It’s weekly catch up time! Okay, it is a little over a week, sorry. But yes, I’m still in Paris and still alive, although I did go to the empire of the dead…

So, I did some more self guided walking tours. The sun is finally showing it self, and spring is definitely here! After all that rain, I love walking around the city, even if I have to dodge all the other tourists. Especially walking down the Champs Élysées, crazy busy. I quickly stopped by at Petit Palais, because I didn’t realise this was kinda for free, you don’t need a ticket to get in! I didn’t stay long to see the whole exhibition, because when Nella and Mila are here, they want to go here too, so that is to be continued. But is was so pretty!! Anyways, I strolled further along the Champs Élysées, down to the Tuileries for some lunch.

I was pretty done after a few hours, and decided to go back home for a pitstop, and booked myself some tickets for the cinema. Now, I know there was a risk here, since we all know the French reputation for their English, but I had good hopes, the cinema was a Pathé one, the same we have back home, and Google said these times were the ones with the original language. Which would be English, since I was going to see Guardians of the Galaxy. The weird talking animals in space. So, I was relaxing in there, with only like 8 other people. Although, there were also a few kids, which didn’t give me that much hope. As the commercials and trailers played, the trailers were at first in English, so hope goes up just a bit. Then they show the same trailers, but in French. And the movie begins, and it is all in French. Big yay. But, since I payed for it all, including popcorn and everything, I was like, you know what, let’s just stay and enjoy this weird experience. It was actually quite fun, because you get an whole different perspective on the movie. I had no idea what was said of course, but with body language and sort of figuring out what the story was about, it was cool! And I just laughed at myself for staying.

The next day, which was Wednesday, I didn’t had that much planned during the day, so I just chilled at home for a bit, starting to feel a cold coming up. But in the evening however, I had booked a tour via Airbnb. I wasn’t aware before that they don’t just rent out houses, but experiences as well! And this wasn’t just an ordinary tour, but a haunted one! It started at 21:00, right before the Notre Dame. Our tour gide was an American guy, who moved and studied some history thing here in Paris, and was super passionate with his stories. He told us about some ghosts haunting the cathedral, and about the morgue that used to be behind it. While we were walking around the island, he told us so much, and some of the stories actually gave me goosebumps, because not only were there stories about ghosts, but true crime ones also. As if getting home on my own in the dark here isn’t thrilling enough!

Remember that cold I mentioned, well, welcome back. I had to get up early though, because I booked a boat tour across Canal Saint Martin. Show must go on, we have stuff to see and things to do, cold or no cold. The boat tour was pretty cool anyways! It starts on the Seine, but takes you then to this canal attached to the big river, where you go from lock to lock, to fill the surrounding area of the boat with more water to literally lift the boat to a higher level. Gotta love science. But since I wasn’t feeling too well, the duration was a bit too long for me, with being cold and hungry, I went straight home and to bed, to get some energy back!

With a little more of that energy in the tank, the next day I went on a shopping mission. Souvenir time! I found some of the things I wanted to get, but this is going to take a few days to complete. I also went to Musée Rodin, but only strolled through the garden, as this will also be featured in the days with the twins!

Yesterday, it was the day of the dead. At least, it was my turn to go down to the catacombs. I’ve had heard about this movie, As Above, So Below, and Erica reminded me of it, so a few days ago, I very smartly started watching it, but decided to finish it after I went down there myself, because my imagination can take over sometimes! Not the best idea ever, but walking down there wasn’t that bad. Just a lot of bones and skulls. But really, I think around 6 million Parisians have this as their final resting place, and not even half of it is open to public. Creepy, but cool to witness. And it connected nicely with the haunted tour as well, because he told us about this cemetery in the middle of the city, the Cemetery of the Innocents, where basically all the unknown people would be buried, like thieves, prostitutes, and became a mass grave before they transferred the bones to the catacombs.

I did some more shopping afterwards and today as well, and I just now got back from Tour Montparnasse, which is one of the best spots for views of the city. Tomorrow Nella and Mila will arrive, and we have a lot planned for the next few days! More to come soon.