Paris in the Spring

You Belong in Paris Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine, the men! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Online quizzes are hardly ever accurate but this last one I took reminded me that one of the most fabulous cities on the world for me is Paris. I've been there thrice but the time I've spent there has always been too short. I'm quite a travel junkie, and Europe has always had special place in my heart. But travel in general, as long as the place, the is culture different, the food is something I've never had in all its authentic splendour before, is something I've always looked forward to, something I wish I could do with unlimited vast resources. Following a path I've never traveled, people watching, sight seeing, food-tripping, having new and amazing encounters with people and places, almost nothing can beat the experience.

The last time I saw Paris was in the spring of 2002, when I luckily got myself in a slot with a team of young professionals headed for 5 weeks in Denmark. I cashed in my savings, convinced Chikki to join me post-Denmark on my well-plotted on Excel route around western Europe, and bought myself a $300 15-day Eurail pass.

Of course given my limited resources, I didn't exactly travel in glamorous style, but rather in back-pack mode, which I think made the trip even more of an adventure. A little help from a lot of friends came a long way. There was Tonichi's Frommer's guide to Europe and Kathy's best friend Valerie who put us up for our 3-day Parisian stint.

We took the TGV for from Barcelona-Sants to Paris-Austerlitz. Didn't know there were advance bookings to be made so we got stuck for a couple of hours at Montpellier and avoided a pick-up attempt by some weird guy by saying we were married and running fast in another direction. I was so proud of myself because I called Valerie's daughter at home to tell her we would be late, but she couldn't speak much English. I clearly recall my vain attempt, "Allo! Je m'appelle Sheila. L' train arrivez tardez, neuf pm. Merci!" The poor kid struggled to understand me while I patted myself on the back for listening to French conversational tapes when I was very young. In any case my message was understood, and the extremely accomodating Valerie picked us up at the train station at the right time.

Boissy St. Leger was on the outskirts of Paris, so daily Chikki and I would take the RER Line A to the heart of the city. We had extremly hilarious and pathetic attempts to save our money by jumping the subway gates so we wouldn't have to buy tokens, and squeezing in paid toilets meant for 2 so we wouldn't have to pay a 2nd time. We were frequent lunchtime patrons of a European fastfood chain that had an end of the spring promo --- cheeseburger meals buy one, take one! We walked everywhere, but I really couldn't complain because it was sensory overload.

During our first day as we were walking down the Champs-Elysees, two Chinese women came up to us and asked us to buy 3 Louis Vuitton bags each at the nearby shop. We almost refused because it seemed like we would be scammed, but then we figured what the heck, you're only in Paris once, and the experience of shopping at a Louis Vuitton store at the Champs Elysees would be hard to repeat unless I became extremely well-off! They handed us 700 Euros each and asked us to meet them at the corner after we were done. I half throught of running away with the cash, but I had dropped my heavy suitcase on my foot the day before (the trials of not affording to store my luggage at the Frankfurt airport), so I couldn't make a fast getaway. We spent 45-minutes getting top service at the shop, walked away with about 5 bags each which we handed to what we guessed to be counterfeiters, and later on got a $100 dollar tax exemption on our total purchases at the train station leaving Paris.

Other fun episodes --- buying bread and cheese with and picinicking near the Eiffel Tower as we jokingly turned our noses up at Parisiennes who vainly sunbathed near the fountains amidst cold spring air and a weak sun, thinking that Pinoys just have to drive an hour or so to sun-worship a gorgeous beach. Visiting the Notre Dame and arriving at the Louvre just in time to find out that it was too late to take a tour, but scoring a gorgeous Sephora lip gloss anyway (good thing I've seen the Mona Lisa before or I would've gotten dearly disappointed). Traipsing through cobble-stoned streets and finding a store that sold Naf-Naf items for just a Euro apiece (I got a dress and a shirt). Taking a photo outside the Moulin Rouge to commemorate my being there after the hit movie was shown. Looking out at the beautiful Seine River and watching the boats go past. Walking up to Montmarte and seeing a glorious (and free!) view of Paris. Bargaining down a hot artist to just 10 Euros for my Parisian portrait...and getting asked out after my portrait was done. Driving from the RER train station to Boissy St. Leger in Valerie's cute little car and getting a bit lost, then a car of cute guys stop to help us out. My only regret about my last trip to Paris was not seeing the nightlife because we had to go back to the house every day before the trains closed. But then there's always next time!

This year I've done a lot of local travel but I'm saving for a major purchase which is why I've held back on crossing the Pacific. The way things look, I think next year will be different.

The world is a book and those who don't travel read only a page.- St. Augustine