Tasty Crepes, Flea Market, & A Tattoo

January 15, 2001
We all got up early to go to the Paris Flea Market. On the way we stopped at a Chemist's Shop for a bottle of codeine cough syrup. Codeine is not a controlled substance in France and you can buy it over the counter. (Whoo-hoo!) I told the chemist that I wanted cough syrup. He brought me out a bottle and I asked if it contained codeine. He looked at me and asked, "Oh, you wanted codeine?" I said yes and he came back with a different bottle.

Being a young guy, he noticed that several of us were wearing "Tom" shirts and asked if we were a band in town to do a show. I told him that we were just friends on Holiday, but like the kids at Le Mont-Saint-Michel, I don't think he believed me. I paid for the bottle of syrup and turned to leave. The chemist called out, "Hey" as we left and I turned around. He winked at me, nodded his head, and in a knowing tone said, "Have a good time." He totally knew why I wanted the cough syrup and was cool with it. But the best was yet to come. Unlike the evil tasting stuff we get in the USA, the French cough syrup had no bad taste. It was orange cream flavored and tasted exactly like a creamsicle. After about twenty minutes it was gone. We stopped at another chemist's and I bought another bottle, lime flavored, that was not as tasty as the first, but not bad either. I walked along with the bottle in my hand like a soda, which got odd looks from the locals. Pretty soon the cough syrup was gone and I was feeling great! I laughed a lot as we strolled through the blocks and blocks of venders that hawk their wares along the streets.

Tasty Crepes Pete and I stopped for a crepe. I got mine with Nutella. Pete had never tried Nutella and I convinced him to try it. The crepe maker was dressed in an all black, almost Victorian, suit with a tall black top hat. He looked like an undertaker. He poured the batter right onto a hot round crepe grill, spread it out, smeared it with Nutella, and the folded it up right in front of us. (Some less than reputable crepe makers use pre-cooked crepes that they just throw on the grill to heat up. Skip those guys. A real crepe is always poured fresh.) He made one at a time and it was not a long wait. The man was FAST. He made the second crepe and handed the both of them to us. Devine! Pete was hooked. We took our crepes and walked along, looking at CD's, clothes, pipes, junk, records, collectible items, dolls, army surplus, movies, weapons, etc., etc., etc. There was so much stuff! You could get just about anything. I picked up a few items as souvenirs and some cool gifts for my friends at home. We wandered around looking and buying for several hours. One of the coolest and most interesting items that was up for sale was a six- foot tall hand-carved African sculpture. But the neat thing about it was that the base was carved from a single piece of wood and made to hold CD's.

La Femme du Tattoo After several hour of shopping and wandering, I finally found a tattoo shop. The woman behind the counter was beautiful. At first I was having Phil translate and she finally said, "You speak English?" I showed her the Triscallion symbol that I wanted and she told me that it would cost 300 francs for my tattoo, and that it would be about an hour or longer before I could get in. We told her that we were going to have lunch and then we would be back to get it. I made an appointment and introduced myself. Her name was Eva. I was in LOVE. We wandered around for a few minutes more and stopped for lunch. I had some wonderful French onion soup, (There is nothing like the real thing.), and a ham sandwich. After lunch, I went back to get the tattoo. (Did I mention Eva Rocks?) She was friendly and spoke great English. I showed her some of my tattoos and she showed me her lower back. It was gorgeous. So was the tattoo. (Wink, wink!) We finally got down to business and she was great. She drew everything freehand, and her touch with the needle was so light that it almost felt like it wasn't going in. She took her time and really did a nice job. We laughed and chatted a good deal. There were a few times that the idea of what I was saying didn't translate correctly, but we got by very well. She said that if I ever get back to Paris to look her up and I could have a place to stay. She also said that she would show me around. She gave me her address and phone number. Phil took several photos while we were doing the tattoo and one of Eva and myself. I paid and we were on our way. As we were leaving the flea market area I stopped for another crepe, this time with butter and sugar. It was very tasty. Due to our location to get back on the Metro, we got food and coffee at the same place we had the night before, then we walked around the Notre Dame area again. It was getting late so we hopped the Metro, went back to the hostel, and crashed.

Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral, & The Red Light District

January 16, 2001 We got up early to go to the Musée d'Orsay. The building itself is an old converted train station. It is huge and open with plenty of room to move. It has three levels of galleries. The entry level has sculptures and huge paintings. The second level has a restaurant (If you are dressed properly, and have, like, a million dollars, the food smelled good.) as well as galleries. The third is all galleries.
Works by many of the world's greatest artists are on display. There were sculptures by Rodin, Pradier, Daumier, Carpeaux, and many others. But the stars of the Musée d'Orsay are the works of the Impressionists such as Monet, Boudin, and Caillebotte. We also saw paintings by Degas, Cézanne, and Renoir. The Impressionists' works left me in awe. From far away, their work took on a photographic quality that was mind-boggling. It was explained to me that it was due to the fact that they did not paint figures, they painted the light. It was also explained that during the time the Impressionist movement began, people hated, (even laughed at), the artists' works. It was not until around 50 years later did people go "Oh my God, it's great." We wandered through and I took several photos of sculptures, but not the paintings as light from the photoflash causes them to deteriorate.

