4 Days in Paris

**** *** Disclaimer: This Post in not going to be chronological but it will detail our acitvities in what i think is a coherent manner********

As soon as we landed in Paris I had 2 misconceptions on mine shattered immediately the first was that everyone in Europe speaks a modicum of English, and the second was that the French are stuck up and dislike Americans.

The first restaurant that we went to had a menu that had (somewhat accurate) English translations of all the dishes, but the staff between them spoke maybe 2 words of english, and Joe and I between the 2 of us spoke maybe 2 words of French. After much pointing and gesturing we got our order, mine was a burger with salad and Joe got lamb something (i think ribs but i am not sure.)

** Side note for Anthropology people reading the Blog: I found that my use of the restaurant Frame was utterly misplaced and i realized that I could not impose top down mode, and had to revert to bottom up mode while creating new and more useful frames as social expectations differed significantly. **

Our Hotel (notice the lack of an S this time we got a little bit fancier... probably because Joe did the booking) was a nice 2 star hotel within walking distance of the Eiffel tower and although our room was not what you would call spacious it suited our needs and budget perfectly, and with a Bakery right across the street and a supermarket that was open until 2 am 2 blocks away i was satisfied and content.

while in Paris although we enjoyed sleeping in (which i may add we did quite frequently a little bit because of jet lag more because we were lazy) we tried to go and see many place because after all... it is Paris.

so here is a quick list and if it warrant it further explanation of the sites we visited

• The Eiffel Tower: Of course this was one of the first places we visited, it was fun, although not nearly as tall as i thought it would be, lots of tourists fun gift shop, we took an elevator to the top which cost 7 £ each.
  
• The Louvre: At first we were planning to go and visit the Louvre on Monday although Joe was convinced that it was closed on Monday ("its either Monday or Tuesday its closed on, but Iam pretty sure its Monday") so we went on Tuesday only to find out that in fact it was during Tuesdays that the Louvre was closed so we got to see the outside and the triangles but that was about it
• The Jewish Quarter: we had some Schwarma Pita there (more expensive than the already expensive rest of paris) and wandered around a lot, always fun to be with Members of the Tribe.
• The Arch de Triumph: we actually saw this with our luggage still in our hands as we got off of the bus from the airport
• Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris (the Home of Quasimodo and the Gargoyles): lots of fun, beautiful Gothic architecture very reminiscent to me of Westminster Abbey
• Montparnasse Section: Just another section of paris very trendy fun and late-nightish
• Pigalle: The less classy 'red-light' section of paris named by British Sailors after they discovered what was sold there
• Moulin Rouge: A world famous show, and the only show in Pigalle with a strict dress-code
• Louis Vitton Store: Just thought i should mention it since it is the headquarters of the overpriced brand

Everything in Paris was EXPENSIVE and although i am glad i saw it, the next time i come back i will make sure to bring with a lot more spending money. The food was all declicious and Fresh, the sandwiches made on fresh baguette bread, the crepes were made right in front of you, the cheese and wine were delicious.

the sites were all very fun and the French were NOTHING BUT FRIENDLY when they found out we were American, there was no condescension or arrogance which I stereotypically expected from them. which just showed me how Ethnocentric I was being.

On our last day in Paris we woke up early showered cleaned the room went across the street to the bakery bought our last tuna baguette and caught a shuttle from our hotel to the airport where we flew back to Dublin.