3/24/17 - Paris - Bonjour Banshee

DAY 1 - 3/22/17 - Wednesday

The Land of Nutella

After a relatively uneventful exit from Lithuania, I arrived in Paris on Wednesday morning. The flight was interesting; since it departed from Vilnius it was almost entirely composed of Lithuanians, so most of the announcements were made in three languages - Lithuanian, English, and French. The feeling of ignorance at only knowing one language was a continuing theme as an American traveling abroad.

Still, it was great to finally be in a country where I could read, speak and understand a little of the language! In Lithuania I couldn't even pronounce words correctly. I was sad to leave Vilnius, which I grew to love, but Paris felt so comfortable. Like coming home.

Also came home to Nutella crepes.

I flew into the Paris Beauvais airport about an hour outside the city, and then took a long distance bus and two lines of metro, knocking into strangers with my giant turtle backpack and almost plowing over a small child whilst trying to get off at the correct stop (since when did they get so short?). Finally I arrived to the peace and quiet of Noémie's bright and cozy flat in the 11th arrondissement, my home for the week. 

Way back in 2004, my family was extremely fortunate to have been assigned a French exchange student who is one of the best people in the entire world - Noémie. We are still good friends to this day, almost 13 years later, and she has been back to visit Portland several times. She graciously hosted me at her flat for 3 days, with plans to go up north to see her family in Lille for the weekend. When I got into the apartment, she had set up a breakfast station for me - complete with Nutella!! What a class act.

I ate spoonfuls of it. Seriously, not an exaggeration, spoonfuls.

After gathering myself together and resting a bit, I went out to explore. I found a beautiful church nearby called Notre Dame de Lacroix. No affiliation with the sparkling water company (as far as I can tell) but did you know that the name LaCroix is not nonsense and actually means "the cross" in French? Now you do!

Just realized how much I miss LaCroix.

Inside the church. Still no sign of any flavored sparkling water.

I walked around a bit more, grinning like an idiot on account of the euphoria of being in Paris. It was actually surprising how overwhelming it felt to walk around the busy streets. 

Besides traipsing around smiling like a goon, I saw a lot of cool looking people and found a door handle shaped like a hand.

Sugar coma had probably set in by now.

Finally it was dinner time! Noémie was working all day, so we met up at a delicious Italian restaurant called Ober Mamma. It was one of those places where you had to line up about an hour before they opened. I got in line and she met me a little later - it was a joyous reunion!

We caught up and chatted over yummy pizza, pasta, cocktails and wine. Noémie (and her parents) treated us to dinner, because again they are some of the loveliest people in the world. It was so nice to see my old friend again!

Look how happy we are! And we hadn't even started on the pizza.

And that was that, my first wonderful day in Paris. I'm not going to lie the La La Land soundtrack was playing through my head all day. And now I have it in my head again. And now you probably do, too.

DAY 2 - 3/23/17 - Thursday

Crepes with a Homie

I woke up late on Noémie's extremely comfortable futon bed. She had already left for work, so I lounged for awhile, ate some Nutella (quelle surprise), and finally got my things together and left the flat for the day.

Noémie's flat is located in a perfect vintage-looking French building, right down to the staircase.

Old, creaky, wooden.

I walked around some more, continuing to grin like an idiot, and somewhere along the way managed to order a crepe IN FRENCH. Alas, I couldn't quite understand the ingredients and it ended up involving tuna, but c'est la vie.

I found another pretty church and went inside. I love wandering around churches while traveling because they are (usually) quiet, relatively empty, and peaceful. To be perfectly honest I can't remember what this one was called or where it was.

One of the first times Google has failed me.

As stated in my introduction post, it's been a tough year. I'm honestly not sure how this works but I lit a candle for three people who were lost this year and will always be in our hearts: OS, Uncle David, and Laura. Each of you is thought of, loved, and missed often.

❤

I continued on and ended up stopping at another church. This one was easier to find via Google, and is a great example of a church that is not quiet, empty, or especially peaceful. It is called Notre-Dame de Paris.

Recently discovered the magic of PERPENDICULAR panoramas.

And there's me in front of it! Photo by someone who doesn't know about perpendicular panoramas.

The inside - I had to literally wait in line to get this shot.

Selfie sticks = sacrilegious.

Notre-Dame is indescribably huge. Construction on the cathedral was completed around the year 1345, which just boggles the mind further - they built this gigantic structure almost 700 years ago. 

After standing in awe of the Notre-Dame for awhile, I went to the Sainte-Chappelle, in order to get my mind blown again. Emerging from the staircase into the main chapel is breathtaking; it feels like being inside a jewel. Even the ceiling is a pretty pattern. This chapel was completed even earlier than the Notre-Dame, in 1248. Meanwhile America has recently come up with anti-wrinkle khaki pants, so we've got that going for us.

