I was able to get in a little excursion to the Berlin Wall Memorial during my 2 hour bus layover. It was kind of odd. Just a small little park with some plaques and pictures. You could walk along the path of the wall, but some places did show much besides the sidewalk and some new historical markers. There was, however, some more original segments as you can see in the picture above.
Then it was back on the bus after a quick two hour bus transfer. I’m glad I was able to make it to the Berlin Wall and back. On the bus I sat next to a really nice German guy who was studying in Paris. His English was really good and he helped me make some plans for seeing Paris. It’s odd how asjusted I am for the road at this point. I was able to sleep soundly through the night for 8 hours or so without waking up. I felt refreshed as we pulled into the Paris bus station.
First thing I noticed in Paris was the traffic. The German guy had told me how condensed and packed the city was. Off the bus I headed first to the Notre Dame Cathedral. I really liked it’s awesome gothic architecture. That baby had some nice flying buttresses. Inside was spectacular as well. I liked the dark colored stained glass and there was just so much nice stuff in there. The whole inside was ornate and beautiful. It also made you again marvel at it’s architecture.
Next, I continued my tour by walking toward the Louvre. There, as I was starting to notice everywhere in Paris, there was some serious security. Lots of army and police patrolling with heavy weapons and then airport-like security to get in. Sure wasn’t the best situation for me to have a giant black backpack on all day.
The Lourve is absolutely huge and to really appreciate it I think someone would need a couple of days. It’s so huge I got lost a couple times and everytime I got lost I ended up seeing something new. I wandered through the halls and eventually, at the end of one of the biggest, came to the Mona Lisa engulfed by visitors. Pretty neat to see such a renowned piece of art in person. The other painting in the collection above is a summary of it felt like to be at the Louvre. Only downside is that in costs 15€ which is over $18 thanks to the falling value of the US dollar recently.
Then after the Louvre I took the metro North to one of the highest points in the city. There I enjoyed the view and walked around the shops. The prices in Paris are astronomical compared to what I was paying in Thailand, and are even high by US standards. To cut down on my expenses I ate cold hotdogs and a baguette for lunch at the Louvre. I went, by metro, then to the Arch or Trimuph built for Napoleon’s victories or something like that. Then I was headed to the Eiffel tower, but not without picking up a dinner of canned sardines, a baguette, and some cookies which still cost me over $6.
Seeing the Eiffel tower was really cool, but I was actually a little underwhelmed by it. I think it’s hard for things like that to live up to the standards set for them. In the park near the tower I sat in a pavilion on a bench ready to feast on my sardines and baguette when I made friends with a couple of Afghani refugees. They were there enjoying some food in the sight of the Eiffel tower as well. They offered me water, yoghurt, and clemtines making sure I wouldn’t go hungry. It was really interesting to hear their perspective of Americans and then of countries allowing them in as refugees. There was a part in the conversation where one of the Afghanis was talking about how he hated all the Pakistani tourists that come into Afghanistan and how it’s bad for the country. I was pretty confused why this was a bad thing. If anything it should be good for the economy I thought… A little later in the conversation I figured out tourists was mistaken for terrorist, and then things started making more sense. After my main meal I shared some cookies with the guys there and they asked for a picture with me and then I got one with them as well. Always interesting to meet people from places where you assume there might be some tension or at least some political differences.
I said the Eiffel tower was underwhelming, but that was only during the day. Luckily I planned on coming back at night, and when I did it was beautiful! When it’s lit up it’s much more beautiful in my opinion, and now I see what all the hype was about. On the hour it also does a dazzling light up show where it appears to be sparkling from bright white LEDs lighting up all the across the structure. It was on this visit that I decided to brave security and enter the area under the tower. For anyone reading this who’s visited in times past, bit never used to have to go through security to do this. Since the Paris terrorist attacks there has been a border set up around the base and strict security with army and police patrols. After another airport like security screening I got in, and decided to save my money and just look from underneath rather than buying s ticket to go up. I figured the best view was of the tower, not from it.
After that I headed on the metro to my bus station. I was desperately cold since it was about freezing and I had ditched my winter coat in Budapest where it was 60° at the time. I should have kept it, but I didn’t expect the unusual cold for this time of year. Regardless, the station wasn’t that warm since a lot was open to the outside. So I headed for anywhere warm and I found a mall with a huge food court open late. To get in there, I once again had to go through security. I waited at the mall for about an hour and a half before catching my bus to Barcelona.
Once again, I was super blessed to have some amazing experiences in Paris even with only 15 hours to explore. I plan on actually staying a couple of nights in Barcelona just to sleep in a real bed, but I also have to figure out traveling in Spain as the popular bus service doesn’t serve further south and traveling is appearing to get expensive. I got myself signed up for a ride sharing app and should be able to hitch a ride further south to the straight of Gibraltar so I can get acrossed to Morocco!
