When in Paris Series Pt.2
Hey guys I’m back with part two of the Paris series. The last time we talked I told you all about the mission I had to take when I was traveling to Paris. From the really bad turbulence to landing late in Iceland and having to run to my gate to make my connecting flight. Even those things freaked me out at first looking back those are a-part of the things that made this trip unforgettable. Now that I have officially landed in Paris the real adventure starts.
I landed at Charles de Gaulle in Paris around noon on December 2nd, after I got off my flight, I was surprised that we didn’t have to go through customs. I later found out that since we went through customs in Iceland and they are a-part of the European Union that we didn’t need to do it in Paris. As soon as I landed, I checked in with our house father to see if he had made it yet. Thankfully they had arrived a little earlier than me and were preparing to go get the keys to the Airbnb. As I was waiting for my bags to come out, I started to look around. The Airport that I was in seemed like a large bubble. In the center it was a big hole where you could see the other levels. Then they had these escalators that were flat, but they would take you to the other floors either up or down. The escalators where even inside these tubes that connected one side of the circle to the other.
To my surprise my bag was the very first one to come out. As I collected my belongings, I made my way to where the taxis were. As I was trying to find my way out the airport a couple of people tried to stop me and ask me if I was looking for a ride. I just continued walking every time they would ask. At that moment in time I didn’t know that I could’ve taken the train to where I was staying. So instead I went to the taxi stand and got a taxi. As I got in the taxi the ride to my Airbnb was a long one. About 30 mins actually, there was actually traffic on the roads which made it seem like it was longer. By the time I made it to my location the price from the airport to my Airbnb was 50 euros. I was shocked but not surprised because I figured that it would be expensive.
As soon as I got out of the cab, I see my house father Freddie LaBeija and house brother Thundaa Labejia coming across the street. The timing was amazing! I was so excited to see them both it had been a couple months since the last time I had seen them. We decided to drop our stuff off in the apartment and go take a look around the neighborhood. As we started to walk around, I noticed that there were fabric stores everywhere. I had come to the conclusion that we were in the fashion district. We began to walk around Square Willette, and down Rue La Fayette. We ended up seeing Gare du Nord which has a train that will take you directly to the airports in Paris; and a little further down the road was Gare du L‘est
When we got back to the apartment after our walk, I had noticed that it would be the three of us for about two more days. My house sisters where not going to arrive until Wednesday. Everyone ended up with their own beds for now. I ended up with my own room, well it was more of an old closet turned into a bedroom. I am not going to lie it was small, but it was so cozy in that room. From the bed to the pillows, to the heater I had the choice to turn off or on, I loved that small room and was able to sleep so comfortably.
The next day we ended up waking up a little later which was expected because we all had just flown in that day. We started our day around 1:00 in the afternoon. That is about 7:00 am in the states since Paris is 6 hours ahead of the states. We started with a walk down Place Pigalle, as we were walking, I came across so many beautiful pieces of graffiti. We ended up getting on the train at Blanche, which was a-part of the 2-blue line. We took the train to Villars which was considered a transfer spot to the 3 train. Once we transferred, we rode all the way the stop called Republique.
Once we got off the train my house father was determined to remember where he had found all of the designer stores. So, you know what that means…we decided to take ourselves on an adventure. As he was trying to remember which direction, me and Thundaa were enjoying the sites as we walked by. Let me tell you the architecture that is in Paris so beautiful. I loved it every building was not like the other; each one had a specific difference that made each and everyone unique.
I couldn’t help but make comparisons to Barcelona, Spain because that was the first place, I ever traveled out the country too. Also, I was able to spend a month in Barcelona compared to the little time I was going to have in Paris. I wanted to try to engulf as much as the city as I could. Along our walk I saw these beautiful churches, and there was so much detail in these buildings. To my surprise I continued to spot churches and each one had major differences in their designs, but you can tell that it took a lot of work to put in the detail on every building.
As we found ourselves on the correct path again after Freddie stopped about 2 locals to ask for directions. Which was actually the funniest thing I had ever seen before. You see my French is no longer fluent I haven’t practiced in a long time, but thanks to my best friend Nafi who speaks perfect French as she has family in Paris, I am able to understand the language being spoken to me. So, I was able to help just a little bit when I was confident enough. As we started walking in the correct direction, we came across this bakery who had the best looking, pastries in the window.
