Paris holds the key to your heart

What a whirlwind! If you're not prepared for a long read then you should come back another time because I have quite a few things to recount and I dare to say most--if not all!--of them are fairly interesting.

First, let me lead off with a few bits about Vienna that I forgot in my last post. The great thing about the Staatsoper is that an American billionaire donated millions of dollars to have personal sub/super/whatever-titles installed in front of each seat. Apparently he's in prison now, but because the guy's American you have your choice of whether your display reads in German or English! Very much unlike the Volksoper, which did Carmen in German! Gag me. And the greatest thing about paying for the most expensive standing room is that I was on the same level as all the expensive seated tickets so we all got the royal treatment in the restroom. After each lady came out of the stall there was a cleaning lady waiting to wipe down the seat with antibacterial gel. I thought that was pretty good service for 3.50.

Now, PARIS! It's much bigger than I imagined! There are 14 metro lines that all intertwine with each other and Paris is making it very clear that this is the biggest city I've been to in Europe. It takes forever to get anywhere but so far it has all been worth it. We've done a bunch of interesting things including visiting a North-African hammam, visiting the bakery and successfully buying things in my limited French, and walked around different neighborhoods in the city. We're staying with one of my mom's ex-coworkers, Joan, who is currently living in France and studying French. We've taken up residence in her cozy apartment and I'm really liking the neighborhood (located in the 11th). I've recently decided that in the future I would like to read a book relevant to the place I'm visiting before I go: either a piece of non-fiction or a novel that takes place there. It just so happened that Joan had a short mystery novel (a Maigret ... anyone familiar?) that takes place in the 11th! It's pretty neat to read about daily practices with which I've become familiar and street names that I've walked along earlier in the day.

We've visited the Musee d'Orsay, which--given all the hype--I wasn't sure I'd love as much as everyone else had. But I did (thanks, Guy)! The building itself is SO cool ... you can still see the remnants of the train station in the architecture. And the artwork that's housed in the building is fantastic. I've always loved the Impressionists for the way they play with light and there were works by so many of my favorite artists. After the Orsay we headed to the Eiffel Tower with the intention to see it both by day and night! (It was beautiful.)

I must preface this next section of my post by telling you about something that I have elected not to write about in the past. It was interesting to note and recount to my mother but did not seem relevant enough to make the cut for this blog. I have since changed my mind :) Essentially, everywhere I've gone I've seen couples on their wedding day. A small town in China, the highrise Taipei 101, driving off in a white VW bug in Amsterdam, and many, many more. It felt a bit like I was a wedding-magnet. It kind of makes sense because many people like to get married and/or take photos at major landmarks ... the same landmarks that I've been visiting on my travels. But my experience yesterday was just too much.

As we were in line for the elevator to the Eiffel Tower, there was an older couple behind us in line--very well-dressed (well, the lady was fairly scantily dressed)--and we went up in the same elevator. When we got to the top of the Tower I was completely engrossed in my tourbook and I failed to notice him PROPOSE to her right next to me. Not even next to my mom, but next to ME. According to my mother, he asked her, slipped a MASSIVE diamond on her finger, and had a photographer take their photos. I sincerely hope that I'm not in their engagement photos ... in front of the skyline of Paris you can see the bride, groom, and ... me, with my head buried in a guidebook. So you can see that with all the people visiting the tower at that given time the couple was--clearly--drawn to me.

Today, we went to the Louvre! We saw the Mona Lisa and all the other famous landmarks. Before we left, I had an itching to go see the Dutch/Flemish/etc. section of the museum. When we arrived at the entrance we were informed by security that we could not enter for the time being. So we joined the 10 or so other people who were waiting. There were hordes of suited security milling around and people were getting their cameras ready ... it was clear that someone important was inside the wing and that was the reason we were not allowed inside. Then we saw the Queen of Belgium emerge! She was only about 10 feet away from me and I snapped a photo as she descended the escalators. Later, as we were browsing the exhibit, we happened to glance out a window and caught the Queen leaving the Louvre and being led to her vehicle which was escorted by police. It was really, really neat and I fully enjoyed my first encounter with royalty ;)

It is now getting to be quite late and we have a relatively early morning event planned for tomorrow. I hope the events of the last few days have entertained you as much as they have entertained me!