Although to be fair pants are useful to everyone and chapels just sit there. So HAH.

Incredible, detailed stained glass. Like many things in Paris, photos don't do it justice.

Moving right along; I reluctantly left the jewel-chapel and meandered my way to the Seine to see the nearby Pont Neuf. As I've mentioned before Europeans really have a thing for putting locks on bridges, and it seems that this trend started in Paris on the Pont des Arts and exploded outwards. The fence in front of the Pont Neuf had literally every inch covered in locks, with some locks locked onto other locks. 

Nothing says love like placing your love lock among thousands of other love locks.

I ended up at the tip of the Ile de la Cité, and got a nice photo before a couple showed up and ruined it by making out enthusiastically in front of the tree.

They had probably just found an open bit of railing to put their lock onto.

I continued to meander, which was apparently my travel method of choice in Paris, and which suited me just fine. I walked along the Boulevard Saint-Germain for awhile, stopping at a Kilo Shop, which is exactly like it sounds - a shop that sells clothes by the kilo. This was extremely exciting at first, until I realized that the cheapest price was about €20 per kilo. Meaning that the simple cardigan I picked up was over €10. I could buy two Nutella banana crepes for that price!

After wandering for awhile longer, I went to meet up with Augustin, another wonderful exchange student my family has had the pleasure of hosting. We have truly been so lucky to have been connected with such great people in this way. Augustin is originally from Annecy but has lived in Paris for several years, and is now working on his PhD. His research involves flying in a plane that drops him into free falls so he can experiment with different ways of stopping fires in zero gravity. He is quite literally a "firefighter in space", as he put it. He is basically a French space version of Indiana Jones.

We met at a crepe restaurant, but before dinner Augustin took me on a mini-tour of Montparnasse. By this point it was dark out, and raining slightly, which made everything that much more picturesque. We went to a street that had a poem written on the walls - sections of Le Bateau ivre by Arthur Rimbaud.

"the drunken boat"

Lovely Paris.

At the restaurant, we both got a dinner and dessert crepe each. It was phenomenal. And it was so great to see and catch up with Augustin! We have also known each other for a long time, about 10 years now.

Originally Noémie was supposed to meet us at the restaurant, but she got held up with a work event. I will leave you with this photo of Augustin enjoying a crepe.

Augustin: Crepe and Montparnasse guide extraordinaire!

DAY 3 - 3/24/17 - Friday
Market, Arch, Giant Metal Tower

Noémie had to work again, and when I finally left her flat on Friday morning I stumbled into a street market right out the front door. I walked all the way along the length of the market and back, mesmerized by the sights, sounds, and smells.

Overwhelming in a good way.

There were tons of people and everything was so cheap! You could find almost anything there: fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy, bread, clothes, watches, shoes, kitchen utensils, electronics...

Poulpe.

Concombres! Haricots verts!

Kitchen items.

Most of the regulars had these rolling shopping bags.

I went a little nuts and got an array of food, plus a watch, for around €12. For Paris this was very very exciting.

They even had cheese! The watch was €5. It has since broken.

Cheese addiction starting to take hold.

After eating literally the entire round of goat milk brie cheese, and almost an entire baguette, and after the obligatory phases of shame followed by acceptance, I set out to explore. I decided to spend some time at the more famous monuments, starting with the Arc de Triomphe. Like Notre-Dame, it is staggeringly huge.

Another perpendicular panorama for your viewing pleasure.

And there's me in front of it! 

I thought about paying to climb to the top of the Arc, but decided against it as the line was far too long.

I went in search of the Tour Eiffel, which was easy to locate on the horizon but surprisingly difficult to navigate to among the dozens of angled streets. My sense of direction really is atrocious and did not do me any favors.

This direction? Maybe!

Finally, I found it! There were plenty of tourists there but really not as many as I was expecting. Again, the line to go up in the tower was so long I didn't even consider joining it.

Horse & Tower

Me & Tower & Construction Fences

After that I wandered back to meet up with Noémie at her flat. Unfortunately, after the following photo of four large wheels of cheese, I fell down on my photo taking duties.

There you go, the last photo of the night.

This was a shame because the rest of Friday was so much fun! Although we are both terrible cooks, Noémie and I managed to make a delicious vegetable tart without a recipe. I still don't know how we did it. Probably the miracle of overseas friendship.

Once the tart had been tart-ed we rushed to take a city bus to Noémie's friend Suzanne's apartment in the Marais, where we would watch the French version of "Survivor" (called "Koh-Lanta") with two other girls. Suzanne's apartment was like a page straight out of Pinterest. It was absolutely adorable, vintage-y with high ceilings and wooden beams and a balcony and lovely decorations everywhere.

