before i tell start i have some prologue comments to make
prologue 1: earlier on i mentioned that i thought the supermarket ladies were more relaxed and speculated that it may be because of their high taxes which fuel community things such as hspitals AND their lower working hours/socialist working system ... nici actually tells me its because in france, you have to pack your own bags at the supermarket --- and people pack their bags slowly --- so HA lol there goes my theory
prologue 2: napoleon was born in corsica not siciliy (thanks mr anthony costello)
day 4
this dayyyyyy is alll about LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE hahaha....
we went to the notre dame in the morning -- walked up heaps of stairs and died haha ... look to the photos and they will explain everything
here is whereeeeeee the we meet our first love --- his name is christian noix praline (disclaimer: this is not his real name; we don't actually no his name -- we tagged him as a christian because we believe he looked like him, and noix praline is the name of the starbucks hot chocolates we were drinking)
then we had lunch in the latin quartier --- we went to star bucks (me nici and amanda) ... we felt like big hot chocolates ... we sat next to this cute french boy studying his university boooks ... about half an hour into our coffeee sesssion the cute boy asked us the definition of someeeeeeee words which were in english (he was studying french history in english) ... YAYAYAYAYAYAY ,,, we talked to him for about halfa and he told us about all the good cheap uni bars to go out and drink at --- apparently the 5ieme arrondisement ... shameeeeefullly we didn't get his number ... but weeeeee are smittted (well me and amanda are ... nici prefers the dark haired boys --- there is a Mr Mohammed that she is messaging who chatted her up on the metro)
we were meant to see the hotel de ville this afternoon; the hotel de ville is this goverment building where lots of important revolutionary events took place; it was the place of the Commune (the republican government) ... however the administration there had mistakenly taken our booking down as on the 3rd of december so UNFORTUNATELY our afternoon was cancelled and we had a free afteroon (wooo wooo woooo woooo wooo)
we went shopping across the road to this department store -- this is where i met my second love ........ mmmmmmmmmmmmm
look at the pictures --- this gorgeous fcuk coat ... its this mustard lime green colour with a fox fur faux collar --- it is hot hot hot hot hot hot hot ... i think im going to buy it next wednesday ...
we have a whole free weekend sooo on sat we are going to:
- have breakie at the eiffel tower (mmmm gaufres - waffles and crepes!!)
- go ice skating :D:D:D:D
- go shopping at the Galleries Lafayettes - it is the myer of melbourne and named after LaFayette - a hero of the American revolution; he went over from french and jioned the american forces and fought for american independence ...
- go outttttttt to the 5ieme arronsidement at night
some general perceptions ...
- i LOVE the french metro ... buses and trains come every 4 minutes at the LATEST ... you never never never ever have to wait ... the trains aren't our new airconditioned connex trams... but GEEEZ when they are coming every 1 or 2 minutes WHO CARES!!!!!
- paris is very very beautiful .... but very very expensive ...
- lovelyyyyyy cafe scene :)
- i think that a lot of paris is designed for the tourists ... the locals don't seem to frequent the cafes etc so much ...
im not sure whether i could live in paris though ... not forever any way ... the french are much more focused on etiquette and 'proper behaviour' than australians are ... they aren't as laid back ... you notice it in their clothing; no one ever wears a tracksuit ... jeans are as dressed down as you get --- whereas in melbourne even in the CBD all the uni students where tracksuits --- definately not an uncommon site ... in paris you never ever see this
in some ways .. it feels like paris is a big spectacle --- its beautiful ... the people (minus the tourists) are dressed beautifully ... the bars are pretty and everything is lovely (minus the 3rd arrondisement ) ... but because its a big city, it is less friendly and casual than australia -- when you smile at someone on the train here they don't smile back ... people in melbourne are muhc less casual and friendly --- you can talk to people in the train in melbourne (or maybe im just strange :)) ... in paris this doesn't happen ... i think that the reason for this is only because paris is such a big ctiy and people are more accustomed to being rushed/busy ...
it makes you appreciate melbourne a lot more being in a big city :) ... just the down to earth attitude of melbourne ... the relaxed attitude ... the fact that you can walk down a street and find 10 different cuisines in one street in the city ... in paris there is very very little variety in cuisine - most is the standard french food; any other national cuisine is very expensive - one of the men with us, james, paid 10 euro for a bowl of vietnamese noodles which would be less at $6 in australia ....
and although paris is beautiful ... it seems very much moulded/sculpted/designed ... which is lovely ... but sometimes melbournes dingy/multilfaceted facades and personality can be more exciting :)
much love ...
i miss everyone lots :)
