"En Francais!"

PARIS

Exiting St. Pancras train station in London felt a bit weird because everything was written in English and people around me were speaking it.
After a week of hearing two other languages consistently, it felt odd.
I'm on a Tube double-decker bus en-route to Oxford to meet Javiss and his family. His brother Jeff is graduating from the university for archeology, so it should be a fun party ahead tonight.
But back to Paris.
Two nights in that city – felt enough. I did enjoy my time there, but I sort of didn't see the whole appeal of "Paris, J'taime."
The first night I arrived at the Plug-Inn Hostel I crashed big time. I think I needed it. Got into my shared room with two other girls around 6 p.m. and I meant to only sleep for an hour or two. I woke up at around 10:30 p.m.
I still ended up going out to the Champs Elysses strip and tested out Dave's Gorillapod with picture-taking.
A single woman with a camera seems to attract creepy guys or at least gives a reason for creepy guys to go up to you.
While walking south to Franklin Roosevelt, I watched a clown entertain some parents and kids. I started snapping away. He asked me if I could e-mail me and gave me his address and pointed to his cheek for a kiss. OK, fine, I'm in Paris. Whatever.
And then he went in for the lips. EUGH.
The metro closes around 12:45 a.m. or 1:15 a.m. depending on which areas of the city you're in. I was looking at the map, trying to figure out how to get back to my station, Blanche.
A young guy stood beside me and through my broken French, I conveyed this is where I have to go. He started asking me questions about where I'm from, gave me a high five...and somehow he started to hold my hand. Down the street, he held my hand, while I felt really awkward and uncomfortable.
I wasn't sure if it was a "Parisian thing" so I didn't really want to be rude. Eventually though, I was trying to explain to him that I had a boyfriend and he didn't understand. I told him, "OK, je suis trouvee seul un taxi. Au revoir."
Cabbed it home. I ended up staying near the Moulin Rouge, where all the seedy sex clubs are at. Didn't really mind it.
Day 2 - was a long one. Got up earlier and checked out the Eiffel Tower while gypsies kept trying to sell gawdy gold coloured tower keychains to tourists. Again, played around with the gorillapod. Is it weird that all I could think about was that scene in 28 Weeks Later with the zombies running towards the tower?
Met up with Dominika for lunch at Les Deux Abeilles and wow, when this girl is on a European food tour, she knows her stuff. Amazing egg and tomato dish with ginger and honey lemonade. Season pie for dessert.
Explored the St. Paul area for shopping. Erin told me in Europe that they have government-regulated sales twice a year. Just so happens we came at the right time. Still, I couldn't find anything that fit me properly or caught my eye, and a lot of stuff was still ridiculously overpriced. C'mon, Europe! Cater to the short Asian women!
Checked out the Louvre, don't think I even scratched the surface, but hey, I went.
Went walking...for quite a long time. From the Latin Quarter back to the Eiffel Tower. I think I must've walked 10 km. yesterday.
Tried going into Chez L'Ami Jean, but they shut me out twice during my Parisian visit. Rude about me not having a reservation. Sheesh. "We're all booked up," is what the snooty girl kept saying.
I ended up going to another restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Terrible. Wrong order, shoddy service, poor food. But I did get to see the tower glitter for a short while, which I have to admit, is a bit tacky-looking.
Today's food choice was much better – sampled escargots and they weren't bad! Tasted like mushrooms, sort of. And a duck confit, which was very tasty. Ah, glad my gastronomic experience ended off well. Also picked up a pack of those macaroons that Dom was raving about, but I think i'll wait until I get back home to dig in.
Didn't really get to meet any new people, but loved that I ran into Dominika while I was there.
"You just can't escape the foul stench of Toronto!" I said as I gave her a hug.
Oi! London next...

To be continued.