Thursday 31-07 - The Norwegians, the Tower

The Eiffel Tower. Finally we got round to seeing it. If you get lost, just follow the tourists. I had forgotten that its mostly a brownish colour. And kind of an eyesore. We went anyway but didn't make the ascent to the top. The lines of summer tourists were overwhelming. We took some photos then walked down the park nearby to get a better view.





The tour in the background was the perfect spot for some jumping photos. I´m a big fan of the jumping photo – it adds another dimension to the shot. And its fun to do. Dani and Josh were playing around with multiple shots with a self timer. We set up the photo stand on the muddy grass. Then we jumped and jumped. Each set of shots needed 6 or so jumps in a row. We held hands while jumping and kept jumping out of sync with each other. We must have looked ridiculous, but I had a ball.



The rest of the park led to a war memorial and a metro station. Next up we trained back to our own area, to Pere Lachaisse cemetery. I´ve found something very odd about grave tourism. something strangely macabre. The place was huge, with its own street map and avenues. The streets were lined with house like mausoleums. It felt like a miniature town that had been abandoned long ago. I liked the really old mausoleums with doors rusting off.

We followed the map to Jim Morrison´s grave. It was modest compared to the towers of stone around it. It was also the only grave fenced off from the path. That hadn't stopped people from placing all sorts of gifts by it. Flowers, feathers, letters. Candles, cigarettes and a fan. We stayed for a short while, but it was just a grave.

We found Max Ernst at the crematorium. He sat behind a stone square in the wall with his name and number. A step backwards and he disappeared into the thousands of squares around him. Very modest, no fan mail or tributes.

Then Oscar Wilde who had the best grave I think. A monument of stone with a flying woman on the front. And covered with kisses of lipstick and paint. It was a touching addition,everyone leaving a kiss of him. The three of us added our own.





We made our way back, stopping to pick up more quiche and a cherry tart from the local awesome bakery. The cherry tart full of custard and oh so tasty.



Then we did laundry.



Dani wanted Couscous so we found a near by specializing in it. We got a vege soup sauce pot with a huge plate of couscous, plus some chicken on the side. We couldn't finish it all there was much soup and couscous.



We spent time in the hostel bar. Later in the evening we finally set off to find our Paris clubbing experience. There was a bar we liked the look of that was supposed to be electro. Plus free entry that night.

We caught the train there. The train ride was fun. On the train there was a group of people about our age who dressed like they might be going to this club. A girl and two guys. We thought we could follow these locals to the club.





As we all got off we spotted them looking at a map and asking directions. They weren´t Parisian, or even French. We all found the club together. Turns out they were Norwegian, which is awesome. We all spent the night talking and complaining about how expensive the drinks were. Apparently on the train they thought WE were the local Paris kids.