European Exercise XI: Gay Paree

North Station, swiped from williamnyk on Flickr.

Our last night in Cologne was definitely memorable. Some sort of domestic disturbance happened at 3:00am (the cons of staying with hosts). I slept through the whole kerfuffle but Jaz and KH filled me in on the details the next morning. Turns out that the both 'em got drunk last night. Jaz was sleeping in the kitchen and he heard the whole thing unfold. Mike kept on shouting "Warum? Warum? Warum?". That's German for "Why". Repeat that for twenty times. Actually, his partner for some reason urinated on the laminate flooring and this got Mike worked up. Guessed that some slapping around went on and the young one actually ran in and out of the house banging doors as he went. The next morning, they were so wasted (Jaz guessed that they were too embarrased) that they did not see us off. Just cooked up the last of the wurst, bread and liver pate and rushed off to Hbf for our Thalys train to Paris. The train ride was quite comfortable and the view was great. Went through beautiful countryside and it was especially scenic in Belgium with the wind power generators, rolling hills and yellow flowers partially carpeting the green. We reached the Paris Gare du Nord station after a few hours. True to his words, the station was horribly confusing with multiple levels and lousy signage. The first thing we did was purchase the Museum Pass. A painless affair. But what waited for us after was a different story. Took us fifty minutes to actually get to the right Metro line. The connection to blue line was actually quite far and I had to get help when purchasing tickets. The vending machine had no English (and was not located near the entrances, imagine my crankiness when I trudged the long tunnel to the turnstiles only to find that I had to double back to buy tickets!) and it had the funkiest interface method-- a rolling metal tube. I nearly tapped the screen to death. The best thing about it was it readily took my credit card. Even faster than the Malaysian Shell stations!



Upon reaching Menilmontant, we had to drag our luggage uphill. The 20th Arondisement is definitely one the more far-flung neighbourhoods. Not touristy at all! The street was lined with many Turkish restaurants and kosher butchers. Was quite interesting really. The apartment that we had booked from the gay bed and breakfast website was actually nearby several neighbourhood restaurants and bakeries. My only grouse was the fact that we had to trudge up 7 floors of winding and narrow wooden steps. KH was my hero and did the manual labour of moving the luggage up. Took us ninety minutes to get there. Phew! Rang the door bell and our host Alexandra opened the door and welcomed us into her home. The first thing that caught my eye was a photograph of two women eating each other's muffins underwater. Definitely not an easy feat. Yes folks, my hostess was a Lesbian photographer. Lucky for us, she had a shoot that morning and was also late getting back. She gave us the tour and basically told us to help ourselves to anything in the house. The studio apartment was very cosy with a woody feel and even cute-sy fireplace. She gave us a rundown of the nearby public transportion and pointed us in the direction of the gay district.

"You want to go to the Eiffel Tower? Actually I have not been there since I was a girl. Can't tell you much."

Haha. Expected. Before leaving us and going for a trip with her new girlfriend, she promised that she would try to get the internet working again. But that didn't work out. Our first attraction in Paris was Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Took the Metro there and we experienced first-hand the fondness that French youth have for not paying for their ride. Kids frequently shadow paying passengers and try to rush through. As a result, the turnstiles have extra security features and the staff frequently make spot-checks. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is located on the Montmarte Hill, the highest point in Paris. The architecture of the Sacré-Cœur is very different, preferring to look more like a Moorish mosque than your usual church. It also features nationalist themes with equestrian statues of Joan of Arc and King St. Louis IX. The calcite used for the construction gives the church its white splendour. Unfortunately, my visit there was marred by the 'anarchy' outside its grounds. Just at the foot of the hill, we were 'assaulted' by a band of Africans who were intent on tying a 'friendship string' around our wrists. I didn't give them the time of day. Further up the hill, a couple of Latino girls were asking for donations for their 'school'. At the door, two dodgy men without any passes were checking women's handbags. I was apalled by the lack of control.











Luckily, the sanctity of the church was not intruded upon. The interior was beautiful. Awed by the large mosaic in the apse, titled "Christ in Majesty". The details were stunning. Too bad photography wasn't allowed, but KH did take some. I was content to just sit there silently and commune with God. Outside, we took the scenic route around Montmarte, a neighbourhood of quaint houses, cobbled streets (bad for KH's limp), winding roads and slopes. Fantastic place to explore but it was really taxing. Chanced up L'espace Dalí, a Dali Musuem. Still high from the experience in Figueres, we went in. The highlights there were sculptures like "The Space Elephant", "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Persistence of Memory" (does melting clocks ring a bell?). Moving back out, we chanced upon Aviel Tan doing street photogtraphy. The hottie would lounge sexily on a random staircase somewhere and the photographer would snap away. I did not manage to join in the shoot! Blegh. Next we made a stop at Saint Pierre de Montmartre and took some photos. All the wandering around helped us work up an appetite, so we had an early dinner at La Crémaillère 1900 at Place du Tertre. The restaurant overlooks a busy tourist square filled with portrait artists. We ordered the egg cocette with salmon, beef burgundy, chocolate cake and wine. That one portion was enough for the both of us. The egg cocette was delicious and the beef stew was quite good too. Headed home after that for an early rest...