Monoprix

I’m way too exhausted to produce much of a blog post tonight, after a whirlwind day around Paris. Was extraordinaire, however! Today Sarah and I pretty much managed to accomplish everything we set out to do, which included moving her stuff to another hostel, seeing some pretty synagogues, climbing La Tour Eiffel, a partial visit of Notre Dame (more tomorrow), a very selective tour of the Louvre, a climb up the Arc de Triomphe and dinner on the Champs-Elysees encore. We were, however, disappointed that our dinner ended at 11:40 p.m., too late to stop by the nearby Monoprix (the French Target-esque store, but much MUCH more mesmerizing if that’s possible).

Sometime in the middle of the day today I learned that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, and honestly, at first I thought this was a joke. I mean, sure, the guy has accomplished a lot by becoming the first African American president and showing such a deep interest in the working class, but, come on. He hasn’t even done ANYTHING yet. What type of peace between people has he already achieved? Fine if you want to give him the award if that happens, but certainly not fine at this point. If anything, some of his current global policies are making the world an even more dangerous place, like all these leniencies with Iran. He’s putting Israel in an increasingly nerve-wracking positi0n, and if he maintains this completely pacifist position with Iran, Israel will be forced to take care of the world solo, as usual, meanwhile taking inevitable slack for doing everyone else’s dirty work as usual.

Sorry for the political rant when I’m supposed to be blogging about my trip, but this just upset me immensely.

Anyway, back to Paris.

You really have to be wary of pickpockets at the Eiffel Tower. While sitting in the park in front of the tower enjoying some nice baguette/mozzarella/tomato/basil sandwiches, Sarah and I were probably approached by about 10 different Arab women, fully cloaked in disheveled religious garb, asking us, “Do you speak English?” Gradually, we learned to pretend that we didn’t in fact speak English, because this question was a trap for vulnerable tourists. If you respond affirmatively, the women pull out note-cards with stories about their suffering and why you should give them money. And they’ll keep lurking around after you’ve made yourself totally clear that you’re not interested. Then there was a little boy who tried to trick us into taking a gold ring from him as some sort of distraction mechanism. Thank goodness we didn’t fall for it. I guess there’s crime in all cities, but you have to just be aware of the crime types specific to where you are in order to avoid them.

The climb up the Eiffel Tower was great though — we walked up as far as you could climb but then decided not to take the elevator to the tippy-top because it was extra money and a huge line. Views from even the lower platforms were absolutely beautiful, however, and perhaps even better later in the evening at Notre Dame. One ridiculous thing we saw — a mid-60s-year-old woman who decided it would be a good idea to climb the Eiffel Tower in designer stiletto heels, meanwhile wearing band-aids all over her clearly pained feet.  People are…well…special.

In all seriousness though, the people I have met through staying in these hostels really have been special in a good way — all of them are so smart and have such interesting stories and backgrounds. For example, my Paris roommates at the moment are a pair of Serbian sisters and one Japanese girl studying abroad in Sweden. This morning we talked about everything from Slobodan Milosevic/Serbian-Bosnian-Albanian conflicts to Japanese hair straightening products. : )

On that note, I think I’m going to head upstairs to shower and go to bed, especially since all three of my roommates are probably already sleeping (it’s after 1 a.m.), and I’m going to make enough accidental noise as it is.

Bonne nuit, Shabbat Shalom, Happy Simchat Torah, Chag Sameach.

ISRAEL IN TWO DAYS!!!

J’adore Paris. J’adore Paris so much that I am too exhausted to write much of a blog post today. I hope that j’adore Paris just as much tomorrow!

Quickly though, I’ll start where I left off last night. After departing from Archie and then my three-hour stay at the Internet cafe, I headed to the Carcassonne train station, which I have to say was pretty creepily empty at that hour, as were the streets. But I got there, and after dealing with Bank of America, I met my new friend Jeremie, a 21-year-old French marine. I learned all about the French army/naval/marine system, and as a parting gift, he gave me one of his genuine marine chapeaus — like the real white ones with the red pom-poms. I guess I’m collecting military stuff apparently, my friend Daniel’s Israeli paratroopers hat and now French marine apparel. Next donor?

I slept very well on the overnight train to Paris and arrived here at 7:30 this morning. Despite the grossness I felt from having not showered in the previously sweaty day and a half, I set out to explore Paris almost immediately after dropping my bags in the hostel luggage room. I started my day with reporting — talking to lot’s of Jews in both the Jewish part of Montmartre and the Marais quartier, about anti-Semitism and the impact of Israeli-Palestinian tensions upon the French-Jewish population. Among others, I spoke extensively with a bookstore owner, a group of 20-year-old religious girls and the Israeli owner of a falafel joint. It seems that a lot of Jews are quite afraid here and feel like the French media and government spins everything possible against the Jews. One of the girls said she wears shorter skirts here than she does in Israel so that people won’t immediately detect she’s Jewish, and one man said he covers his kipa with a baseball cap in public.

Oh yeah, and I had a kosher lunch, certified by the Beth Din of Paris. It was nice to be with so many Jews in France today, and made me look forward to Israel (Sunday!!!) even more, despite the fact that I’m loving Paris.

For the rest of the day I ran from place to place, photographing lot’s of the big monuments and walking along the Seine. I just cannot believe I’m in Paris, the fairytale city. City of love and lights — though, the Eiffel Tower doesn’t sparkle as much at night anymore because the city is joining the global greening effort, true story.

In the evening, I met up with Sarah again, and we had a really great time hanging out with two new friends, Alex and Russell, from Texas. We went out to a relatively inexpensive (relatively) near the Champs Elysees, where the food was amazing! (called “Le Hide”). Alex and Russell are a hilarious duo, and we spent the evening snapping ridiculous photographs and drinking “mini Cokes,” tiny little Coca-Cola cans sold at the infamous Monoprix superstore, which largely resembles a Target + groceries. We wanted to climb the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe, but it was a rainy, wet evening — so hopefully tomorrow the weather will remain great like it was all day today!

Okay, I really need to go to sleep now, and though I’ve already taken 79 photos of Paris according to my computer, I’m going to wait till I’ve taken all of my Paris photos to post them. Bonne nuit, and I hope everyone has had a good week going into Friday/Shabbat/Simchat Torah.

Layla tov.