One of the hottest days so far woke me up early and the beautiful sunshine tempted me outside, quietly whispering that my ever-growing readings and school work could wait and playing in the sunshine in the rues of Paris was the only appropriate way to spend the day. What would I do without the voices in my head (everyone has them right.....right?).
Anyway, we set off to the metro with the plan to visit Champs Elysees and join the throngs of tourists that constantly line one of the most famous streets in the world. On our way to the metro station we stroked upon a pop up market which stretched for miles along the street right outside our accomodation, the beautiful Boulevard Jourdan. We meandered through the stalls and saw the biggest variety of 'stuff' I've ever seen. From old records to kitchen applicances, wooden dolls and old school porn, this market made sure to really broaden its target market. We looked through the stuff (some people spent longer in certain stalls..) before the heat got too intense and we had to combat it. So we bought crepes. (Note for future reference: Nutella and Banana crepes, while delicious, are not the appropriate snack for a bustling metro ride).
With a stomach full of sugar and God knows what else they put in those things to make them taste so good, we set off (finally) on the metro. A sunny Saturday morning definitely makes for sweaty, steamy, crowded metros and on more than one occasion I got up to discover I was actually stuck to the vinyl seats and had to quickly peal myself away before the doors shut. There's something unsettling about sitting in a seat that is disturbingly warm when you have no idea who sat there before you (and what they left behind).
Finally arriving on the Champs Elysees we were greeted by a slightly lower temperature and we waltzed up the rue like we owned the place (well, we tried. Us New Zealander's wouldn't know how, everyone else looked like they were locals). We only died from near miss traffic accidents a handful of times (not bad considering bad french drivers and lots of tourists who they hate means most of the time they are actually tyring to hit you). We got our obligatory snaps (best view of the Arc de Triomphe is from the middle of the street, resulting in cars driving extremely close to unsuspecting snappers) and visited the obligatory shops (Louis Vuitton etc. The idea that we should all buy something just for a wee memento was quickly abandoned when we realised even a key ring costs more than our cars, combined).
We decided to escape the tourist haunt and caught a train to the ever styley Jewish quarter, the Marais district. We simply wandered the streets, eating ice creams and admiring the vintage shops that lined the cobblestone streets.
We grabbed some picnic ingredients from the supermarche and headed back for a picnic dinner on the Cite lawn, involving, of course, baguettes, cheese and wine. While halfway through our picnic we got asked to move off the main lawn onto another one because of a "manifestation" that was going to take place. (I'm just going to use the french word here as there was some heated controversy around what manifestation translates to in english. Some think demonstration, others think protest and some thought it was just a manifestation).
While we are becoming used to these crazy french protests all the time, we were somewhat disappointed when nothing happened and people who had stayed around to watch slowly started to leave. But out of nowhere about 100 people in matching orange tops and white pants (either they had all coordinated outfits or they have very similar taste) streamed out from the main building. Some impressive chanting and music playing was followed by an incredible human pryamid of sorts. About 6 people were on the bottom, standing and 6 more people stood on their shoulders, followed by 6 more on theirs and so on, until there were people standing on each others shoulders about 6 people lengths high. This happened for about half an hour as they got down then started again, sometimes getting higher. By far the most bizarre and peaceful protest I have ever witnessed. I can only think it was trying to bring awareness to the dangers of not checking what others are wearing before meeting up.
We left as the sun was setting, casting a beautiful golden hue on the gorgeous buildings and making the large lawn look like a (happier and more french) version of a Mad Hatter's tea party.
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