Every time we passed a nude sculpture where we could see the buttocks, I would point it out to Pete and make a "raspberry" sound and we would laugh like crazy. I know it was really low-brow humor, but it never stopped being funny. We laughed every time. Even other people around us laughed so it wasn't just us.

We finally met up with Phil, Gary, and Mike outside the restaurant and made our way to the exit. I stopped at the gift shop and picked up a pocket guide and a few free postcards before leaving the museum. I met up with the guys outside.
Lunch & A Few Good Books Outside the museum are many sculptures as well. I photographed one of a huge rhino for Michelle. We made our way to the Latin Quarter for lunch at a French restaurant. I ordered an appetizer of escargot. It was delicious. I can't wait to have it again. As a main course, I had beef in red wine sauce, and for dessert: mousse au chocolate. The food was first-rate but the service was severely deficient. Our waiter, (if you could call him that), spent most of his time standing around smoking and talking with his co-workers. He ignored us through most of the meal. Food good - service BAD!!

Shakespeare & Company After lunch, we went to Shakespeare & Co. to look at books. I found a book titled Sperm. I picked it up and read a passage aloud, then told all the guys they should feel lucky, as I had just given them a SPERM sample. We all laughed. The guys were looking and buying books as I explored outside. Several of the employees of the shop were having a typical French lunch outside on the sidewalk and I photographed them. They spoke English and we chatted for a while and I told them my story of how I got there. They were impressed and asked me to join them for a few moments, which I did. After we got ourr books, we split into two groups. Gary and Mike wanted to see a few things they had not before, and the rest of our party went on to Notre Dame.

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris
The persona of Notre Dame de Paris dominates the Gothic landscape. For many people, their first concept of "Gothic" derives from some reference to this grand structure. Victor Hugo's famous novel featuring the hunchback, Quasimodo, has served the notoriety of the cathedral well. Yet, in truth, factual history has placed Notre Dame at the center stage of its own story. It sits on an island called the Ile-de-Cite in the middle of the River Siene. There are bridges on both sides so you can walk to it. The famed abbey is more than seven hundred years old and is the most recent of holy houses to occupy this ancient sacred ground.Long ago, the Celts held their services on this island in the Seine, and later, the Romans built their own temple to Jupiter. In the early years of Christianity, Childebert constructed a basilica dedicated to St. Etienne around 528. A Romanesque church replaced the basilica until 1163 when work began on the structure that stands today.

The facade has been beautifully restored to its original white marble. The sides are still gray. In many places, work is still being done to restore other parts of the church.

Bells & Pipe Organs On our approach, Phil brought to our attention a blind beggar by the exit door. Phil explained that as many times as he had been to Paris, and in all the time he had lived there, this old man was always there. He said that to him, the beggar was as an important fixture of Paris as Notre Dame itself. (We all gave to him on our way out.)
Notre Dame has the distinction of being the only Gothic Cathedral with identical towers. We were not allowed to go up into the towers because they are closed this time of year, but we did get to hear the bells ring. We heard the bells at every cathedral we went to with the exception of the cathedral St. Julien in Le Mans.

The inside was wonderful. As with all the other cathedrals we were in, you could not help but be awed by the sheer size and beauty of its construction. The craftsmanship is astounding. You could tell that the builders and sculptors really put forth their best efforts.
Notre Dame's pipe organ is one of the largest in the world. It has 7,800 pipes and 113 stops. The organ has been in some form of change or upgrade since it's installation.
Its history is marked with great names in music such as Perrotin, Campra, Daquin, Couperin, and recently, Vierne, and Cochereau.

Crown of Thorns The cathedral's treasury rooms house another one of the most important relics Christian faith: the Crown of Thorns worn by Christ. Although it is impossible to say for certain if it is authentic, historical indications to its authenticity can be traced to the 4th century. The relic itself consists of a band of woven rushes to which thorns were attached to form a crown of derision. For its protection and preservation, it is enclosed in a glass ring laced with gold. The crown was acquired by Saint Louis who brought it to Notre-Dame on August 18, 1239. During the centuries that followed, it was kept in an extravagant shrine known as the Sainte Chapelle, which had been built exclusively for this purpose. After the re-establishment of the Catholic worship, which was suspended in Notre-Dame between 1793 and 1801, the Holy Crown was entrusted to the cathedral's chapter of canons and to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. The relic is kept in the Treasury, and not ordinarily exposed. It is only on display in the Cathedral for the adoration of believers on Fridays during Lent, from 5 to 6 PM. Being January, we were unable to see it, but just knowing that it was in the same building was awesome.
Church Functions Unlike Le Mont-Saint-Michel, which was huge and empty, all of the areas in Notre Dame are used. In every aspect this famous structure functions like an average church in any town. While we were there I observed a theological lecture that was being given in one of the side rooms and I noticed the church bulletin board was packed full of upcoming events that were taking place in the cathedral.
The over-all feel of the place was that the church, though ancient, is alive and well, and very busy. The place just envelops you and there you are, for one brief moment, part of something that is bigger by far than anything you could possibly imagine.

