So this weekend was the Journees du Patrimoine, or in English, Heritage Days. It's the one weekend a year that places not normally open to the public are, and when museums that normally charge a fee, don't. (Though I hear there were a few exceptions.)
Yesterday
I've come to realize that while it's nice to have a market just outside almost everyday, the marketmen are very noisy when they begin setting up. Usually, their noise doesn't wake me until around 8am, but yesterday, for some irritating reason that was beyond me, they were hollering about like hyenas as they arrived--at 6:30 in the morning. Well, whatever, I was more or less able to sleep for another hour or so.
Later, I went to said market and bought a head of cabbage--there were so many people! Though it makes sense to be the busiest on a Saturday and Sunday. I brought my cabbage back to my apartment and made Sopa de Col. This time I was able to find roma tomatoes, and after boiling them, had an easier time mashing them (instead of using a blender which I still need to aquire). The soup didn't turn out exactly perfect, but close. I think it's because I hadn't bought any bacon, so I ended up using ham instead. But oh well, next time :)
I looked up some of the highlights for Heritage Days, and decided to check out Hotel de Ville. It's actually not a hotel, but Paris's City Hall. It is the seat of local democracy, and the city council meets there regularly, though it does sometimes welcome distinguished foreign visitors to it's ornate and prestigious reception rooms.
I got there around mid-day, and while there was a pretty long line, it moved along quickly and I was able to get in within half an hour. My goodness! How beautiful it was! I was in there for almost 2 hours, I believe. It was also interesting because I was expecting a lot of the visitors to be foreigners, but actually, a lot of them were French. I suppose that tourist season is now wrapping up.. But I will have to post most of the pictures in the entry after this because it'll be bit difficult to put so many in here when I'll already be writing a lot. I'll also put in some pictures from today's visit to Hotel Lauzun (also not really a hotel), which I'll write about in a bit. In the meantime, here's one angle of the Hotel de Ville from the outside:
By the time I got back home, it was about time for my dinner, which was lemon and pepper chicken, marinated, with olive oil, garlic, and onion. Eh, not as tasty as my ginger chicken from the other day, but still pretty good, especially with my sopa de col and green beans. I gave my stomach a while to digest, and then I went on my second run. Last time, I'd turned around just before the third bridge, but this time went over and stopped dead in my tracks (quite literally! haha) when I discovered that on the other side of the curved bridge was a good sized grass clearning. Green grass! Precious, healthy, grass....I vowed to sit and have lunch there sometime soon.
I went over the bridge and I found the end of the path (one end, at least). I also found a public gym, though it was more just a basketball court and rockwall from what I could see through the windows. Still something to keep in mind. And then I even saw a Tex-Mex restaurant across the street. The first Mexican place I've seen here! I will have to check it out, especially if it means they have beans and tortillas, mmm...
When I got back from my run, I went on Craigslist and posted a babysitting ad. I've actually gotten quite a few replies, but now I regret my lack of forsight because I'm not sure I can say yes to any of them due to the fact that they have specific times they want me to pick up their kids from school and I don't even know my own schedule yet. I could end up having class til 5:30 or later; I hear it's fairly common. So I will have to figure out how to let kindly let them all know about this, but at the very least it's comforting to know that finding a nannying job won't be terribly difficult. I'll need the extra money to help offset the cost of groceries, a phone, and rent etc.. The less debt I'm in, the better.
Today
I knew there was going to be a line for the other place I wanted to visit, Hotel de Lauzun, so I made it a point to arrive there early. Woke up at 8, had a bowl of my soup, and was on my way. It was nice being out and about so early, but even though the sun was already partially out, I could now feel the autumn chill slowly creeping in on us. Even here in my place, it's definitely a little cooler than it was when I moved in just a few days ago. I thought back to my last visit here in Paris, remembering how I was bundled up like a puff pastry from so many layers, and decided that I don't want it to be like that again this year. All of the Parisians keep warm stylishly and without looking like marshmellows, and I am determined to blend in as well. If it means having to save up and splurge on a good coat or two, so be it. It's better to spend a bit of money on a coat that will last me a while, than keep buying ones that will only last me a few months.
Anyways, I arrived at Hotel de Lauzun at 9:30, at it's opening time, and there was already a hefty line. It wasn't as long as the one from yesterday at the Hotel de Ville, and it moved a good chunk in the first 10 minutes, but I ended up having to wait for more than an hour, over twice as long as I waited yesterday.
Well, I finally made it in, and while the place was impressive, the entire tour only took about 2o minutes, so not sure if it was really worth the wait. But still, I got to see it. Again, more pictures in my next post, but here's one for now:
On my way back home, I passed the Velib station that I always do. I don't think I've explained what these are, so allow me to do so right now. Velibs are actually the name for the city bikes that Paris has that you can rent for certain periods of time. You see Velib stations quite a bit, and even more people riding them the bikes. I've wanted to rent one for a few days now, but was intimidated when I saw Parisians wind in and out of fast traffic. I figured though that as long as I took non-busy streets, I could take one for a ride. And because you can rent one for just a day for under 2 euros, I figured I would try it. Unfortunarely, when I went to the station to get one, I was informed that in addition to the rental fee, there is also a 150 euro deposit that is withdrawn from your bank account (you have to pay with a card) in case the bike isn't returned. As I currenly don't have that much in my account, it was a no-go. But sometime soon! In the meantime, here's a picture of a typical Velib station. Sturdy-looking bikes, aren't they?
Well, this has gotten quite long, so I better start wrapping up. Good news: I finally have my ISA orientation tomorrow at my school, bright and early at 9am. I'll finally get to meet the other students from the US who I'll be spending the fall with, a few even the entire year. The semi-bad news: I developed a stomach ache shortly after beginning this entry. I was a little worried that it would be a problem for tomorrow, but my suspicions told me it was from too much acid (I've been drinking all of my water with lemon as it masks the weird taste here, AND I had two cups of black coffee a few hours ago) so I had a few spoonsfuls of creme fraiche (as I currently don't have regular yogurt or milk). I'm feeling a bit better, so I think I'll be ok once I head to bed. Anywho! That's all for today, I'll you guys know how tomorrow goes :)
Bon nuit! (Good night!)
Rachael
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