Paris - Summer 2009 (Part 2)

Sunday I had planned originally to go out to church in Versailles as my
plan was to go to Versailles for the day. But in the end I woke up too
late to go there and too late to make it to any churches in Paris since I
had not factored in the train timing. Sunday was June 21 - the longest day
of the year - mid-summer's day - and in France the "fete de la
musique" (music holiday). I eventually made it into Paris and decided to
make it a relaxing day as it was the Lord's Day and I didn't want to spend
it doing crazy things (not sure what those things would be, but...). My
bright idea was to get a river cruise and just enjoy the time on the boat
and see the sights of Paris. There are several boats you can do, but in
the end I chose the Batobus (boat-bus) which is like a river taxi. It
isn't as nice as the tour boats, nor does it provide a dialogue about the
places you are passing, but you can get a day pass and go on it whenever
you want and get on and off wherever you want. This seemed great to me so
I got my day ticket and started down the river. It was sunny and beautiful
as I watched as we passed the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the
palace and many other sights. From time to time I would get off the boat
and walk around and then get back on a little later (as another boat would
come by). I spent a good part of the day here sitting in the parks near
the Louvre (extensions from Champs Elysees). They would have some ponds
with seats around them, so I would sit there for an hour or so and listen
to church music and my Jesus the Christ book on mp3.

Later that evening I met up with Goody from the Paris office and we had
dinner. She had wanted to pick a quaint, typical French restaurant and
told me where to meet her. I took the metro (subway) to the station and
was very surprised to notice I was the only white person in the train
station. I figured she had taken me to the Harlem of Paris. It was very
crowded and just trying to find her was difficult. When we met I told her
how diverse this area was and she laughed. She was shocked by the crowd
(and noise) and said normally this is a very quiet part of Paris and
certainly not the Harlem of Paris. In the end we found out that due to the
Fete de la Musique there was a rap concert in the area. We could hear the
bass pounding as we sat in little cafe and ate our dinner. Goody was
frustrated by the noise and crowd as it was exactly the opposite of what
she was looking for. But for me it was the chance to see another part of
Paris and realize that hip hop is just as big in France. After dinner it
was so crowded we couldn't even get back on the subway. We had to walk to
the next station and I had to take 'the long way home'. Upon arriving back
in Maisons Lafitte (at about 11 PM) I was surprised to see the little town
up and about with music playing everywhere. Families were out, live bands
playing, food being sold. It was quite the party. I stopped and listened
to a few of the groups before making my way back to the hotel. It was fun
to see this festival day and enjoy the longest day of the year in Paris.

Monday was back to work. Afterwards I headed to Paris to make sure to buy
my wife and mother something from Paris. I was going to meet Goody again
for lunch, but in the end I was tired and headed back early to the hotel.
This was my last night in France as the next day I was going to head back
to London. I wanted to eat something nice to remember my last night there,
but in the end the part of town I was in had little to offer and I was too
tired to go walking around looking for something. I grabbed a six pack of
chicken mcnuggets and headed back to the hotel. Not a very romantic way to
spend my last night in Paris.

Tuesday I finished training at the office and took a taxi to the train
station to take the Eurostar back to London. My last lunch was at a fun
cafe where I had a wonderful salad with some colleagues from the office. I
boarded the train and enjoyed the views as we sped through the countrysides
of France and the UK. Upon arriving in London I headed to King's Cross
(the home of the Hogwarts Express) and took the subway back to my hotel.
Tired again I ordered room service. Fish and chips. A little too fancy -
so not that great. But was just too tired to go out. My journey to Paris
was over.