'And the cathedral was not only company for him, it was the universe; nay, more, it was Nature itself. He never dreamed that there were other hedgerows than the stained-glass windows in perpetual bloom; other shade than that of the stone foliage always budding, loaded with birds in the thickets of Saxon capitals; other mountains than the colossal towers of the church; or other oceans than Paris roaring at their feet.' - Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris, 1831

Cool Bar & Closed Boats After leaving Notre Dame Cathedral; We stopped at a brasserie called Le Quasimodo (located at 11, rue d'Arcole) and had beer and coffee. The people were awesome and it was a beautiful place. The walls, which are painted to give the impression that you are looking over Paris from one of the bell towers of Notre Dame, feature the legendary hunchback after whom the bar is named. The gargoyles of the cathedral are also displayed around the tavern. It makes for an extremely entertaining atmosphere that is worthy of a short stop. The coffee was strong and the lager came in a liter mug with great head. When we had finished our drinks, Phil, Pete and I toured the gift shops and boutiques in the area for souvenirs. I found great stuff at cool prices and covered almost everyone on my list. We scoped a few more shops, and I found what turned out to be my favorite souvenir of all. I picked up what is called a CD PostCard. It is a CD-ROM with many films of Paris and lots of cool pictures. It was well worth the money.

We finished shopping and hopped the Metro back to the hostel to meet Mike and Gary. We relaxed for a while and decided to go to take the nocturnal boat tour up the Siene to see the monuments all lit up. Despite its name, the Ponte Neuf (New Bridge) is the oldest standing bridge in Paris. It is in two parts, separated by solid ground and the equestrian statue of Henri IV. The first stone was laid by Henri III. The 233 meter long bridge was opened in 1607 by Henri IV. At the time, it was the only bridge not blocked by houses. In 1608 Henri IV built a hydraulic water pump to supply the Louvre with water, which got the name Samaritaine, now the name of a famous nearby department store. We hopped the metro and arrived at the boat launch to find it closed. We stood out on the point in a small park located in the middle of the River Seine and drank the cider I got near Le Mont-Saint-Michael.

The water of the river was moving very swiftly. Gary and Phil said they had never seen it move so fast. We all threatened to push each other in. With no rails to prevent it, it would have been easy. We agreed to come back the next night and take the tour.

Red Light District We left the Ponte Neuf, and went to the "Red Light District." There were sex shops, prostitutes, porn cinemas, churches, more porn, and more prostitutes. It was all very interesting and bizarre. We stopped at several shops and looked at the various sex toys, videos, and "marital aides." We laughed ourselves silly over some, such as a larger than life fist and arm made of latex. Many of the videotapes featured out-of-the-ordinary "fetish" activities. Twisted. Many of the places had signs for massage or relaxation and also for "relaxation complete". We had "Pimp Daddy Gary" ask for the deal. Basically, 200 francs got you 45 minutes in a room with a naked girl who would give you a "message." After that, it had a price schedule up to 1500 francs, for pretty much whatever (and I DO mean Whatever) you wanted. There were photo charts of all the women and a list of which particular "services" that each provided. It was all "laid out" so to speak. The women who did this were as hot as models. Way better than the nasty Crack-Ho's at home. I wish I had more cash!!

Our tour of the seedier side of Paris complete, we went back to the hostel, sat at the bar, drank beer and wrote post cards and/or in our journals. I wrote over 40 postcards to send home.

L to R: Gary, Dean, Me, Ryan, and Ciaran

Downing Beers & Dominoes
I met two Canadians (Dean and Ryan) and taught them how to play dominoes. At first Dean was having trouble catching on, but in the end he almost won. His friend Ryan looked like the comedian Norm MacDonald. I showed them my website, and they liked it. I told them that for our last day, we were going to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc, Napoleon's tomb, and Morrison's grave. I asked them to come along. As we sat playing dominoes, Ryan mentioned that he didn't like "Yanks." I asked him why and he replied that his entire idea of Americans was based on some guys that he had met from Montana. I told him that he couldn't make his decision based on those guys because they didn't accurately represent Americans. I joked that there were only like 20 people in the whole state and they were a bunch of redneck cowboys with gun racks in their trucks.

Then to everyone's surprise, two girls came around the end of the bar and asked what we had said about Montana. Gary, in usual style, busted out with, "He said you're all a bunch of goat fuckers!" That cracked up everyone except the two girls. They lit into me about my "redneck" comments and told me I shouldn't make comments about places I had never been. I, of course, appologized to the girls. I told them I was just joking and bought them beers. That seemed to smooth everything over and we sat around and drank with them and played another game of dominoes. (I found out later that everyone in our group had organized a pool as to which day I would get arrested in France, and this was Gary's day.) Ciaran (pronounced: key-ron) was very cool. He kept the bar open late because we were having a great time and the boss was not there. We finished our game and our beers and everyone went to bed around 4:30 A.M.