So I met up with Duper and his homies from school in Granada, D'Jon and Eric, who were on holiday for a few weeks. Duper and I had bigger plans of traveling together while the other two would be making their way elsewhere after a few days.
We met up at a hostel and decided to stroll the town. I hadn't really been on this side of Paris yet so it was new for me as well.
We walked along the River Seine which winds through the city. We came across all types of hijinx including a well done up party of sorts.
While making our way towards Notre Dame, there's the notorious lock fence where people like to make their lasting impression on Paris. It's pretty ill... There must be tens of thousands of locks!
On the Lookout for the Hunchback!
Only gargoyles.
In the front of the church was a street magician putting on one hell of a show. This dude was hysterical!! Pulled a young girl out of the crowd and told her to hold one piece of this tape and pull. The rest was in his mouth and she just kept pulling and pulling... Probably 100 feet!! So funny... The little girl was shocked!
Then off in the distance I heard a party poppin' off! So we ran down the street to find the commotion and to our surprise it was a huge parade equipped with horns and drums moving down the street with a guy being crowd surfed all the way to the front of the church!
The Ultimate Scum Mobile.
The next day we decided to go to Le Louvre. I was ALL about it since I had been there with Mike a few days prior. I'm telling you, this is the best thing smokin' in Paris, France. So much history and amazing sights for your brain to feast on. It'd probably take you a week just to look at everything and a year to really learn about what you're looking at.
Venus de Milo in the flesh!
Again, European "Graffiti" or Humans being Humans.
Pigalle is the sex street. This is where the Moulin Rouge is located. We went for a stroll here. Came across the Sex Sculpture exhibit. A photo of the ridiculous advert will do when you're with your good homie.
So the 4 of us went back to the hostel to chill for a bit. I had laundry to do. So I made my way to find change and a wash. Found one not to far from the hostel with only one "patron" in it. This homie was FADED. Sitting on a little ledge in the wash, swaying, circling, mumbling, the whole scene. This Thug had been sippin' champagne celebrating for a hot minute. I put my clothes in the wash while this dude just kept focused on looking outside and ranting in French that I couldn't understand. I decided to find a shop that sold memory sticks for my camera and left the dude right where he was getting tanked.
When I came back, about 20 minutes later, I rounded the corner to find a couple of Asians staring in the window of the laundromat. To myself I thought, "Fuck this dude is going OFF. He's probably fucking with my clothes and all that." As I walk up to the door I see this dude PASSED THE FUCK OUT on the floor. I move past the Asians to get inside while they're looking at me like "What are you doing?" I was cracking up!!! This fool was snoring!!!
So I snapped a couple of photos and stepped over him. I transferred my clothes to a dryer and turned back for a couple more flicks while I had the chance.
While I was getting epic angles, this fool woke up all crazy!! Saw me and just started yelling "JOHN WAYNE!! JOHN WAYNE!! JOHN WAYNE!!" AHAHAHHA I was rolling!!! I went out front and started rolling a cigarette. This dude came out the door, pants to his knees for real, with designs shaved out the side of his head and the nastiest goat mouth ever. " mmbmmbmm..... cigarette" while doing the roll technique with his fingers. So I gave him material but he dropped it all on the ground. So I gave him mine and he lit it nearly burning off his thumb.
Now that he's got his smoke, he leans on the wall and is just rambling all hectic to me in French. Kinda in my face which I was severely opposed to due to his GOAT MOUF FUNK. While he's going off I notice a group of 4 girls walking towards us on the sidewalk, one is on crutches. I see them, they see US. They are getting closer and homie finally sees 'em and just starts yelling at these chicks all belligerent. They were forced to walk on the other side of the street. I was just laughing.
Then this nerdy cat is walking on our sidewalk with square ass glasses and a bag of groceries. I see him and his calibrated steps coming towards us and I'm thinking "YES!! This guy has NO idea." He walks in front of us and gets nearly beat up by this dusted thug. This drunk fuck launches off the wall RIGHT into this guy's face, mumbling all crazy, and starts looking in the bag of groceries for items he may want. The nerd nearly shat himself. I remember vividly the dorky look of "Help Me!" he gave me while being mauled. My look was, "I'm with him."
