Monday 24 Feb

 Monday 24 Feb

Right now, I am sitting in the Indian embassy trying to do Sylvain a favor which has turned into a major effort. Sylvain was invited to a dinner at which Indian food will be the main fair. It is being hosted by his cousin Basile, with whom Sylvain went to India recently for a vacation. Sylvain wants to respond to the invitation in Indian even though Basile doesn't speak or know Indian. He asked me to come to the embassy since it doesn't open until he is at work. Of course, I immediately agreed to do him this favor since I have stayed there for five nights now. But if I had stopped to think about what was involved in communicating what I needed I'm not sure I would have been so eager! I am an American in France trying to ask a favor of someone who has difficulty speaking anything but Hindi. In addition, it was quite a strange request almost like something I would ask someone to do. Anyway, the man here at the desk has found a woman who could understand me and put me on the phone with her, and she is on her way to translate Sylvain's acceptance letter into Hindi.

Bonjour again! 

It is still Sunday the 24th, as in my last letter, but I decided to go ahead and send off those 10 pages as I thought it might be rather expensive to mail a whole book home. The enclosed sheet with the scrawled message is what Sylvain thought I should write to you. It says: 

Monday 18^th (but written on the 23rd)    

super I am in Paris 

French is hard but nice 

they eat so much bread and meat 

all fromage (CHEESE) is good at any age

cheese is bad

for the knees

wine is good

for your line paper is cheap but I use never 

(he's criticized me for waiting so long before writing)

dog is not fed tonight but tomorrow after the lunch it will become his birthday

I haven't a clue about that last part

Tuesday 25 Feb

Do you know that you can mail a letter in Paris and it can be at its destination (somewhere else in Paris) later that day? Anyway, I am now in Juziers which is about 35 kilometers West of Paris. I took the train out here from Paris last night and got here at about 7:40. I was fortunate that I made it here so early as this was the first train trip I've taken in France. In fact, it's the first train trip I've ever taken, except for the train at Opryland, but I hesitate to call that a train. I didn't know for sure if there was a train bound for Juziers from gare (station) St lazar or not but since it seemed to be the main train station in Paris I assumed there would be. So I had to ask several people for help before I could find someone who spoke English. It never ceases to amaze me that there are so few English-speaking people in a city the size of Paris. I eventually found out that the train I needed to take left in about 8 minutes. The man helping me said it would be faster if I had change to just buy my ticket from the automated booth rather than wait in line to get it. However, I had no change. He told me to give him some money and he would go get change for me as the train station was very crowded and if I just waited there at the booth he would run quickly and go get it. So I gave him my last 100 frank bill ($20) and watched him disappear. I guess it was a kind of trusting move on my part but I never really doubted that he'd return with my money since I could tell he was a trustworthy type of guy. So I got on the train and realized I didn't know how many stops it was before Juziers, but I knew it was about an hour-long trip. So I just kept an eye on the names of the stations from my seat in the train and after about 50 minutes headed towards the exit. And guess what? Right there was a map of the route of my train and when I saw it I got this sinking feeling because it branched off in lots of places signifying the need to get off and transfer to another train. However, the very next stop was Juziers. I found out later that there had been a derailment earlier in the day on the same track that my train was the first one whose passengers did not have to stop at the station before Juziers and take a bus the rest of the way. That would probably have been quite confusing for me so I was fortunate that I did not have to. So I called Jean Claude from the train station and he turns out to be very handsome and a marathon runner. He speaks only broken English and his wife speaks none. They live in a 150-year-old house with their three children. I don't know what he does (my book on European customs and manners says not to ask that of a French person whom you have just met!) And Sabrine is not working because their youngest child is only about 15 months old. Their house is one of the messiest I've ever seen it's right up there with the Hutchinson's! I thought it was humorous that he made no excuses or apologies. He only said that the children are on a two-week vacation from school and that this is the second week. However, this mess is far more than a week and a half old! We sat down to have dinner and had an aperitif which was a homemade orange-flavored wine which was quite good. The dinner consisted of chicken, potatoes, couscous (a very popular food here) and when they found out I was a vegetarian, they gave me some leeks which I had never had which was quite good. We had red wine with dinner. I didn't even try to keep up with Sabine's rate of drinking as she seemed to be far more accustomed to it than I am. After the main meal, we had pain and fromage (bread and cheese) and I got to try a couple of types of cheese I had never had before. I've never had a cheese I didn't like and so, of course, I liked these. After that, we had more homemade wine which was walnut flavored red wine and was also quite good. We went to sleep at about 11, which is quite early for me for this trip.

