Importing friends in Paris

Week 2 in Paris was all about house guests!

First stop, Montmartre.  Its a tiny little community on the north side of Paris.  I'm told the people that live there are very much like "southbay" folks in that they rarely leave their bubble.  There are 2 windmills on Montmartre, this one pictured at the very top of the hill and the famous red one cresting Moulin Rouge.

 Once you hoof it to the top of the hill near the Sacre Coeur, there is a small square of artists, caricaturists, vendors and little restaurants to peruse and people watch from.

The Sacre Coeur is a beautiful church that overlooks all of Paris.  The view from above is amazing, so I used my Pirate scope (Thanks Mark!) to take in the full view.

Arrrrrrrr! 

Thursday afternoon at Montmartre

Friday was an excellent day.  My girlfriend, Jette was coming in from Frankfurt to visit.  I decided to go on an adventure to wash my sheets and clothes and I ventured out to the laundromat, French style!  But first, I had to buy detergent and lunch since I had a few hours to kill.... amazingly, the pre-made ham and cheese sandwich I purchased was pretty delicious...until I dropped it on the floor.  FML

Since I had time to kill, i grabbed my little sewing kit and officially added France to my pack.  Just the patch, not the flag (wink wink)

YAY!  Jette's here!!!

 Jetta arrived fairly late, so we stopped in at Maison Bertillion on accident and I had the ice cream that Bill and Rob recommended Pistachio and chocolate....with wine, of course.

Oui! Magnifique! Nice pick Bill and Rob

 So, the damn Velib bikes that had been taunting me through the city for the past week were finally on the chopping block for American domination.  Fortunately, Jette has a chip in her credit card, so we conquered the city via the road.  Here's the deal with Velib bike.  There are thousands of bikes located all over the city and for 1.7 euros, you can ride them in half hour increments as much as you like all day long.  within 30 minutes, you just return the bike and grab a new one. Sounds amazing, right?  Well, they are...in theory. Here are the problems:

1. They don't take swipe credit cards.
2. you can't get anywhere in Paris by bike in 30 minutes.  There are so many pedestrians and traffic lights that its difficult to make it to your destination in less than 20 minutes.
3. good luck finding a Velib station to return your bike to. They are all over the city and supposedly every 500 meters, but I can NEVER find them.
4. half the time, you get to a station and the racks are full.
5. If you keep the bike past 29 minutes, you get charged 1 euro for an extra 30 minutes.  If you go over 1 hour, you get charged an additional 2 euros for the additional half hour.

None of these would really be deal breakers if you had internet on your phone, there is an app that shows you were available bikes and bike return is, but since I'm a bum and don't have internet yet, I'm screwed.  So, Velib bikes are actually a little stressful to new residents/visitors.  Ride on bitches...

Jetta and I rode to the Louvre and played by the fountain.

I attempted to do a jumping picture, which I've found I'm not really that good at. But, considering they are not selfies, I'm happy.

I forced Jette to make one too!

 We rode all around St. Germain des Pres and Notre Dame prior to napping in one of my favorite little spots, Jardin du Luxumbourg.

This is that little cabaret I went to on my date... I didn't find it on purpose, but it was a fun little accident. Sometimes, getting lost is fun and no, I will never find this again.

In the Jardin du Luxumbourg, there were sailboats floating representing dozens of countries....I found Old Glory, gave it a salut and on we went...

A long day of napping and biking deserves an assortment of fromage and wine. So we did.

Back to the love lock bridge.  Apparently, the ones in Germany are not this full with locks, so we went. And, no, we did not lock up our friendship on the dumbass bridge and toss away the key... we had bikes to return and we were racing the clock!

Jette at the congested love lock bridge

sweat+wind+velib+nap = sexy beach hair...who needs a beach??

Sunday, Jette and I decided to go back up to Montmartre to go to the largest flea market in Paris,
Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen.  There are no photos of it because it was also the most underwhelming flea market that we have been to in a while.

Yeah, so I look like a cow in this dress.  It might be the most unflattering dress of all time.  Summer told me it looked like a granny dress when I tried to wear it to Stagecoach last spring, but I was convinced cowboy boots saved it. Summer, you were right.  This is the worst dress ever. Its so unflattering. I quickly tossed it in the trash when I got home from this Montmartre trip.  The good news, however, is that now I have room in my bag for something NEW!!!

RIP denim granny dress

Not even cowboy boots and a hat can save this dress. 

RIP denim granny dress