Sept. 12, 2010

        Right now, at this very moment, I am sitting on a train to Stuttgart, Germany eating a s’mores granola bar (which is in no way as good as the chocolate Croissant that I just finished eating from the Paris Est train station). Oh! to be back on the train! I do not remember ever feeling such a feeling relief! It is very similar to the feeling of finishing a very long and important test and knowing that you did well on it. All I want now is some well deserved sleep. 

Upon arrival at the train station on Friday night I had this feeling that I might not even make it back to Germany. But, hallelujah, here I am.  I met my friends, Sara and Russell Patrick at the train station around 11:10 p.m. I didn’t think to plan out a route or anything for getting to my hostel from the station. But they planned one for me! They even bought me tickets for the metro! I am very blessed that I have friends that would do this for me! Going from a small city such as Regensburg to a big city such as Paris was quite a shock. I had to make sure that I was constantly alert of all my surroundings. After we all went through the Metro to the outskirts of town to where my “beloved” hostel was, Sara and Russell went on their way to their own hotel. The amount of anxiety that rushed over me, now realizing that I was alone in a foreign country, was immense. That feeling mixed with the heat of the city and caused my heart to race and my blood to boil, resulting in a red face. As I gave my passport to the man at the counter of the hostel (for safety and for collateral because I was to pay in the morning) I felt as though I was selling my soul to the Devil! This place gave me the creeps! It didn’t help that as I walked into my room and turned on the light I saw cockroaches flee and scatter into the darkness. Or that the room was about 90 degrees hot. Or that my roommate wanted to kill me the moment I turned the light on. Or that I was worrying about my laptop and camera which were downstairs 6 floors from me in a locker that, if someone really wanted to, they could open. But I would rather it be down there than risk one of my two roommates (the second of which came later around 3 in the morning) taking it in my sleep.

That night, I slept in sweatpants and a long sleeve T-shirt. Not because it was cold, no I was sweating from all the heat, but because I wanted as little of me to touch any part of the bed I was sleeping in. Sleep is an overstatement… I wouldn’t say that I even slept. Every hour or two I would realize that I was just lying there waiting for the morning, praying that God would keep me safe. My pepper spray was my new best friend. 

When morning finally arrived, I took a shower as quickly as humanly possible because it was freezing, got dressed and ready to go, and went down 6 floors to make sure that my things were all there in the locker. They were, thank goodness. So I switched out my luggage for my camera bag and headed up to breakfast. I had an odd tasting applesauce, which wasn’t bad, some bread, and some water. Then I was on the road. The plane for the day: Versailles! I met Sara and Russell at the Metro stop “Invalids” and there we hoped on the next metro to go to Versailles. 

    My hope in Paris, as always, was restored as we approached to brilliant golden gates of the Palace. Among the many differences between Germany and France, architecture is one that I’ll have to side with France on. Germany is quaint and charming. France, however, is extravagant! The splendor of not only inside, but also the outside of Versailles; the gardens, the landscape, the fountains, the canal, were breathtaking. 

I had no idea the size and grandeur of the palaces property until I looked on a map, no until I walked the distance from the main palace to Queens Estate. We wandered through the maze of fountains for hours looking at all the detail that was given to each different fountain. We also spent many minutes sitting and resting. It was very tiring to walk so much. We discovered that Versailles has numerous cats that roam around in the mazes and beg people for food. They all looked very well fed. 

When we made our way over to Marie-Antoinette’s Estate and Trianon Palaces we discovered Marie-Antoinette's very own world that had been constructed for her when she was queen. My favorite was “the Queen’s Hamlet” which was a small village she had designed because she liked the idea of a “simple life.” The Hamlet was made up of thatch roof Tutor houses, gardens (flower and vegetable), a large pond, and the Marlborough Tower. This tower was named after the Duke of Marlborough who was an English general. He died in 1722 and a song was about him became very popular and was made known at Court by the Dauphin’s nurse. The song popularity caused the naming of this tower to be after the song. The tower was the first construction in the Queen’s Hamlet in the year 1783. The irony settled in while strolled around the gardens and fixtures… What a simple life this was. When Russell and I entered into a theater that was on one of the walking trails we walked inside and were blown away by the display of “simple” gold embellishing and the thick velvet curtains and painted ceilings of this small “lowly” theater that met the approval of the Queen’s idea of a “simple life.”

After we exhausted our stay at the Queen’s Estate we made our way back to the fountains to catch the last display of the fountains (because the fountains are only turned on twice daily and only on weekends). We saw each beautifully built fountain come to life. Who knew that you could add so much beauty and detail with just a few tons of water!? After our one last stroll throughout the fountain filled maze and with a short visit to the git store for me, we left Versailles and took the same metro back to the district in Paris where the Patrick’s were staying. We had dinner at a little restaurant at which I ordered some amazing pasta in a white sauce with little pieces of gorgonzola cheese and pear! Who would have thought that pear would taste so good with pasta and cheese!? And for dessert.. I took five minutes to choose between tiramisu and creme brulé.. But in the end I chose the later. I wasn’t disappointed! I lust don’t understand as to why it is so difficult in America to make a good creme brulé! It’s a cryin’ shame I tell you! After dinner the Patrick’s took me to their hotel. It was so cute! Oh how I wish that I could have slept on the floor in their room as to be safe from the youth hostel in the Clichy district, or the equivalent to the “Red Light” district in Amsterdam. All right, I am exaggerating, but not by much. There at the hotel we planned my “escape route” back to Germany. Then I was off to the hostel… I frown just thinking about that place.  

I had one more night in that in the “Paris Clichy” youth hostel, of which I dubbed the “Hellhole,” and planned to wake early and take a shower before the sun even rose. It appeared that tonight I was the only person occupying the room. However, during the night I was awakened by a new roommate; a 17 year old French girl who was terrified of the cockroaches that were in the room. She wanted me to get out of bed to see what she was fussing about. I did. We soon engaged in conversation, broken English on both parts, hers because she was French and mine because it was 3 in the morning. Yet we understood each other just as well. We discussed her fear of not just bugs, but her distaste for well... How shall I put it... Every animal on the planet. She especially hated donkeys. Mystery that. We then talked about why we were visiting Paris. I told her I was visiting friends and that I had just gone to Versailles the previous day and she told me that she was here to surprise her boyfriend. She was a very nice girl whom I felt much better about being my roommate. The conversation slowed and eventually she got the hint that I needed some rest. In the morning I beat the sun and took a shower as fast as lightning itself. I got ready for my journey and began my escape back to the peaceful, orderly, and clean Germany.

On the last train (which was local) back to Regensburg I sat next to woman who headed back home to Hoff. She had just spent the weekend in Munich. We talked about Obama and social insurance. A little politics and opinions. She got fired up when talking about Germany’s social insurance and said that it needed to be reviewed so that things could be changed and work with these new times. She said that they need to be modernized, but that the system works very well for Germany. She thought very strongly that America should adopt it for their system. 

       When I got back I did some reading and had dinner. After we went to a weekend Carnival. One thing I noticed was that they had plants for prizes in some booths. 

They would never do that in the US… Mystery that.