Rachel's in Germany!: EPIC NIGHT + Paris part 2

I'll tell more about Paris in a minute, but first I just have six little words to describe tonight:

John Fogerty. Live. In the Stadtpark.

SO EPIC.

Marni, Petra, and I went. We didn't have tickets of course, since they cost around 60 euros apiece. Instead, we just joined the crowds camped out on the grass strip outside the music venue and listened to the songs. Even though we couldn't see inside, the sound was plenty clear. Almost all the Creedence classics were played. No "Susie Q," unfortunately, but all the others: "Green River," "Fortunate Son," "Born on the Bayou," "Down on the Corner," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", "Travelin' Band," and (one of my faves) "Up Around the Bend." We danced almost the whole time. Pretty much everybody walking past stared at us. Near the very end, we moved closer to the entrance of the venue where there were more people, and we were there for "Bad Moon Rising" and "Proud Mary." People of all ages were dancing--elementary school kids jumping up and down with their parents, elderly couples bouncing all over the place, old men doing the jig. (And no, I'm not exaggerating.) It was ABSOLUTELY EPIC.

I think Marni and Petra (especially Petra) had even more fun than I did. Petra is so wound up right now. She probably won't be able to sleep for hours. Actually, I probably won't either. There's something so great about evening picnics in the park with warm weather and live music. Especially when the music is something as classic as John Fogerty performing all the old Creedence songs.

Today was less exciting than tonight. Did homework and went to school. Petra just got back from a trip to Vienna and Prague this morning. She was sooooo glad that she was back in time to hear the concert tonight!

Anyway, more about PARIS!!!!

Day 2: May 23, 2014

Breakfast in the hostel. Every day the breakfast was the same, super simple: applesauce, fruit cocktail, orange juice, coffee, and plain white baguette-style rolls with butter, jam, and soft cheese. I established a routine of fruit cocktail, a little applesauce, and two rolls sliced in half and spread with cheese, butter, jam, or butter and jam together. This was my breakfast every morning, and I thought it was delicious, even if it was basic. (I discovered, by the way, that butter and jam together on a roll is REALLY good. I honestly looked forward to eating it every day when I woke up.)

Part two of my morning routine was to run down the street to Marché Franprix, the market down on the corner. (It's a chain of mini-supermarkets--you see them all over Paris and they usually have a lot of products packed into a small space.) I would buy a baguette or a pre-packaged bag of pains au lait (soft rolls made with milk--they taste like King's Hawaiian rolls) and some kind of fruit or veggies. The peaches and nectarines there were really good. Amazing how much fresher they are when they're only being imported from a short distance away (these were grown in Spain). I would then zoom back to the hostel to wash my produce and fill my water bottle up, and then head off for the day.

On my first morning there, I decided to do the Musée d'Orsay. I took the Metro to St-Germain-des-Prés (on the south side of the Seine) and walked the few blocks to the museum. Lots of the streets in this area have an older feel because they are narrower and smaller. It was a sunny morning and I loved the walk.

The Musée d'Orsay was great! I liked it a lot better than the Louvre--much smaller and more manageable, and definitely fewer crowds (though as the day goes on it can get fairly busy). I was able to get through basically the whole thing in about four hours. It is built in a remodeled train station on the south bank of the Seine. The thing it is best known for is its Impressionist collection, but they also have a lot of Romanticism, Realism, and Post-Impressionism, as well as some Art Nouveau and a beautiful sculpture collection. I couldn't believe the realism and drama of some of the sculptures, especially the marble ones. Most of them I had never heard of before, but they were absolutely stunning. I especially couldn't believe the ones depicting John the Baptist as a child--they were so lifelike that it seemed like they might suddenly start breathing and moving! Visitors unfortunately weren't allowed to take photos, and the guards monitor this quite seriously, so I couldn't get any good pictures of all the beautiful pieces I saw. I did take pictures of some of the plaques so I could look the works up later. Found a couple of gorgeous paintings and drawings that I had never seen before either, and also some super powerful ones, especially in the Realist galleries. The Impressionist gallery was packed, and I did it last so I was starving by then (it didn't help that all the Impressionists put food in their paintings! Picnic lunches, people in cafés . . . it started to feel like torture near the end!). But it was so cool to see so many of these beautiful works by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Manet, and all the others, just hanging one after the other on the walls. I was especially excited to see Dance in the City and Dance in the Country by Renoir and Luncheon on the Grass and The Balcony by Manet.

