Woke up, tried to compose myself to face the day, grabbed some waaay overpriced breakfast from the hotel, decided on a nostel to try out, bummed a bandaid for my (minor) blister, and checked out of the Hotel du Parc with general directions on how to get to the hostel using the Paris Metro and directions from the hostel's website from the stop there.
Took the 1? from Montparnasse to ???, switched to the 2 for one more stop: Anvers, walked up rue Steinkerque on the right (I admid, that took a little hunting with my eyes), walked towards the Basilica for one block, turned right on rue d'Orsel, walked past #20, but only a few steps, and finally found the Le Village Hostel at #20 - no big deal. Bonus: they were even able to find me a bed.
Once I got the lowdown from the hostel, I took the bare minimum I needed for the day and put it in my fancy Stingers backpack, stashed my bags in the secure storage area, and made my way for... the Louvre, baby! (They're closed on Tuesday and I didn't want to miss it so took the safe bet and did it today.)
Back down to the Anvers stop 2, took it towards National, got off at Stalinburg, switched to the 10 train, towards Ivy?, and got off inside the entrance to the museum - reminded me of my visit to the Natural History Museum in New York City when I was a teenager - you pop right off the train and you're there - in NY, though, I think you have to take an elevator to the actual entrance.
The automated ticket machine took my wimpy American credit card (with no chip in it), I passed my bag through screening, and spent the next seven hours wandering around the Louvre. What can I say? It's everything you've heard. One thing that surprised me was how difficult it was to keep your bearings. They need to change the map so the same room number doesn't show up in different wings and on different floor. But I saw ancient Egyptian stuff until I almost couldn't take any more - and then I realized I'd missed a section! They have large sections on two floors of the stuff! It was heaven for me - I minored in Humanitites with a focus on ancient Egyptian studies.
Then I saw the Venus d'Mile, the Mona Lisa (well, from a ways back and in the middle of a throng of people, most of them trying to take a stupid picture), and all that stuff - even the Code of Hammurabi. I took a couple breaks and actually took my shoes off for a couple minutes to hopefully prevent more blisters.
After closing the place down at about thirty minutes past their official closing time of 6:30, I perused their gift shop, where I found something for my Xmas list - see photo. Then I reversed the train route like a pro, checked in, met one of my potentially-three roommates (Kyle, from Texas), and grabbed a shower. And now I'm writing this. For you. Well, and for posterity for myself. But for you, too! ;) Now I need to gather the energy to head down to the social area of the hostel and grab me some wifi - handy tip: it's pronounced "weefee" over here. You're welcome.
What will the evening bring? Well, it had better bring some food. I don't feel particularly hungry but, then again, I didn't feel particularly hungry last night, either, but when they set that burger down in front of me, I found myself ravenous!
Bonsoir!
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| For Daniel - I had her tune in my head throughout my visit - it was perfect. |
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| For Tasha - to show even Pharaohs lose their sequins. |
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| Dear Santa... |
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| It's a fact - the world is ending - there is a Starbucks in the Lourve. |
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| The view out my new door. |
Oh I thought you were BUYING that headdress for Tasha...
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly a well rounded person, Nate. Nop wonder you are so interesting...a Humanities minor, hmmmm.
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