Sunday, October 5, 2008

Paris: Day 1 Night 1


So im in Paris now, its a rainy day. The front tire on my bike is flat. Im in a hostel, pretty centraly located. Its exciting, kind of noisy, but everyone here is pretty nice. Iv got a room all to myself. So...woo pee.

Today on the train to Paris i finally got some down time to listen to music and relax and not have to think about much. But I will tell you the truth, it was hard. Its kind of a bitter sweet moment in those times. Yeah, i can relax and not have to worry about much, but its in those times when the home sickness comes in. Listening to music, most of it just reminds me of home. Luckily in preparing for this trip i downloaded and traded a lot of music for a bunch of new stuff...so its just that stuff i will have to stick to i guess.
------------------------------------------------------later in the evening-----------------------------------
Iv had some time here now. I went out for a pretty long walk tonight in the part of paris im in. Apperently im not that close to much, and i didnt find a bike shop yet so if i dont find one soon then my bike is stuck up against a fence in Paris and i have to get used to the metro. Two things i actually REALLY dont want to do. But i walked pretty far tonight, i wanted to get kinda lost but not really, considering the language barrier here and i dont really have anyone to call if im lost. I havent really been eating that well lately, well, not that bad but today i went the entire day without eating or drinking anything, i felt pretty bad at the end of my walk and pretty much every resteraunt i walked passed i looked in and just kinda wished. But first, i prolly cant eat it, second, i wouldnt know how to order, third, i cant afford it. So i went to this little market across the street from the hostel im at, I got two huge containers of Orange juice and Banana nectar, some dates, almonds, pistachios, and....pringles...yes, the originals are vegan!
The people here arent too shy, a few people would just come up and start talking to me, i dont know about what, but they would just start talking...then i would say "sorry, i dont speak french." then they just walk away. I know how to greet people and thank them...but i feel its that whole middle part that really counts.
The dorm im in filled up, but all the people are leaving in the morning, so i will have it to myself again when i wake up.

Look, im excited to see paris and to be here and all, but its hard, cause i dont speak french, nothing that really matters. I cant even say that i dont speak french...and to tell you the truth its a lil dirty. Yeah, its only been one day, one cloudy and rainy day, but iv seen some pretty odd things already. A ton of pizza shops, they just stack pizzas on top of each other, with nothing dividing them or anything, thats wierd. A lot of litter, i even saw a guy finish a beer in the middle of the street and just throw the glass bottle into the road. Its really kind of industrial. And then to top it off i saw a dude straight up just walk up to the road and just start peeing into it.

Im still hoping there will be someone from the hostel that wants a travel buddy for the day, basically, if im getting lost, im not doing it by myself!

On wensday, i catch a train early in the morning, around 2:00 in the morning for you people back in the states. About 8 o clock in the morning here, im going to Bern, Switzerland. Im actually really excited to see it, i looked at some pictures of it on google and i feel its going to be great. So, i have that to look forward to, as well as meeting up with morganne soon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Désolé, je ne parle pas français"

Day-so-lay, ja na parel pas fron-says

"Sorry, I don't speak french"

Maybe that will help thoughout the next few days?

I think even if you just say désolé/sorry then people will get it.

Also

"Je voudrais" and then point

je voo-dre (like dr. dre)

"I want/would like"

::shruggs::
good luck!

Lance P. said...

Thanks so much Chantel! I hope i can remember it when im under pressure, you know?!

Anonymous said...

Write it down! and just show it to them! Have fun pretending you're mute?!