Which brings up a subject which is really been bothering me. I've been so tired this whole trip. I usually sleep about 10 or 11 hours and as soon as I go out and attempt to walk anywhere I immediately get tired I can't figure out any reason why this may be except for my diet. I haven't been eating poorly, but I haven't been getting my usual amount of vegetables (they're so expensive!) and fruits. The last salad I had was a very measly one on the plane. By the way, did you know that salad is a type of lettuce? The dish that we know a salad is named that because of the type of lettuce originally used to make it. I have even been taking vitamins and have not missed a day yet. I told Cameron I started taking vitamins for this trip because, of all the things I wanted to do in Europe, getting sick was not one of them. Cameron said that that was a very sensible thing to do and that, of all the things he wanted to do in Europe, being sensible was not one of them. I laughed. Anyway, the only other thing I can think of is the great amount of walking I've been doing since my trip began. But I wouldn't think that would have such a major effect on me every day, you know? I slept until 11 this morning and began walking around Juziers and got really tired. That was when I sat down to begin writing this. If you have any ideas why this is happening to me, please let me know.

Friday, 1 March

           After I returned on Wednesday morning I went directly to the Louvre. I spent eight wonderful hours just roaming from room to room(and there are a lot of them!) I didn't even get to all of the sections even though I veritably whizzed through a good number of them. Of course, I saw the big works- the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, winged victory of Samothrace, and the slaves of Michelangelo. Because of my excellent sense of direction, combined with that complex design of the museum, I never really figured out how to get around it. I think I set out about three times to find the Mona Lisa and couldn't find it even though there were signs pointing the way. I had that same problem today. I was trying to find villa Savoia, a house designed by Le Corbusier. yet I couldn't find either the street it is supposed to be on, or the cross street. But I knew I was in the right area so I walked around for about 3 1/2 hours trying to find one house. I never found it. I would have kept looking but it started to rain and it was very cold. So, in essence, I did nothing today (except walk several miles). but that's OK because I'm really tired of Paris. I really want to leave-next stop Barcelona!! But I'm waiting on a certain postal delivery . . ,

After I totally exhausted myself at the Louvre I went and checked in at the other youth hostel. It's very large four or five floors of rooms plus a lounge area which is connected to a bar area which is all seen from above in the cafeteria. I came here because my Let's Go guide says it's one of the largest hostels in Europe and I thought for sure I could find a ride to Spain. Even though I was not successful there, one of the first people I met when I got here was an Australian architecture student who is doing his architecture tour of Europe and was planning on leaving for[blank for the rest of the page]

Being here in a predominantly French-speaking city I have realized that I really need to learn a foreign language. Even the most educated people know 2 often 3 languages, at least a little. For example, Amid, the guy who gave me the room to sleep in, has a Greek parent and an Iranian parent (I don't remember which is which) so he grew up speaking Arabic (or whatever it is that Iranians speak) and moved to Paris when he was in his teens. Here he learned to speak (but can't read) French he also knows English quite well.

It is now Sunday night. After I wrote that last bit I met this English guy (at the Louvre) who is having quite a bit of difficulty finding his way out. I thought that was funny since I understood completely. Anyway, he asked me if I fancied joining him for a cup of tea and when I told him of my dire financial straits he offered to finance the venture. As it turns out, he had taken a rather odd three-legged race. He was chained to another person by his left leg and the two of them had to hitchhike to Paris, along with several other pairs. He said they finished last sadly because it took them a whole 23 hours to get to Paris. He has also done a lot of traveling, mostly alone. He did three months in India, three months grape picking in France, and then various other trips. Since I had no plans for today I ended up hanging out with him until about seven. It was really a quite enjoyable day as it was about 18 degrees Celsius and sunny and everyone was outside. We had a walk in the park outside of the Louvre which was brimming with dog walkers and couples and sunseekers. Then we walked down the Champ-Elysses toward the Arc de Triomphe which is a really interesting stretch. On the way, we stopped to watch the contortionist do his act. People were lined up for almost 50 meters or so just to get into the movie theater. This I didn't understand, as spring in Paris must be spent outside, I think. Very romantic . . .

I think this is a big enough volume for now. I'll write more (lots!) Soon!

Till then,

Julie

Saturday, 2 March

           I think I left off talking about Dougal the architecture student from Australia. We befriended each other immediately because he said he has only met one other person on his trip who is interested in architecture. I don't know why, but it seems that a mutual interest in architecture creates a very strong bond between people; at least, that is how it has happened with me. So the next day Dougal and I took the train to Chartres, about 35, kilometers southwest of Paris, to go see Chartres cathedral, which I had studied in my art history class. Once again, I experienced a great rush when I found myself in Chartres France since it had previously only been a name in my book. The salient feature of Chartres is the amazing amount of stained glass surrounding the entire cathedral which makes it look like, from certain perspectives, just a massive color. We picnicked there in Chartres, in the largest spot of grass we were able to find, which was very small- probably about 12 square feet (you can tell I haven't been in Europe very long because I still measure distances in feet) after that, I went to Versailles and Dougal returned to Paris. As he had already seen the palace. I didn't have any particularly strong desire to go to Versailles it was just kind of a token visit because one of the things you must do in Paris is see the palace at Versailles. Well, even though I wasn't expecting much, I was still disappointed. All it was was a bunch of cheap rococo mish-mosh with all kinds of cupids and fat women on the ceiling and fake gold leaf painted everywhere. I was fortunate to hook up with an English-speaking guy conducting a tour so that I could benefit at least a little from being there by.

