Presles Climbing Pictures

Me just leaving the ground...

The trail to the climb was pretty crowded...freakin goats everywhere. They all had on big bells like cows so they were hilariously loud. The best was when they made their way down to the street below the cliff...they just kind of congregated and hung out in the there for awhile...quite a sight from the anchors

The view of Presles from the base of the cliff

g
ooh a random photo of my parisian housemates...Jay (left) and chupette
another view

Xavier climbing...a friend of david's who taught him how to climb

David finishing the 6c (~11a) that everyone else backed off of because it was really hard...the bolting here is a bit scary...of course scary for me doesn't take much i know, i'm trying to work on it, but really they could place a few more bolts

Pictures from the Louvre

Finally some pictures from the Louvre...

Unfortunately, a lot of these came out pretty dark so sorry.

Montmartre et Montparnasse

<--- Perhaps I will start spelling it like this

MONTMARTRE...The Sacred Heart Basilica



The Basilique du Sacre Coeur is situated on top of the Butte de Montmartre (Montmartre Hill). The view from the top is known as the best panoramic view of Paris. It was pretty amazing but my pictures didn't come out that well...they look kind of cloudy so here is a different view, not so panoramic but nice nonetheless.



On my way up the eight million flights of stairs to the basilica there was this mexican man singing and dancing with his guitar. It was kind of funny because I am in France but surrounded by American and British music. It is everywhere. At Chupette's apartment the music is almost always in English, the same for stores etc. So this guy on the stairs starts out with Stand By Me, then Let it Be, and then a rousing version of La Bamba! It was really funny because he had a thick accent and so when he sang Mother it came out Mudda. But he was having so much fun it was great.





The Latin Quarter

The Latin Quarter is in south central Paris and is by far my favorite. The streets are not quite as crowded as downtown Paris and everything is a little quieter. It's the artsy quaint part of town.


Saint Etienne...

The Pantheon...the crypt here is home to some famous people like Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola

I am kind of partial to the Latin Quarter also because as I was getting ready to head back for the evening I passed a little chapel that had signs for a piano recital featuring all Chopin waltzes/polonaises/nocturnes. These are my favorite piano pieces so I was pretty excited but apprehensive because it was like $30 and I know I don't have to tell any of you how cheap I am :) But I bucked up and went anyway. It was really cool, but even coolerl because I know the pieces really really well and he messed up a few times :) It's ok, i can't even play in front of people so I'm not really one to nitpick.
The chapel...
whoops, someone didn't clean the piano

**Pictures of Paris**

C'est Moi! @ the Concord


A Paris Librarie (Bibliotheque)
The big obelisk on the Concord that connects the Jardins des Tuileries with the Champs Elysees...you can barely see the Arc de Triomphe in the background to the right of the obelisk
A fountain in the Jardins des Tuileries
One of many statuettes in the Tuileries
Yes Yes, the Tour d'Eiffel...30e to go to the top! Crazy

The Louvre from inside the pyramid entrance

Paris...encore

This will be short. Not too much of interest and I can't get the pictures to upload so i will try again tomorrow.

OOH! My head is overflowing with french...to top it off, at dinner there were 4 different languages floating around: English, French, German and Spanish :) Ha! I can hardly speak 2 let alone try and participate here. It was pretty funny though. And the people I am staying with crack me up. They speak English when I can't understand stuff, but really they speak French. Occasionally though, they'll be speaking to eachother and all of a sudden they'll say a sentence here and there in English and then go back to French. It's kind of funny. But nice for me even if they aren't talking to me because then I can have some semblence of their conversation if I haven't been able to follow it.

So in France they don't have public restrooms everywhere and you definitely CANNOT use the bathroom anywhere that you are not a paying customer. They'll tell you to leave if you try. Luckily I was warned of this or someone would have kicked my butt out of a cafe restroom long ago. Those of you that know me even a little or god forbid have had the chance to travel with my small bladder know that this poses more than a little problem. But have no fear, I have managed to find all the bathrooms in Paris! Oh yes, once you find the bathrooms you better have some change because they aren't free. Half a euro to pee! I can't believe you have to pay to pee. Incroyable! I will go broke from the bathrooms.

I am now in Paris totally alone, save for David's friends, but I see them only at night. You should all be very proud of my navigating :) I am going to take the train to Lyon on Thursday, another adventure in itself.

Time for bed so I can get up earlier than noon...biennuit.

A Paris Tout Seul!

Le Seine









So David challenged me to a day alone in Paris...a little scary at first but a ton of fun once i realized I would be ok. Yes, I know what you all are thinking...Jenn navigating in France HA! is this a joke? the streets aren't even straight and they change names every block. But I walked all the way from the Louvre back to Choupette's apartment which is a little over a half hour and I survived.











Me at le Louvre



The day before, David and I walked for six hours and I was so tired. Holy crap! We walked to the Place de la Bastille, Cathedrale of Notre dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, down the Champs Elysees, through the jardins de Tullieres to the Arc de Triomphe and then back home. It was amazing. There are different cathedrals everywhere. Taking a walk in Paris is like being in a museum, why would you want to take the metro???











A hospital in Paris






So back to today. I got myself all the way to the Louvre only to find it was closed. Not too sure why but I will try again tomorrow. I was really proud of myself for navigating anyway. Also I asked the guards in French if it was closed and actually understood their response...oui mais j'ouvert demain (yes, but it will open again tomorrow)...or something like this. YAY!!! Such progress. Well, tomorrow is another day alone so I'm sure to have some more stories. Salut!

Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris

Je suis a Paris finalement!

Paris!!! Here I am...a view from Charles' beautiful apartment. It's like a movie.

But we are staying at Chaupette's apartment and no pictures of it yet. Paris is great, no rude french people yet, but i think it's because i am with david.

The metro has so many stairs i cannot even tell you. Flights and flights of stairs. Uh, not good for climbing gear and two months of clothes.

The flight was good, I have to say I'm exhausted...it's 6:10pm Cleveland time and 12:10 am Paris time. These crazy French people stay up all night. I am not kidding. They keep insane hours drinking fabulous wine and eating cheese..appartently america doesn't know cheese. I have been hanging out with some of David's friends that speak only a little english and they keep wanting to say cowboy, but it comes out as an indistinguishable coo-boi...hilarious, they love this word. They keep talking about BrokeBack Mt. and the Coo-boiys. Wow, ok my french isn't so bad then.