Paris II: Return to Montmartre

Paris is a great city. I actually felt like I was coming home when, for the first time in my trip, the train pulled into somewhere a little familiar. I kinda understand the metro and know roughly the city plan, so sitting in Gare Montparnasse with nowhere to stay seems barely daunting.

No trouble to pick up a room at Le Village, a nice little hostel up in Montmartre. Sure, the area is as touristy and plastic as it gets in Paris, but of course it's barely a minute from a metro station. The hostel itself has a nice view of Sacre Coeur from the terrace, which is an unexpected bonus.

Part of my motivation in returning to Paris is to catch up with Rob and Mel, who're on their own Europe jaunt. They've just done a lot of Italy and are on their way to London; we have some dinners and a drink or three while watching the city go by. All very pleasant.

I decide that since I'm in Paris, I should see some things. One day is the Museum of the Middle Ages, down in Saint Germain. It's got a shedload of religious work (they loved that back then) and some even older stuff, and a bit on the history of France which I like. The Lady and the Unicorn is the centrepiece; an awe-inspiring six tapestries from the 15th century. The craft of it, the filigree embroidered detail, is amazing, and the symbolism (apparently) is pretty intricate as well.

A different type of impressive, with a nod to my heritage, is the Museum of Jewish Art and History. The Jewish people have had a chequered history in France, as in most of Europe, with rulers alternately expelling them then allowing them back in. This culminates with the second World War, of course, and the personal stories scattered around the collection from this time are moving even despite my poor French reading skills. The museum gives an overview of much of Jewish culture, with the overriding impression being how old all these tales are. I guess it's called the Old Testament for a reason...

Also, some more prosaic visits. The Magic Museum is good fun for an hour or two, with a real live magic show only slightly diminished by me not understanding his rapid-fire French, and by the hordes of school holiday kids filling it. And the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie substitutes for the closed-for-renovation Musée de la Musique, out at the Parc de la Villette. The Parc itself is a relaxed open space, rare in Paris, with architecture ranging from Industrial Revolution to hardcore Modern and even some grass! As for the Cité, it's just like Scienceworks, really, except with a big focus on all things Gallic. Lots about the European Space Agency, about Airbus, about French car makers. My four hours were enough to see about 25%, but that was probably sufficient.

And also some less cultural tales. The hostel was good fun, quite communal and with a good proportion of English speakers, so I met quite a lot of people. Spent some time hanging with Guy, from London, and was again amazed at the ease of European vacations. He'd decided to go to Paris 36 hours before, packed some things and hopped on a bus for 20 euros, and so had two weeks in France! Also met plenty of Canadians, Americans, Germans, Spaniards, Italians, even an Aussie or two! All of whom were good fun to hang around with; it seems sacriligeous to drink on the steps of Sacre Coeur until you try it. And singing Crazy by Gnarls Barkley probably doesn't make matters much better...

Paris II felt less like travelling alone and more like, well, first year college, I guess. Fun while it lasted. Illogically, next it was back to the south, to Bordeaux.