Paris, Pere Lachaise, and Pizza

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 

We all slept late today; I guess we must have needed the extra rest. Tramping around in the heat can take a lot out of you! During the night, a little rain shower had passed through, and our room became cooler, which made for better sleep. 

We left the hotel and rode the Metro to the stop nearest the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. Everything was so fresh and green after the midnight rain. Since none of us had yet eaten breakfast, we bought crepes at a little stand near the Seine. I had a wonderful sucre citron crepe which was sprinkled with sugar and spread with a tangy lemon filling. It was neatly folded into a triangular shape and handed to me in a colorful paper cone. Very tasty! We perched on a bench near the carousel, where we were treated to a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower. We sat there for almost an hour, enjoying our surroundings. 

Not a bad place to have breakfast.

Soon, we were back on the Metro for a long, hot ride across Paris to visit the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This cemetery, which was opened in 1804, consists of 110 undulating acres of cobblestones, simple headstones, monuments, and miniature chapels. The landscape is lush with many varieties of trees and it is an interesting and attractive place. We had wanted to locate the grave of Oscar Wilde, so I took a photo of the map and Megan zoomed in on it and used it to navigate our trek around the graveyard. We did a lot of walking and found the resting-place of Oscar Wilde, which was covered in lipstick kisses and surrounded by flowers. We had also considered visiting the graves of Jim Morrison and Jules Verne, but the day was growing hotter, so we took our leave. 

The final resting place of Oscar Wilde.

Pere Lachaise is a beautiful, old cemetery.

Another long, hot, Metro ride landed us back at the hotel, where we rested for a while over cold drinks and snacks. The evening was a warm one and we chose to order pizza instead of going out for dinner. The pizza was from Domino's, of all places! But it wasn't like any Domino's I had ever tasted. After all, this was France. One was called "The Australian" and had toppings of barbecued chicken, onions, and jalapeno peppers. The other was called "the Foresteiria" and consisted of a creme base topped with lardons, ham, onions, mushrooms, and plenty of cheese. It was amazing!

After dinner we began a card game in the room that Megan and I were sharing. At one point, Mathieu excused himself to use the "facilities" and as he closed the bathroom door, Megan and I exchanged glances and began a countdown, "Three... two...one" and then we heard a thump, a curse, and the sound of the blow dryer roaring. It was hilarious! Desmond was puzzled by our actions and after I explained the significance, he had to see our tiny bathroom for himself. He informed us that in the room he and Matt were sharing, the bathroom was much roomier. Later, I went up to their room to watch a movie with them while Megan was on a call to her boyfriend back home. It was a French film with English subtitles and I enjoyed it. It was a relaxing way to end the day.

Megan and Mathieu, playing cards in the hotel room in Paris.