8-12-13: 24 kilometers in 2 1/2 hours- Shem

View from Sacré Coeur

So the stories are true, when you book a place online and see photos of it do not expect to get what you see in the photos unless your paying over 200€ a night, and even then you might be disappointed. I'm not complaining, I only say this because when you wake up a 2 a.m. to the sounds of one drunk brazilian in the small courtyard below trying to communicate in english to another drunk french woman who is also stumbling through english while the scent of their cigarette smoke is slowly making its way into our room because everyone is so close to one another I just remind myself, "This is what I am paying for". Needless to say it was hard to fall back asleep meaning I didn't fall asleep until they left the courtyard which was probably 30 cigarettes later and maybe a bottle of wine or two landing me around 5 a.m.

I woke up at 10 am and Andie had already been up for a couple of hours, it always feels like a waste sleeping in when there is so much to do. We had planned to take a train up North to take pictures of this forrest where a battle from the 100 years war took place.

When we got off the subway we ended up going down this street on our way to the subway that was called little India, and that was no joke. It was as if the subway stopped in India the only indication that we were still in Paris was the buildings. People on the street, clothes and goods in the stores and writings on posters and signs were all Indian, it was a trip.

Our train was leaving out of Le Gare de Paris Nord and it seemed prertty confusing at the time. We waited in line for some time to get some info on what time and train we needed to take, unfortunately we were 10 minutes late and the next train was leaving in an hour and a half.

After getting on the train we map out how we are going to get to this little town because the there is no known public transportation to this town and our train drops us off about 12 miles from the forrest (we dressed appropriately in the event we would have to run or bike it) in another little town called Abbeville. We figured that because the last train to Paris from Abbeville was at 7:45 gettimg in at 4:20 would give us a total of 3 hours and 25 minutes to bus, bike or run a total of 24 miles, you can imagine how important it was to take these pictures and get info on this forrest was.

Abbville train station

We got off in Abbeville and ask a the TGV people if there is a bus system, they say they don't know, we then ask if there is a place to rent bikes, same response. So we ask where we can find the tourist office, ding ding ding, down the street and to the left. We leave running, its now 4:30 and still no transportation. We run past the tourist office and loose 10 minutes. Deciding that the bus was probably not the very reliable we figure we can bike it there and back in 2 hours making it so that we would have an hour each way plus an extra half hour for photos and what not. Side note, this is a really small town with a massive cathedral type chapel, the thing was huge and it just so happened that there was a funeral going on where the whole town came to stand outside to see when the casket would come out. We thought we stood out in Paris, this was as if we were aliens from another planet! Everyone is stopped waiting for this casket to come out of this church then you have these two Americans that look like their about to run marathon come running through, its ridiculous to think about.

Abbeville

So we had already passed the funeral party once to get to the tourist office and they tell us that we need to go to this créperie where they rent bikes. We start to run again taking a side street thinking that we could go around tje funeral party but much to our surprise the aliens come running right back into the middle of the church square making it the second time we passed through. After the awkwardness we get to the créperie/bike store and its closed, we didn't look but I'm sure we missed them by a couple minutes. So we decide to go back to the tourist office to see if they can call them or to see hours for the bus.

Abbeville Cathedral

We get back to the tourist office (finally avoiding the funeral) and it is now 5. After convincing the two girls at the desk that we were up for the challenge of biking 24 miles in 2 and a half hours they call the créperie/bike store and there is no answer. So we ask what time the next bus is and they tell us 6:30 this wasn't too bad before finding out the next returning bus would be the following morning at 7 am.

les patisseries

Defeated in our efforts we decide to make the most of it and see Abbeville and then take the first train out so we can get back to Paris early. We got some rotisserie chicken with a baguette, diet coke, orangina, some chocolates with éclairs and there was dinner and dessert while we waited at the train.

Andie and Friend, aka Amazing Soccer Guy

Look at all the muscles

When we got back to Paris we decided to walk back to our place since it was only 10 or so stops on the subway back to our place. As we walked, we saw a large crowd moving towards a street which leads to Sacré Coeur which is an insane Cathedral that takes some walking to get to but the view is incredible with crazy performances. If you though juggling a soccer ball was hard try to climb a light post balancing the ball on your head and then when you reach the top juggle the ball (not with you hands your feet). This guy was amazing we'll post video.

Sacré Coeur

We hung out there for a while and went through the cathedral (through the exit cause the line was ridiculous) and then headed back down the street to go see the Moulin Rouge before going home. No one ever tells you that the Moulin Rouge is in the red light district. Literally every other store was a either a sex shop or live shows, needless to say we walked much faster cause there were some shady characters. We got to the Moulin Rouge and didn't even end up taking a picture of the place we just wanted out of there.

We made it home without incident and another day was done.

View of Paris from the Sacré Coeur