Sunday 3 March

I must apologize for the interruption the first bit was written by dear Mia, a guy from Russia. I don't know what it says but there is something about Tennessee. The next part was written by Henrik, a guy from Germany who I met at the beginning of my stay in Paris at the other youth hostel.

           Anyway, Versailles was boring. Afterwards I returned to the hostel and painted a t-shirt for Sylvain. The next day was my unsuccessful house searching day and Saturday was also rather unsuccessful. Henrik and I tried to go to a rugby game but it was a large competition and scalpers were selling tickets for as much as 300 francs (about $70). so that was not to be for us. We went to a friend's (Henrik's friend) apartment because we were both hungry. I appreciated the free meal but his friend Catarin was extremely annoying. (As I am attempting to write this there is a very strange French man I assume who is standing over my shoulder watching me. I asked him to leave about 15 minutes ago but he said he didn't understand. I waved him away but that didn't work either. He keeps talking to me in miserably limited English and I am completely ignoring him but he continues to talk, even as I write this. It's really quite amusing but annoying at the same time.) Catarin is from a wealthy family and has been living in Paris for six weeks and is only just now trying to find a job. She just bought an obviously expensive stereo (the money given to her by her parents) and about 10 CDs. But the worst part about her is her terribly pretentious attitude. When I said I might want to go to school in Europe she said I probably wouldn't be able to because the final examination levels in the states as compared to Europe as far as high school are a much and she emphasized much, lower level. Well, it may be true that high schools in the US are lacking a bit, I think I emerged from mine managing to at least read and write sufficiently. Plus I have the type of mentality that makes me want to take care of myself and not sponge off my parents for the rest of my life, as some spoiled children are want to do. Thinking about it now is making me angrier than I actually was at the time, so I think I'll stop.

           I have managed to live very cheaply the past several days. I changed 40 American dollars on Wednesday and 20 on Thursday. I paid for two nights at the youth hostel but have not spent much since then. I've stayed at the hostel for two nights without paying and have even befriended much of the staff. The first night I didn't pay was Friday and I managed to swindle a key to one of the unoccupied rooms on the 5th floor, which is not being used because there aren't that many occupants. The next night (Saturday) I slept in a girl's bed who I had befriended who never came back to the room. I don't plan on paying for tonight either. I will be happy to sleep on the floor if I must. My European trip will be greatly shortened if I actually do everything legitimately and pay for it. I've been getting around Paris free by just going either over or under the turnstiles at the subway. It is risky because official type people pay occasional surprise visits to the subway daily. If I were caught I don't know what I'd do or what would happen. Dougal got caught and was fined 130 francs (about 23 subway rides or about $28) it's not much, but if I can get away with it, I'll continue doing it. Today I decided to come to the Louvre because I had been told that it was free on Sundays and I thought it would make a nice place to do some writing. I got here and the guy at the ticket counter said it was 15 francs. When I started to leave he said you have not even 15 francs about $3 with you? I smiled sheepishly in shook my head and he said that it was OK for me to go in. so now I'm sitting next to the winged victory of Samothrace and writing and people watching.

           I never considered myself ethnocentric before but I am so tired of being in a country full of only brown-haired brown-eyed people whose language tends to sound a bit like Spanish when they speak very quickly. I didn't realize until I got here that the people would all be so non-Germanic. This made it difficult for me because I attract a lot of unwanted attention. I was walking down the street a few days ago and a man driving by stopped his car, got out, and came up to me, professing his love for me telling me how much he loves the white skin and the white hair. Then, another man coming from the opposite direction kind of waved him away and proceeded to tell me that he wanted to buy me dinner and take me out. Whenever things like this happen, I'm always very nice. I smile and say "no, mercy." But if they are persistent I firmly tell them no and ask them to leave me alone. Fortunately, it has never gotten to a point where I feel threatened. Because of experiences like this, I doubt if I'll stay in Spain very long. I just don't have the patience for it. I had originally thought that I might stay in Spain and try to get a job but now I'm not sure. I had even thought of going down to Morocco which is only a short ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar but now I seriously doubt it. I can't wait to get to Germany land of the Aryan race!