He Was a Day Tripper

Hello All!

After foolishly waiting 2 days to post, I have driven myself to write a doozy, but as they say here, se la vie!

When I got back to the hostel I grabbed a baguette sandwitch at a nearby cafe from a less than accomidating waitor and went to the terrace/patio in the hostel with my copy of East of Eden, the Steinbeck classic, and sat down to read. I didn't get far as the terrace is the place where all the cool hostel people congregate. That night I met a girl from Boston who was taking time off her Alzheimers research job to travel, a guy from LA, two girls from Australia who had been through Kenya and Tanzania before Paris, and some girls from England, one of whom ironically applied to and got rejected by the PPE program at Oxford, just like me! We had plenty of stories to tell, and I learned a lot from all those cool cats.

The next day (yesterday) I took a day trip to Reims (I've found it best when pronouncing it in French to just say 'Reh..' and trail off and they understand you). It was a pleasant 45min ride and when I arrived I walked 30min to the Pommery Estate- the maker of the worlds finest Champagnes. There I signed up for a 10euro tour of the facility, and let me just say those were the coolest 10euro I've spent on this trip!

The English speaking guide took us down into the deep deep caves where the pristine environment for making wine is naturally kept and told us about how Mrs. Pommery in the late 1800's revolutionized Champagne into a classy and quality drink! He also mentioned her love of art, which she displayed in the caves, which explained the crazy modern art all around. These exhibits included a room full of little birds and electric guitars that played the notes that the birds landed on- so cool! After learning a lot about the process of making Champagne (like how the bubbles come from yeast eating sugars in the bottle during its creation), we got to taste the fruits of their labor, thus fulfilling life goal of having Champagne in Champagne.

The Estate

The Modern Art

The Champagne

After that I took what was left of the previous day's baguette and cheese (which had become more aromatically active, if you get my meaning) and ate it atop a green hill. It was such a pleasant lunch, and I had a nice little conversation with a young French guy who was looking for something that he couln't vocalize in English.

Next up was the Reims Cathedral, home to the coronation of more than 36 French kings. It was large and beautiful. When I heard that a nearby art museum was free for students, I walked in and had a jolly good time obsserving everything from tapasteries to French paintings. Before I left back to Paris I went to the Musee de Reddition, which is a museum based around the little schoolroom where the European portion of WW2 was ended. It was nice, but the main occurance in my going there was that I encountered the steriotypicall anti-American/English French rudeness!

Until then, I had only encountered kind French people who were happy to help if they knew English and still tried if they didn't know it. The receptionist at the museum was not one of those people. When I politely asked her if she spoke English after saying a French greeting, she curtly asked me why I didn't speak French, and then proceeded to sass me and give me attitude during our whole encounter! When I was leaving she asked, with obvious reason, 'You're American, I assume?'. It was ridiculus, but all you can do is laugh.

Upon arrival back into Paris, I walked 45min to the Louvre museum, which is free to under26ers after 6PM on Fridays. I had a free audiotour and saw all the big deals, including the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. My favorite, though, was the Crowning of Napoleon. I went back to the Hostel where I met another Australian and a guy from Tennesse. I also met my roommates, who were from Canada.

This morning, I awoke early in order to get the train to Versailles, the famous French palace and garden. It was a ridiculously beautiful place and I'm glad I got the audiotour. Of course, being a fan of the movie Marie Antoinette, I listened to its soundtrack as I walked around. As I got around to seeing Marie's estate, I got a little tired and took a nap on a bench under some trees- bliss! For lunch I did the ultimate Backpackers move and had brought some of the food from free breakfast in my backpack. I love being cheap!

The Hall of Mirrors

After 6 hours there I decided to go home, got on the 40min train back to Paris, grabbed a Gyro, got on the Metro, and got back to the Hostel. Since its saturday, it was soooo crowded, and it was a sunny day so it was hot. Its good to be sitting down again.

A Word About Finances;

Doing Europe on 45 euro (70 dollars) a day is downright difficult. Let me show you. Here is my usual daily budget and how it breaks down-

20 - 24 euro for Hostel

2 euro for transportation

2 - 4 euro for Lunch

8 - 10 euro for Dinner

5 euro for activity

So on the higher end of the days, I'm up against the wire. Thats why spending 25 euro to go to Verseilles today compelled me to have a free lunch and a 4.50 euro dinner. I guess I'm getting a crash course in what college will be like! Haha. I welcome the challenge and I'm willing to go a little overbudget if its worth it.

Well thats it for now! Thank you so much for your comments- its so motivating when you know people care. Keep it up!

Stay Classy!