A day of free museums and petanque.

The first Sunday of every month in Paris offers free entry to a lot of museums. The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Rodin…all of these are gratuit! So what’s the catch? THE LINES. I headed out on a late Sunday morning armed with my SLR Pentax KX camera and walking shoes, ready to see beaucoup de musees! Alas, once I saw the line at the Louvre, I realized every other tourist on Labor Day weekend had the same idea. It was probably a good two hours long. Au revoir to the Louvre.

I walked down the Jardin de Tuileries, getting the white gravel dust all over my sandals, feet, and tights. Lovely. By the end I looked like a common peasant. It brought back a lot of memories; it seems like almost yesterday I was walking down there with three girls from my study abroad class in London. We came to Paris for a whirlwind weekend and walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower. Then we bought really cheap, gross rose and lay out on the grass until it got dark. Oh, to have girlfriends again!

I walked until I saw another museum, the Petits Palais. Seeing how it was free, I walked in and was immediately scolded by an old, Asian security guard. Sorry, but yelling at me and pointing does not a translation make. I finally realized I had to check my backpack because I was a potential terrorists carrying biological weapons. I had to do this at every museum actually. The moral? Bring a large purse, no backpack.

The Petit Palais was a bit boring, as I can’t stand old Asian pottery, but there were some lovely French Revolution-era trinkets. Sure, it would be nice if I could read the descriptions, but it’s part of the fun of not speaking the language here!
I did a loop around the Seine, enjoying seeing other tourists buy crap from the guys on the quai. Little Eiffel Towers, shitty watercolor paintings, umbrellas with cherubs, all can be found here.

I stumbled upon the Musee D’Orsay, and though I hadn’t eaten in several hours and was feeling quite crappy, I forced myself to wait in the not-so-hideous line. The museum was, of course, gorgeous. Like an insanely embellished train station covered with gold and dotted with statues. And yet somehow modern. There was some really great Art Nouveau furniture pieces there. Sadly, my weak metabolism only let me stay an hour before I knew I had to go home and eat whatever shitty food I had in my baby fridge. I really need to start cooking here, I’m just lazy. All I have is a hot plate, so that’s basically grilling meat or making spaghetti. Lately I’ve been eating spreadable pate on white bread, followed by a dozen figs and then some plain yogurt. Living it up in Paris, FOR SURE.

Once I’d gotten home and eaten, I headed out yet again to meetup.com event proclaiming “FUN PARIS URBAN ADVENTURES!” How could I not go? For I truly love urban adventures with strangers I’ve just met…

When I got off the Laumiere stop in the 19th arr., it of course took forever to find the canal. And then I couldn’t find the right people. It’s like a blind date with twenty strangers. The courage (or whatever you call it) to finally walk up to them and say, “Um, hi, are you with…uh…meetup.com?” It takes a lot. Or at least it does for me.

But I found them, and it was an interesting mix of Canadians, Americans, British, French, and Israelites. Most seemed older. Without being too judgmental (oh, who am I kidding?) it was not exactly the “cool kids.” But am I complaining? Not at all.
So we played a couple bad games of petanque, which is a classic French game that consists of throwing silver balls at other balls and drinking. Quite pleasant. Seeing that a beer can costs at least five bucks, I sadly realized that I will not be getting drunk for the next nine months, unless I’m at home drinking a bottle of 2 Euro wine—which is probably more fun anyway.

After the games winded down, a group of us sat near the canal and talked. Mike, a guy from Ohio, has been here a year. A bit of an attitude, but he’s short, so that’s a given. Vladimir, a guy from Tel Aviv/San Diego who was quite nice, and Leora, a short, dykey girl from Montreal. We ended up going out to dinner and getting pizza at a place guaranteeing “feu au bois”—wood-fired pizza. It wasn’t that great, but hey! My first meal with friends!

We talked about conversion rates, cell phone plans, where we lived. Of course everyone enjoyed my masturbation story. Then we got on the metro and went our separate ways. I got home at a whopping 10pm! Wow! Late night! And I was in a good mental state of mind before I went to sleep, which is always nice. I like Leora. She’s your typical chill Canadian who is getting her doctorate in neuroscience. We were supposed to get a drink Monday night but she asked for a raincheck since she’s flying to Albania tomorrow. Glamorous.