The architecture of Orsay is spectacular in itself. Part of the whole charm of it is the old train station elements. It has been modernized and renovated, of course, but there is still a beautiful coffered ceiling with a flower motif similar to the one in the Arc de Triomphe, and a GORGEOUS clock at one end of the main hall. I've been obsessed with train stations and clocks ever since I saw the Hugo film and read the original book by Brian Selznick (the story is about an orphan boy who lives in the Gare Montparnasse train station in the 1930s and fixes the clocks there, and who ends up meeting Georges Méliès, French pioneer of early filmmaking). The clock in Orsay is actually one of the ones that Brian Selznick used as visual reference for his drawings in the book. So of course I was absolutely in love with the architecture and the clock, and I took a bunch of pictures of both of them when the security guards weren't looking. I also went down the hallway behind the clock (it had some random little display that wasn't very exciting) and peeked out through the girders at everyone below. It was like being in Hugo's world in the story. Super cool. There are also two clocks on the side of the building that have windows looking out over the Seine. One of them is in the smaller restaurant (the museum has a take-away café and two top-floor restaurants) and the other one is at the far end of the Impressionist gallery. It was super neat to look out through the clock face to the river below. Felt just a bit like the scenes where Hugo is in the clock tower looking out over Paris . . .

When I finally finished with the museum, I ate my baguette and carrots sitting on the quay outside, with my feet dangling over the edge, and watched the boats going up and down the Seine. So many sightseeing and tourist boats--it was unbelievable. There are also floating-restaurant boats where people can eat a nice meal while having a cruise, but tourist boats are the most common. If only all the folks on board knew how silly they look when they yell and wave at random strangers on shore . . .

Next I walked to Notre Dame. Free admission, but boy, are there a lot of people! The nice thing is that you can move through at your own pace, though. I just kind of pulled off to the side and let the crowds flow past me while I was looking at everything. I was in there at least an hour. It really is a spectacular and beautiful church. The bell towers outside are tall, but even so, you don't realize how massive the building is until you actually go in. It has not only the side aisles, but second-story galleries above the side aisles and then another level of windows above those (three stories total). There are three huge rose windows--one between the two bell towers and one on each side of the transept--and the nave is really long. I just stood and gawked at all of it for a long time, and took lots of pictures. (Definitely cooler than the Eiffel Tower, in my opinion.) They had the Vespers service in the center in front of the altar while I was there, and visitors to the cathedral were allowed to go in as long as they were going for the service and not to take photos. So I went in! It was cool--I got a handout paper so I could read along, and I got to sing these beautiful Gregorian-chant-style Psalms in French along with the rest of the attendees. Not sure how well I did at following along, but it was a great experience. If I'm going to do a Vespers service anywhere, it ought to be at Notre Dame, right?

The church closed at 6:45 and everyone was funneled out the side door, including me. I went around the back side, drew the side view, and then set off to find dinner. Wandered across the bridge into St. Michel and within about five minutes, I had found an Asian-food place with pretty good prices. Thought about getting the sushi rolls, but ended up choosing some kind of chicken and mushroom in savory sauce and a spring roll. It was yummy and only cost about 5 euros. By the way, I found out that it's possible to eat cheap even in Paris. There are so many different food options--from crêpes that only cost 2 or 3 euros all the way up to super-fancy restaurant seafood dishes that cost upwards of 60 euros a plate. It all depends on what you want to pay. Most of the days in Paris, I was able to get lunch and dinner for about 7 euros total. Honestly, I could have my own TV show on how to eat on a budget while traveling in Europe--just call it "7 Euros a Day with Rachel A." (That's my middle initial, for anyone who was wondering.)

Anyway, the food was good and after that I walked through St. Michel and along the Boulevard St-Germain to the St-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood again. I loved that area! It definitely had the classic Parisian vibe I had imagined from photos--cafés and restaurants everywhere, and little narrow cobbled streets that were like a maze. I found a confectionary shop and bought a vanilla macaron and a beurre salé (salted butter) caramel to try. Boulevard St-Germain had lots of cafés too, and I found a really cool spot to sit and draw the buildings with their cool balconies. It started to rain and my page was getting wet, so I sat on the steps of Louis Vuitton where there was an overhang and drew there. (Probably would have been accused of bringing down the quality of the place if it had been open, but thankfully the hour was late enough that it was closed.) Ate my caramel sitting there while I drew, and wow, it was probably the best caramel I've ever had. I realized at some point that it was after 10:30 and I should go back to my hostel, so I (reluctantly) found the Metro and headed back to République. Ate my macaron once I got back to the room, and DOUBLE WOW. I'd never had macarons before then, and I couldn't believe how amazing the flavor and texture were. A little piece of food heaven!

More tomorrow. Here are some photos from Day 2 . . .

Main hall of Musée d'Orsay

The hallway behind the big clock

The clock . . . so ornate!!!

Looking across the Seine to the Louvre from the big clock on the side of the building

Super cool!

Lunch on the quay

The Pont des Arts (one of the bridges between the Louvre and Notre Dame) is literally covered with locks! I haven't seen any "romance" bridges in Europe to rival this one.