The name of the bakery was Boulangerie Patisserie; as soon as you walked through the door you saw an arrangement of pastries with a variety of colors. Each pastry was beautiful and spectacularly made just by looking at the details. Thundaa had decided to get the “cheesecake,” I myself just decided to get a veggie sandwich which came on a baguette. The sandwich had tomato’s, lettuce, mushrooms, olives, and cheese. There was also some olive oil that was added on the ingredients to give it some more taste. Now let me tell you about this sandwich, if you eat meat then you may be reading this like that sounds like food for a pet. If that is where your train of thought is heading, then let me hurry up and correct you. This was the best, biggest, and cheapest sandwich that I have ever paid for. The prices were as good as the prices I found in Barcelona. I only spent 3.50 euros on that sandwich. Now that we have talked about the amazing sandwich that I got to devour, change the topic to something more, sweet.
Like I mentioned earlier Thundaa had decided to get the “cheesecake.” If you keep wondering why I continue to put quotation marks around the work cheesecake, then let me just explain a little. So, the way that this cheesecake was made was not how it is made in the USA. This cheesecake that Thundaa was eating had more of a cake taste and looked as if it was cut into layers and then stacked on top of each other. Thundaa said regardless it was the best cheesecake that he has had. It wasn’t USA cheesecake, but it was still valid. Which means it was really good, you guys know that I don’t each cheesecake so all I could do was take his word for it. Plus, the faces and sounds that he was making as he ate the “cheesecake” I could clearly see that this was no ordinary “cheesecake.”
After everyone got their snacks, and lunches for the day we continued on our mission to find the name brand shops that Freddie wanted to see. We kept walking for about 10 minuets, and we had finally come across our first name brand store. The stored was called Kenzo; and let me tell you a pair of shoes that they had inside made me fall in love. As we walked into the store one thing that had me in awe was the aesthetic of the shop entirely. I loved every single part of the store, from the designs of their clothes, to how the store set up how they displayed the clothing. Then when I asked if the shoes that I saw came in my size the saleswoman, who may I mention was of an Afro decent said yes because she wore my same size. That made me very happy because there aren’t many tall women in Europe who wear bigger sizes, so it is hard to find shoes. Now that I know this information, I will be keeping an eye out for those shoes.
As we continued on our adventure the next store that we came by was Supreme, which I was not shocked to come across. As we walked into the store it looked more like a museum with different pieces of artwork in it. There were so many pieces of graphic artwork on the walls. Then on the adjacent wall they had some of their skateboard artworks hanging up and I was just amazed how beautiful they were. As a retired skater I am able to appreciate a great piece of work on a board. Freddie actually bought something, so we spent a little more time in the store helping him pick out what he like best. After about 30 minuets we were finally able to come to a decision.
After we left supreme, we had seemed to finally make it to the location where all of the designer brands lived. We walked past Ugg, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. If you are wondering if we stopped in every store, then...yes, we did. If you think that shopping with me is bad, then you guys haven’t met my father and brista. It wasn’t until I saw a Uniqlo that I got kind of excited. That store is known to have a good selection of anime apparel. To be honest I was just excited about that.
So, when I got in the store and I only saw Dragon Ball Z merchandise I was happy because that was the very first anime that I ever watched, but it wasn’t my first love of anime. As I continued my search it was clear that their, was only Dragon Ball Z merch inside the store. I was definitely bummed but it was alright I just went back to help Thundaa find his effect for the ball we had on Saturday.
As we left Uniqlo we went on with our adventure through the streets of Paris. We had come to an intersection that Freddie recognized and swore that their, was a mall close to where we were. So, you know what he did, he stopped and asked a local because none of us had service out there. The gag is that this time when he asked, he ended up asking tourist from Germany which I thought was funniest thing ever. Freddie decided to see an Afro person would walk by, so we waited until an Afro woman came walking down the street. The only problem was that this time she only spoke French not English so as she was trying to give directions, they didn’t understand what she was saying even though she was pointing as she was talking. Yes, she even pointed in the direction to go in and both of them still had a hard time understanding. It was at that point I realized I was with two people who suck at following directions.
As I finally came to this realization, I had officially taken the lead on the adventure because at least I could get us to the place, plus growing up in a city myself it is easy for me to remember my way around a city. As we were making our way to the mall, we ended up walking past this huge building. Thundaa and I kept guessing at what it could be, I thought it used to be some type of castle but may be used now as some parliament building. Thundaa thought it was a parliament building as well. It wasn’t until a few days later I learned it was a museum.
