Yes, apparently you can order beer at McDonalds in France.
That's all I'm going to say for now.
Well, no ... that's not all I'm going to say. I do think it's pretty explanatory about the differences between France and the United States, though, in that the French can say, "Let's go get some fries at McDonalds, and a beer while we're at it." I told Will that I absolutely had to have a beer from McDonalds, but the queue this morning was a bit long and we were running a bit late, so we haven't done it yet.
Why were we running a bit late? The simple explanation is that we had a planning fail. We got a flight from London to Paris without booking a hotel, and so we found ourselves wandering Paris from street to street, train stop to train stop, carrying heavy (and I do mean heavy ) bags, looking for a place to stay. The place we found last night was booked for the rest of the week, so we repeated this procedure this morning, which put us at later on in the morning before we actually started seeing the sights.
Before I continue, I want to express how fun it is hearing Will speak French to everyone else that I cannot communicate with. He's been taking French since he was eight years old, and his first degree was a combination of history and French, so he's quite fluent. But it's just delightful hearing him rattle off in French, and makes me want to work on my own language skills (so that, you know, the next time I come here I don't have to nod my head stupidly and act like I know what's going on). I do my best, but my weak attempts at merci and bonjour are usually met with expressions that roughly translate as, "I know you're American, and you suck at French."
So ... back to Paris. Last night, after sorting out our hotel situation, we went for dinner at a little French cafe. We had some wine, and had a lovely meal of duck, lamb, and potatoes au gratin. But as an appetizer (or entree , as I learned that an entree is not a main course, but rather a starter dish) we had escargot. Yes, I ate snails. They weren't bad, so to speak, but the particular restaurant prepared them poorly, and so they tasted like tiny shrimp cooked in butter, far too much parsley, and not enough garlic. It certainly wasn't a horrible experience.
Today (after the hotel adventure) we went to see Notre Dame de Paris, the cathedral that I've loved through literature, art, and history. It brought tears to my eyes seeing it up close and personal. Take my word for it -- it really is amazing and beautiful. As far as churches go, I've never seen anything like it. We went inside and saw the interior, which was also beautiful, as well as the tombs of some old men that I've never heard of (and when I asked Will, he only continually told me they were his grandfather), and some old relics (such as the crown of thorns that people seem to think is the actual crown of thorns that Jesus wore on his head some couple of thousand years ago). I would have loved to stay longer than we did, but I was having a blood sugar low (my second of the morning -- damn diabetes) and we needed to get lunch.
We ate lunch at a touristy place, and I had chicken with mushrooms and fries (yes, I ate French fries in France), and Will had steak and fries. It sounds too American, I know. But as a starter, I had French onion soup (it was really good), and Will had some pate that was also not too bad. The service was terrible, though. It's one thing I'll say about France -- the waiting staffs at restaurants seem to like to seat you, take your order, and then leave you to wait for an hour or so before visiting you again.
Another thing about the people of France (or Parisians, at least) is that they don't like to be aware of other people on the sidewalks. Either you move out of their way or just run into various people throughout the day. It's just the way it is.
This afternoon after lunch we went to the old home of Victor Hugo (author of Notre Dame de Paris and Les Miserables ), which has been turned into a museum. It was neat seeing his old place, but the museum itself was kind of a fail. At least is was free.
I also saw the Seine river today (many times), and the Eiffel Tower from a distance. And I'm absolutely exhausted. Tonight Will and I are going to go out for wine and see the Moulin Rouge theatre, which should be exciting.
I'll say, in short, that Paris is absolutely beautiful and stunning, and I'm enjoying every moment that I'm here. Time to go for now though, before I rack up an extremely unreasonable bill at this Internet cafe.
'Till next time ... au revoir.
Very cool!
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