July 27 – August 2, 2020. Most days of the past week was spent reconnecting with classmates from the LL.M. program and Filipino friends who had stayed in Paris during the period of confinement.
I had written and posted about the trip to Compiègne and Amiens I took last Tuesday with my Japanese and Russian friends in blog entries here and here, if you want to check it out.
The Monday prior was spent just doing some errands, like returning the keys of my old apartment to the real estate agent near Champs Elysée, and doing some bank errands at La Défense. It was too hot to do anything else outdoors, damn. But being indoors is no relief either as there is no electric fan in the house I am staying in, nor is air-conditioning a normal thing anywhere in the city! I never realized how summer temperatures and conditions can be worse in Paris than if I were in my room in Metro Manila.
On Thursday, I decided to go for a walk around Bois de Boulogne, which is the woods at the western part of Paris, and is just two blocks from where I now live. Parisiens know what this place is known for, but I guess there is room for everyone from the hookers to families with children wishing to enjoy the outdoors. That afternoon, I met up with my friend and ex-flatmate Patricia for lunch near her place in the 17th arrondissement.
That weekend, I met up again with my LLM friends Keishi and Dmitry, this time with Judith, one of our German classmates, flying over for a visit from Dusseldorf! On Saturday, we had apéro drinks along the Seine near Pont Neuf, then walked towards Île de la Cite for dinner at a restaurant in Place Dauphine. We continued walking up until our old stomping grounds near school around Saint Germain, where we ended up at a bar where the beer cost 9 euros a pint!
We met up again on Sunday and had apéro again along the Seine (this time near Pont Alexandre) then walked towards Champ de Mars for pizza at an Italian restaurant.
August 29-30, 2019. We started off our third day (August 29) in Paris with a morning stroll at the Place de Trocadero to have our photos taken with the Eiffel Tower. It still is very surreal for me finally seeing such an iconic monument I’ve only seen in photos, movies and TV shows all my life till then.
From Trocadero we walked to Champ de Mars and had more photos of us taken. We continued walking all the way to Pont Alexandre III until we reached the banks of the Seine near Musée d’Orsay. From there, we boarded a river cruise which also served lunch. A very tourist thing to do, but that was exactly what we were. I still couldn’t get over how I am finally here in this city.