As we turned the corner to walk down the street came across Zara, we had no choice but to go in. One reason was that we all liked Zara, but the real reason was that Thundaa was still looking for his effect. As I started to look around in the female section, I didn’t see anything that really popped out to me except for a pair of shoes. Just to my luck though they didn’t seem to have my size. I was tired of even trying to keep searching for my size so, I decided to go look for the boys. It was at that point I realized I how big that Zara was, and I was officially lost. I went upstairs and didn’t see them so, I went back down to the first, floor thinking I could wait for them down there.
I was on the first floor for maybe 10 minuets and I was restless the entire time. Being in a foreign city without any access to a signal or WIFI to use your phone. In my mind I was thinking what if I can’t find them what do I do. I was more worried about them because I had remembered at least how to get back home, but I wasn’t to, sure about my father and brista. As my brain started to think about the worst situations, this Caucasian woman walked up to me. She surprised me for two reasons; one she was tall, and two my brain was somewhere else so my attention to my surroundings was a little lacking. The first thing she said me to was “wow I’m not alone.” I asked what she meant, and she told me that she hasn’t seen many other tall females in Paris, so she was happy to see me.
After that interaction, my nerves calmed down some; so, I decided to try my search again. I went back to the top floor which was the men’s section and this time I saw them standing in line getting ready to pay. I was screaming on the inside, so I made sure to stay close, so I don’t get lost again. After we left Zara, we went back on our adventure to find the mall. We needed to walk down their alley ways which are basically streets. They don’t have alley ways like we do in the DMV. There alley ways have shops, apartment buildings and everything in-between. I saw so many vintage shops that I almost wanted to cry. Then there was this one shop we walked pass that had so much anime merch that I literally fell in love. Then the variety was amazing. Now if you know me, you should know that Naruto is my love; when I tell you guys that this store had so much Naruto merch that I would’ve gone broke trying to buy all of it. I had to walk out because I found myself getting excited. After a thousand different stops we had finally made it to the mall that Freddie was talking about.
The first thing we looked for was a store so that Thundaa could find his effect for the ball. We were happy that the first store we went into that he found the color he needed and in a style that he liked as well. From there I went on the search to see if this mall had a Bershka in it. I fell in love with that store when I was in Barcelona. Everything that is sold in Bershka fits my aesthetic so well, so much that I want to buy everything. So, when I saw the sign that had Bershka on it I almost cried. We don’t have this store in the states which sucks, so when I found it in Paris, I was so happy.
We finally made it to the Bershka, as I started to look around there were so many beautiful pieces but what I had my eyes on were their platforms shoes. So, as I found the shoes, I was a little heartbroken to see they had already sold out of my size. I decided that I would just shop online because I had to control myself in the store. I talk myself out of buying things a lot, I think that’s why it will take me so long to shop because I’m sitting there debating in my brain if I really want to buy the item or not. Once my mini adventure was over it was time to head back to the Airbnb.
Before that we stopped at some more Vintage shops because Freddie was looking for a pair of overalls and I just love vintage shops. We walked into this one shop and I fell in love as soon as our eyes met. Yes, the ski suit that I have been looking for I finally laid my eyes on. My nerves started to shake as I got closer, I was so scared that it wouldn’t come in my size. As I got closer the outfit started to look bigger, but it was hanging up, so it could’ve been my imagination. It wasn’t until I took it down and looked at the size that I realized it was legit. There was no second guessing this buy, because if I didn’t get it then I didn’t know when another moment like this one would pop up. In the end I bought it for only 30 euros. It was a steal that I couldn’t miss!
As we went in the metro it was just to our luck that we couldn’t find the 4 train in Chalet Les Halles. The 4 train would have just taken us straight to our stop at Barbès Rochechouart. As we all tried to figure out other ways to get back, I had come across a different line under the RER that we could get on to get home. We ended up taking the RER B line that stopped at the La Chapelle which is only one stop away from our stop by the apartment. Instead of transferring lines we all decided that it would be fine to just walk home from the station. The thing is that we walked in the wrong direction and didn’t notice until we walked about 5 minutes away and walked over a bridge. I thought that was hilarious so, we just turned around and started walking in the right way. After about 10 minuets we had made it home.
If you think that the adventure is crazy already then, you’re going to want to hold onto your edges for the last part of this Paris series. Things have just gotten started; I hope you’re ready for this ride. It’ll definitely end in a BANG!
