The Octopus Breakfast, French Mosquitoes and The Constant Roommate

Paris is expensive. I'm embarassed to say I paid nine euros for a bottle of Guinness at a cafe outside the Louvre and heard the hundreds of Irishmen turning in their graves in disgust. After sharing a 13 euro croque madame and salde verte we decided to take back the extra euro we'd generously left as a tip when the waitress took away Morgan's pint glass with more than a mouthful of over priced Stella still left in it. That would be the only meal we ate out while in Paris. Instead we vied for a .50 cent baguette, a three euro wheel of cheese and a two euro bottle of Bordeaux and a trip to the corner pastisserie where we'd splurge and buy a grande tarte fraise. I'm sad to say we didn't eat a Parisian croissant, but filled up on Parisianne Korean food instead.

Trying to avoid the oodles of money that can be spent in Paris, we thought we had scored big when we found the Namdemun guesthouse. Past guests said it was your home-away-from-home, and it literally was. Every morning at 7:30 am we were woken by our Korean mother calling us for breakfast. We had the choice of a Korean option or French (baguette and jam). Curious to see what exactly a Korean breakfast entailed, we quickly decided we'd go French the next day when we saw the miniture kimchi octopus. For 23 euros a night we'd get breakfast and dinner (Korean only). We highly recommend Namdemun for it's atmosphere and more than kind staff, but the beds . Sitting on the outskirts of the city, and a bit tough to find, you'll know you've found it when you see the Korean flag hanging in the upstairs window. Have a pen handy as you can write a thank you message on the walls before you leave. I think the only thing we left on the walls were splattered mosquitoes.

I don't know too much about mosquitoes, and I only really associate them with summertime camping and warm, wet weather. It would then be extrememly odd to think that for the past month we have been bitten by mosquitoes more than we had back in Canada. Over breakfast one morning in our Parisian guesthouse, I shared the massive lumpy red bumps that had taken over my arms with the table. Constant, Briak (a local digital-art Frenchman who had been travelling in Australia and was now back home looking for work, and also someone who must one-up you on everything you say because he's been to Australia where he has seen otherwise therefore "c'est impossible") said it wasn't possible that it would be mosquitoes and it would most probably be spiders bitting me. His only reasoning being that it was not the time of year for mosquitoes and he'd seen spiders around the guesthouse. Thanks Braik, tell that to the two mosquitoes that now only exist as smears on the ceiling above my bunk in Antwerp, Belgium, and tell that to the mosquito I've seen buzzing around the Namdemun bathrooms. Thankfully Natalie, another French guest living at Namdemun while looking for employment, saved Briak from near stanglation by showing him the massive bite she wore on her eyelid. I could hear the hated buzzer marking an incorrect answer sound somewhere as Briak's ego finally fell and the mosquitoes were victorious.

Namdemun was a fantastic spot if you plan on staying a while in Paris. Unfortunately it does only have one washroom, which could have made for big problems had Morgan and I both gotten sick at the same time. Separated by two nights, Morgan and I battled what we first thought to be a bad patè, but was more likely some sort of alien flu, suggested Briak. I elegantly introduced myself to Namdemun by throwing-up in my bed (it was actually my make-shift, supermarket laundry bag that had a hole in the bottom that put it in my bed). The ladies were nice enough to clean out my bed. Morgan would be sick two days later, so I hate to say it, but Briak can have that round.

Merci/Kamsahamnida, Seung-hee and the ladies of Namdemun.

Ps: On the train to Spain we met a couple of Australian lads who were on a month Eurail pass. They had failed to write out the date on their pass when showing the train attendants their tickets and were fined 10 euros for the error.

The Limey

The Paris High Five

The Paris Catacombs are a maze of tunnels and crypts underneath the city streets where Parisians placed the bones of their dead for almost 30 years. In 1780, Paris's largest cemetary was closed for public-health reasons at the request of local residents. It turns out that people living near the Cimetiere des Saints-Innocents, located in the Les Halles district, were getting sick. Improper burial methods of decaying bodies led to water seepage and contamination of the water spreading disease. Thus, the catacombs of Paris were created at the end of the 18th century to serve as an ossuary. The quarries continued to be used as the collection point for the bones from Paris’ cemeteries through 1814 and now contain the bodies of roughly 6-7 million Parisians. Even before the last bones were moved in 1814 the underground crypt was a visitor attraction even being used as a mini-concert hall in the last 1800's.

In the north of downtown Paris sits on the hill of Montmarte, ( the name deriving from Mount of Martyrs or from Mount of Mars), 130 metres high. It is famous for being the highest point in the area and for the white-domed Sacre-Coeur Basilica at the top, a monument that stands in stark contrast next to the mostly Romanesque, French architecture. From the top of the Dome, there is a panoramic view in all directions extending over 30 kilometers.  Even with the extrememly polluted air of Paris, the building has been able to retain it's pristine white appearance since its construction because of the Chateau-Landon stones which were used for the construction of the Sacre-Coeur. The stones secrete calcite when it rains having a natural bleaching effect.

On the first Sunday of every month enterance into the Louvre is free. Seeing the scarily long line that looked as though it could easily take hours, we hesitantly joined the cue. In line we met a couple of ladies from New Jersey. We talked about our two year trip and one lady reminised about her Europe travel in 1971 that cost her merely $600 for one month of travel. She hitch-hiked herself everywhere; there was no Eurail pass back then. It was funny to found out that she too had lived off the same grocery list as us: bread, cheese, peanut butter and water. As for the Louvre itself, it was a place to see the famed Mona Lisa and to witness the largest collection of art in the world. The Mona Lisa was easily the saddest piece in the place and we were much more impressed by the collassel findings from the Palace of Darius in Iran. 

The famed Arc de Triomphe was erected by the Emperor Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate France's military prowess, the Arc de Triomphe crowns the west end of the prestigious Champs-Elysees at the star shaped juncture known at the Etoile where 12 avenues radiate from it. (In Greek mythology, the Champs Elysees are the places where heroes stay after death). We behaved ourselves and bought only one item on arguably the most expensive shopping strip in the world. It was a 6.50 euro Crepes-creamcone.

 

We visited the Eiffel Tower at night and took the cheaper route (four euros) or the most expensive staircase ever. Here's some interesting facts we found out about the tower:

• The Eiffel tower is 320 meters high and weighs 7000 tons. It has 1710 steps. The  first floor is at 57 meters and 360 steps from the ground, the second at 115 meters and 1060 steps from the ground. The third floor at 274 meters from the ground is only reachable by lift.
  
• The Eiffel Tower shrinks too when it gets cold. It shrinks six inches in fact.
• It took only one year and a month to build the Eiffel Tower. (Aprill 1888 - May 1889).
• Protecting the Effel Tower from rust takes 50 gallons of paint every seven years.
• The Eiffel tower was very nearly demolished in 1909. It was saved by its use as a telecommunication tower.
• The top of the tower can increase up to 18 centimetres due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. 
• The tower sways to six to seven centimetres due to wind. 
• One person died in the construction of the Eiffel Tower.
• It is dark brown.
• In 1925, a con artist sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap - twice.

Thank you to everyone who offered their helpful suggestions
 The Limey