triomphe, acting as true tourists do, by standing in the midst of a busy road to take the best angle photos, stopping for icecream and shooing away pesky kids with the nerve to set up fake charities for a few euro here and there.

 Arc de traffic light... haha

We managed a bit of window shopping along the Chasmps- Elysees  before we decided it was time to head back to the hostel an d lie down for a nap...
A quick metro ride and we were back at the hostel waiting for the man in charge to stop being a prig and let us upto our rooms. Funnily enough this typical Parisian boar of a man happened to be a blessing in disguise, for as we were waiting in the communal lobby we met two americans med students and a mexican teacher who quickly devised a plan for us all to head toward the Eiffel tower for an evening picnic and a show of lights.

We arrived at the Eiffel Tower metro station at sunset and hurried along the winding back roads taking photos of anything and everything before reaching the 'tragic lampost' herself. The size of this tower is simply awe inspiring. The view from the ground up inside the tower itself is a work of architectural art! And dont laugh at our stupidity, we quickly discovered why no one else was admiring with us when the first glob of spit landed on out party. Id like to think the people up the top were animal but when i think about it i wonder if i would be able to resist the temptation, up there so far away from the innocent victims down below... So many people were doing it you would be forgiven for thinking it was raining. Tourism at its finest haha.

Away from the rain of spit fire we set up camp on the grassy area behind the tower and broke out the spoils of camambert cheese and rose wine and gurkins... naturally brought along by me. I seem to crave the disgustingly delicious things more and more each day :)
It was so lovely to chat with our new found friends, the lovely mexican teacher was very inspiring with her goal to travel naitonally through america during her school spring break and internationally during the summer school break. It defintely made me consider the perks of being a teacher! And the two american guys were kind souls, doing a gap semester between med school and residency. I hope the stocks they were discussing buying survived the GFC.

Our ramshackle picnic, i naturally brought along the gurkins. Joanna was more mindful bringing rose, camembert and some chips and dips. Needless to say, I had the gurkins all to myself haha.

 Our party of five, a mismash or countries we have USA, Mexico, The Netherlands and AUSTRALIA :) we're sexier than a miss universe pagent i tell ya!

 Now during all this banter and revelry the sun had begun to set and being the country girl I am i had no idea what was instore for me once the day ended and the nightfall began. I have loved the idea of travelling to paris ever since i was a little girl and yet i never knew that every evening they light the Eiffel tower with millions of flashing lights and two giant spotlights at the apex of the structure. I was so giddy with happiness watching the lights flash. And i was one of the crowd who let out the audible gasp of delight when the show began. White and yellow lights flashed to a stacatto beat and then switched to a dazling slow pulse. I must have had the biggest smile on my face and for the first time in a long time i just felt so completely filled with happiness and peace. Ill never forget the feeling of being in the moment that i experienced that night in Paris :)