I think today is a great day to start too. After defeating 1.5 weeks of the evil jet lag, readjusting to life in Paris, and trudging through a huge snow storm, the sun was out today and just begging me to get out and enjoy it! So I did.
Although the adventure started on a lame note, it all turned out pretty awesomely. I gathered up all our recyclable beer bottles and headed to the Bastille to exchange for them for money and buy some new, full ones. However, due to some electronical error or something, the store was shut down for the day. Lame. I debated returning home and napping the day away for about 2 minutes. Although my backpack and shoulder sack were weighing me down, I couldn't resist the other fabulous idea that popped in my head while riding the metro: a vietnamese sandwich! Thus I clanked my way up the streets of the 11th, 12th, and 20th, (it's really quite fun how much attention you get as your empty beer bottles sing as you walk along the streets. I got a lot of nice looks as I rattled away on the streets and even more in the metro!) to a tiny vietnamese sandwich shop that's really off the beaten path.
The journey to the Sandwich Shop was absolutely wonderful. In a matter of three arrondissements, I went through 4 different countries. There was the Moroccan area with many fine looking restaurants full of couscous and tagines. Lebanon and Turkey were up next and I was able to discover a fancy spice market which I will have to return to once I learn how to make some interesting meals! And then it was off to Asia. Okay, so Asia is not a country, let's narrow it to l'Orient. Vietnamese, Chinese, and Taiwanese markets and restaurants lined the streets and every one of them was packed. (If I wasn't dead set on my sandwich, it would have been hard to choose just one restaurant!)
I made it through the open market, (one of the angriest I've ever seen...I wanted 500 grams of mushrooms but the seller INSISTED I go for 2 kilos! I was scared and ran away! All the vendors were shouting and were very entertaining, I think??? :) Anyways, I miraculously found my sandwich shop from memory and sans iPhone. I was pretty stoked about that. And as I payed for my sandwich and walked back out to the street, all the clouds disappeared and the sun shone brightly. Thus, I headed to Parc Bellville to look for a nice bench on one of the highest points of Paris. It was grand and I got a great view as I gobbled up my delicious sandwich.
Then I took the long way home on Rue Oberkampf via Boulevard de Belleville and stopped at every ethnic market I could. It was so neat! The only problem I ran into was that I wanted to buy all the fabulous looking spices, sauces, and interesting looking canned goods that were on the shelves. A great dilemma to be in on my first day of shinning.
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