I couldn't pay attention to the decor for too long though, as we all gathered around to watch a very entertaining and dramatic episode of Koh-Lanta. I was shocked at how much of it I could understand, even though I haven't had a French class since 2008. Noémie's friends were incredibly sweet and friendly and we all had a great time talking and eating the food that everyone brought. Afterwards the girls had a clothing exchange of old clothes they didn't want anymore, and I got to take home several pieces! And since they are all adorable and stylish French girls, the discard clothes were way cuter than anything I brought with me abroad and have completely upgraded my travel wardrobe.

And that brings a close to my 2017 visit of Paris. It truly and completely lives up to the hype.

3/21/17 - Lithuania Part 5 - The Last Two Days

DAY 8 - 3/20/17 - Monday
The Problem With Kalvarijų and Kalvarijos

Monday was one of my first truly "relaxing" days, where I wasn't planning a day trip across the country or sprinting to catch some kind of transportation. The planned highlight was going on a tour of Verkiai Regional Park (in Lithuanian: Verkių regioninis parkas) with Linas. I slept in and then wandered around town, stopping at a cafe for a bagel and tea. A couple brought their dog in and I suppressed the urge to run over and pet it.

Barely.

I was supposed to meet Linas at a bus stop near the park at 15:30. Unfortunately, due to my ignorance of the Lithuanian language, I waited at the wrong bus stop and ended up having to take another bus, making me almost 30 minutes late. You see, there is both a "Kalvarijų" bus stop (the one I waited at) and a "Kalvarijos" bus stop (the one I was supposed to be at). They are not very close except in spelling.

The one benefit of this mishap was that I stopped at a Spauda (little stand near most bus stations selling newspapers and snacks) and bought a packet of Fruitella. Fruitella is a candy similar to Starburst, except that Starburst is ok and Fruitella is a creamy angel candy sent from above.

Top ingredients: sugar, fruit flavor, crack cocaine (probably).

One crowded bus ride later, I finally made it to the correct stop, where Linas was waiting. Since we now had a limited time before he had to get back to the seminary at 6, we immediately set off to explore the park. It was (surprise) another cloudy day, but this just made it all the more beautiful and mysterious in my opinion.

Passing by a cemetery.

This park, like many things in Lithuania, is interesting as well as beautiful. It contains the Verkiai Calvary, which was created in the 1660s with instruction from Dominican monks. The Calvary has 22 baroque-style chapels that were built nearly identically to the distances, elevations, and bodies of water of Jerusalem. Don't ask me how they calculated those distances in the 17th century. It probably has something to do with all that physics - aka science magic - I learned in high school and college. 

One of the chapels in the park, cemetery to the right.

It was a chilly day and there was almost no one else there, but we did see a couple of runners. After walking through the park for awhile, we came to a lookout point at the top of an old mill-turned-restaurant. The lookout point had a fence with "love locks" clasped on it, like the Pont des Arts in Paris. This sticking locks on fences thing seems to be a common theme with Europeans. 

A lock someone before me placed, most likely in honor of my cat, Creamsicle.

Panorama from the Lookout. (New band name I call it!)

There were a few old and sophisticated looking buildings at the top of the lookout as well. Linas told me that they were all just administration buildings, and that this was fairly common in Lithuania. Apparently many of the beautiful old structures built before the Soviet occupation were left abandoned after it, and there was now an excess of them. 

Worlds Most Majestic Administration Building

Top of the lookout point.

After appreciating the view, we headed down the stairs back to the mill/restaurant for a quick coffee. We were the only people in the whole place besides the staff, and the inside was lovely. There was a multi-level dining area made of dark wood, with thick beams, a couple of roaring fires in stone fireplaces, and old mill equipment strewn attractively around. It was dark and cozy, and there was a stream outside with the old wooden mill wheel alongside it. It felt exactly like a more comfortable version of the blacksmith's shop in Pirates of the Caribbean, aka the single greatest movie ever made. 

The only picture I have of the outside of the mill, from the lookout point stairs.

Me and Linas in the mill, having a quick duel before our coffees.

An old piece of mill equipment.

Afterwards, with minutes to spare, I walked Linas back to the seminary and then took the bus back to Vilnius. I stopped at a couple of second hand stores and bought a raincoat which ended up being unfortunately useful.

I ended the night having dinner at a restaurant (delicious lamb burger and potatoes for about €6), then tea at the hostel. This time I actually went to bed at a decent hour. No jokes!


DAY 9 - 3/21/17 - Tuesday
Perfect and Amazing

Tuesday, my last day in Vilnius, is one I will never forget. Following Linas' recommendations, I saw four incredible sights - a lookout point called Pūčkorių atodanga; a cemetery called Antakalnio kapinės; the Church of St Peter and St Paul, and the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy.

