Day Forty-One

Monday, August 3rd 2009

Once again, we woke up early and started our day eating baguettes and hard boiled eggs. We took the train into the city, this time coming up right in front of the absolutely amazing Paris Opera House. In case you didn’t know, this was the setting for Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera and the inspiration for subsequent crap-tastic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical/movie. Though the internet said tours were only offered on Wednesdays, we lucked out since apparently they were offered every day during the summer holidays.

With an hour and a half to spare before our tour started, we walked along the really expensive jewelry shops and looked in the windows (there’s a name for this place…but I forgot it). Cartier, Rolex, Chanel, Dior, etc. etc., won’t even let you IN their shop if you look too poor, so we had to settle for window shopping. After that, we walked along the back of the Louvre and got crepes from a take away stand (they were delicious). By that time, it was time for our tour so we headed back to the opera house.

And it was RIDICULOUS how ornate and gorgeous the opera house was. We explored the grand staircase, the foyer that was used as a ballroom, the former restaurant, and even got to sit in the house. Gold paint and leaf was everywhere and it was clear that no expense was spared in making the theatre look as glamorous as it could possibly be. (P.S. Yes, the chandelier was amazing. No, it’s never fallen.)

For a change of pace, we went from the opera to the red light district. Walking along sex shops and x-rated movie theatres, we came upon the Chat Noir café…you know, that poster of a black cat that everyone in the world seems to have? Toulouse-Lectrec used to hang out there and it’s a pretty famous café. I had an espresso there, so I can now say that I’ve sat and drank at Le Chat Noir.

Just up the street from that was the ever-infamous Moulin Rouge…which is nothing like the movie for all you people who have based your thoughts about the place on that. Yes, there is a red windmill. Yes, it was a famous cabaret. But that’s about it. We continued up the hill to le Sacre Coeur, or Sacred Heart, basilica. Since it is on top of the only hill in Paris, it is the highest point in the city and a huge tourist destination. We went inside, but the interior was pretty much like every other cathedral. And we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Which was mean.

We walked by an art market on our way down the hill to the metro, and found the café from the movie Amelie (I’ve never seen it. Yes, I know I’m a bad person). We took the metro to Notre Dame…but it had closed ten minutes before we got there. I was a little sad I wouldn’t be able to go in it, but that’s more of a reason to come back, right? After that, we went to a really pretty church by a very modern-looking mall while we waited for Amine to come join us for dinner.

Though he speaks only a little English, we managed to communicate pretty well while we ate our couscous and various meats. After dinner, we all took the metro back to the Eiffel Tower, which by now was lit up in all its glory. If it is impressive in the day, the tower is nothing but awe-inspiring at night when it is all lit up. After taking lots of pictures, we went to get in line to go up. Amine had to go catch the last train to his brother’s, so it was just us girls once again.

Unfortunately, the very top of the tower was closed by the time we got there (probably due to overcrowding), so we had to settle for the second level. But another reason to come back, right? It was still really impressive and Abbie and I took a lot of pictures before calling our parents to brag. We had to leave fairly quickly after that to avoid missing the last train home. At our orientation, they mentioned we would end up running places but until now, none of that had happened.

But we were literally sprinting to metros that night. We made the first one with a few seconds to spare, but the second, in which we were running completely full-out to get to, Amanda pushed open the doors right as they were closing in what could only be described as a superwoman-esque move. But we made the last train and, exhausted, got back to her apartment about one in the morning. We had some disappointing news: A) we got the email about budget cuts in the theatre department and B) our train tickets we had bought online hadn’t got processed since the fare we selected apparently didn’t apply anymore. So after some stress and frantic research, we decided to wake up early in the morning and try and get a bus to Amsterdam rather than a train because it was about a quarter of the price. Now exhausted, we all fell asleep almost immediately.

Next stop: Amsterdam