After a bit of harassment, he let the square get on with his day. At the same time my clothes were dry and it was time for me to do the same. I gathered my gear and homie went back to his bottles. Cheers!
The hostel was filled with all sorts of people from all over the world on missions to do a bunch of different things. We met this girl out front who would be going to a monastery in a few days. She described that you can stay at this monastery for a few weeks for free in exchange for your help around the grounds. They provide you with only bare necessities i.e. a towel, a bowl of rice, tea, a mat to sleep and you help with gardening and other things.
We all wanted to go for a walk to see the Eiffel Tower at night. So we hopped the metro.
Found a "Hot Dog" on the way! Split it with Duper. Hot dog on a baguette with cheese on top. So French.
I was stoked!! The Tower looked so amazing!! There were tons of people walking about and the moon was incredible!
I met this beast!! He was from Canada and had been flown underneath the plane! He was in Paris tho! Just slobberin' and lovin' life!! It's a Doggy Dogg World!
Every 30 minutes the Eiffel Tower lights up and puts on a twinkling light show for the crowd. It's really cool to watch. We walked up to a bridge a bit away and took in the show from there.
Port DeBilly!! "You are Here". Yes we are!
"ummm I'll have the ASS Steak. I think..."
The next day D'Jon and Eric were planning to leave. So we rallied up a breakfast and checked out of the hostel.
A young lady asked if I would watch her lil' puppy while she went into the bakery. He was a cutie!! So was she!!
D'Jon and Eric decided to go cruise around on their own mission for a while until their train was to leave for the airport. Duper and I went to the Arc de Triomphe for a sight! We were there looking up at all the names etched in the stones, discussing Hitler's parade through the middle and contemplating going to the top for a certain number of euros. While deciding, an Australian woman came up to us and asked if we would be going to the top. We told her that we would like to. She handed us a ticket to the top and described to us that she wasn't feeling her best and she wouldn't be using the ticket anyway. "Thank You So Much!!" Duper and I decided we would split the cost of another ticket and got in line.
As we were in line a man came up to us. He told us he was a school teacher from New Zealand and was chaperoning a group of his students around France. He said that his wife wasn't feeling well and was on a bench across the street. He offered to pay for our tickets and hold our bags in exchange for taking his students safely to the top!! "Of course!" We look behind us to 7 fresh faced Kiwi's and handed the man our luggage.
As we got to the ticket window, I handed the clerk my ticket first but told her I was with the group. Duper was the "teacher" and I was a "student". She informed us of a school group rate for the lot of us and refunded me the cash for the ticket I had presented her!! Got paid to go up to the top!!
Quite a sight to see!! Just an overall beautiful view of the city!
The students thought we were just so funny!! We kept asking about sheep and Lord of the Rings and they kept asking about fat people and hamburgers. Hahaha!!!
We told 'em "We're not those types of people so we don't know!!"
A view of the Sacré Cœur! Picnic Zone of the Century!!
Learning. Absorbing.
Young Girl - "Can you describe America in one word?"
Me - "Fuuuuckkk..."
Entire Group - "HAHAHAHAAHHA"
I then asked the group "Tell me 3 words that you think of when you think of America." They all basically agreed with "Lazy. Fat. George Bush." I told 'em "That's actually 4 words."
I told them the best part about America is that you can truly make something out of nothing. One word - Opportunity. Everybody has a choice.
Duper in statue form?
They were all really great and full of life. What a wonderful opportunity for them to get to see the world! Experience is EVERYTHING. Bon Voyage!!
We retrieved our bags and made our way to the train station to link with the homies.
They had some time to kill before the ride so I took them down a street I had already walked down a few times. I knew it had a bunch of Indian food to eat which sounded well nice to sit down to. We picked a spot and feasted! Spicy Chicken right here!!
They presented us with these seeds I had never seen before. They were mint!! You just spoonful a bit into your hand a throw 'em back. Really cool! So delicious!! We said "Peace Out" to the homies and kept on movin'!!