I started out by taking the bus out to the lookout point, which was the furthest away, with the intention of walking back to the city and stopping at the other sites along the way. It was pouring rain in Vilnius that morning. Most of the time the bus schedules are pretty accurate on Google maps, but sometimes buses simply don't show up, which happened this time. I waited for around 45 minutes for my bus to come. During that time several other buses came and went, including one type that I've seen occasionally here - a van that is converted to a city bus, holding about 12 people. 

Sometimes they are literally mini vans.

I got off at the bus stop nearest Pūčkorių atodanga, and walked about 100 meters along the highway to the base of the lookout point. By now I was pretty comfortable walking in strange places where there are no other humans. 

After a quick coffee at a tiny shop at the base, I headed up the gently sloped stairs to the lookout. At the top there was a series of interconnected wooden walkways, and a really nice view with a dramatic cliff. I also took full advantage of the lack of people to take a series of embarrassing self-timer photos.

Navigating the pathways.

Casual railing lean.

The view! Cliff to the right. The panorama makes it seem less dramatic. It was steep.

As I was about to leave, I caught sight of something to the left of the lookout, and went to investigate. It was an extremely creepy bunker-type structure set into the ground. There was an information panel, but it was partially covered in black paint. And was only in Lithuanian. 

The information panel seemed to show a kind of passageway inside the bunker, as in you could go inside and there would be hallways and chambers.

NO THANK YOU I'M GOOD.

I got close enough to take a photo and then left before the demons could draw me in.

After getting my fill of the lookout point and the creepy bunker, I left to go to the cemetery (Antakalnio kapinės). On Google maps, it didn't seem too far away, so I decided to walk it. It doesn't even seem necessary anymore to mention that the walk included sprinting across a four lane freeway, passing an old abandoned train station, and walking down a deserted dirt road in the middle of a wood where there was an active shooting range (I could hear several shots go off). Again, I think this place was meant to be reached by car and not on foot. Which meant getting there felt all the more victorious. 

Just after crossing the highway. I was committed now.

Looking back at the sketchiest storage area I have ever come across. Shooting range entrance to the right.

Abandoned train station.

When I finally got to the cemetery, it was magnificent. I was the only one there, and after the rain from earlier in the day everything looked and smelled damp and fresh. The sun was shining through the trees and it was beautiful. All of the graves, especially the newer ones, were intricately decorated and some were very old.

And many had fresh flowers on top.

Newer tomb.

Older ones. The headstone on the right, made of metal, was so old and rusted the name and dates had worn off.

Grave with a tree growing through it.

I could have spent hours here, it was so peaceful and the graves were so intricate and lovely. As I was walking around the newer graves something caught my attention down the hill, and I went over to investigate. It was rows and rows of military graves - this cemetery is actually known for being a military cemetery, and there were thousands of military graves in all. Every headstone that I looked at in this section had a date of death of 1915 - soldiers of World War I.

I couldn't find any information about the difference in the two types of headstones (white stone or cross), my guess is either religion or nationality of the soldier.

I continued walking and found even more military graves. It was a beautiful, tragic place.

Monument to soldiers.

I love the colors in this.

At some point a fog rolled in. The lighting was amazing.

More military graves. Each one had a candle on top, some were actually lit.

Panorama of some of the military graves.

It was a great, saddening, and thoughtful experience visiting the cemetery. As the light was beginning to fade, I headed on to the Church of St Peter and St Paul.

Fortunately this time the route was actual, normal streets that people walk on, and it wasn't too far away. The outside of the church was really lovely and the inside was breathtaking. I happened to go inside right as mass was about to start, and sat in the very back for awhile before quietly leaving.

Sun starting to go down on an epic day.

Front of the church.

The inside. Photos don't do it justice.

Walking back to Vilnius.

Finally I was on the way to my last destination of the day: the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy, located in central Vilnius near the university. It contains paintings of imagery from the Divine Mercy devotion to Jesus Christ. 

Currently, the church is undergoing reconstruction, and when I entered it was completely dark, quiet, and freezing cold. After walking around for a minute or so I heard someone else come in, an old man who must have been the caretaker. He spoke almost no English but turned on the lights and walked around and showed me everything. At the end he pointed me towards the offering box, where I deposited all of the smaller cash I had - admittedly only 4 or 5 euro. It was a very nice experience and the paintings were intricate and beautiful.

Not sure where the window light is coming from...it was darker in my memory.

And that's it! I can't believe my time in Lithuania went by so fast. I love Vilnius, and I had an incredible time exploring all over Lithuania. It is a beautiful country with a fascinating history and so much to see. I would definitely go back, and definitely stay at Jimmy Jumps House again.

My journey to Paris early Wednesday morning went off almost without a hitch. Except that I forgot to pay for the hostel and left my driver's license there. Ah well, at least I didn't miss my flight.