Paris, je t'aime

Do you know these Ryanair magazines, which you get during the flight? Well once on a flight to somewhere, there was an article about the places to go and when to go. So as one of the destinations in this edition was Paris. It said smth like: You have to vist Paris in spring!

So since September we wanted to go to Paris. To be precise, we wanted to go to Paris in Spring. Finally, we bought tickets for 4th-7th of April.

At the beginning and due to the forecast in Barcelona, we though that we were too naive buying the tickets during those dates, as instead of those idyllic sun-spring-flowers walks we were dreaming, we were going there just to catch a big cold. But as pleasant surprise Paris was not affected by the rain invasion there was in the rest of Europe :)

We arrive on 4th afternoon and went to Antoine's place. Toni is an old friend we know for 3 years already and was so kind to host us in his cute appartment in the 15th district. Just after we arrived, we went to enjoy the last light of the day in a terrace next to his place to wait for him.

When Antoine arrived we went to meet some other old BESTies for dinner; for diferent reasons, it came out we had many friends those days in Paris and so the conversation&wine last till quite late.

Next morning we started with our "guiri" status (guiri=turist) and so we walked till Eiffel Tower, we had lunch on the grass in front of it, made 100 of photos and continued our walk to Champs Elisees. For the coffee break we met again with Alex, who was in Paris for bussiness reasons, and continued together till Louvre, Madeleine, Place Concorde, Place Vedome, and so on. By that time Beta was hungry and wanted a Crepe and Adriana fully supported the idea :D

Crepe&cofee and in our way to Notre Dame we stop on the oldest bridge of Paris to enjoy the view of sparkling Eiffel Tower on the Sena. Finally we reached Notre Dame and met there with Antoine who took us to a Restaurant were we ate fondue and other delicious dishes.

Later we went to a very curious place were just girls were alowed to enter and practicly the only guys there were the waiters. Cocktails there were delicious. And the atmosphere... well some things are not to be written down, but have to be experienced. Lets just say it was a hot place! :)

Next day we started with coffe and croissants and continued visiting Montmatre, we tryed to get lost in the tiny streets of the artists district but we just were 3 more turist in its crowded streets. During the afternoon we walked arround Le Marais area and discover some interesting designers shops, and from there we walked to pompidou, Saint Michelle church and crossed the river to Saint Germain where we met with Toni for dinner and some cocktails.

On Sunday we were already habituals in the cafeteria next to Toni's place. The woman just made it sure: "Trois cafe creme et trois croissant?" "oiu, oiu!"

In the bakery (or boulangerie, sounds fun that name) happened a similar experience than in the cafeteria. And after we walked to Les invalides, and from there a lot more and finished in the afternoon in Luxemburg Gardens where we rested a bit. Adriana and Beta didn't want to leave Paris without the last crepe and Vikachuu in that moment would kill for an icecream, and we found the perfect place for it. During the night we prepared our own french dinner with cheese and wine and it was when Paris started to cry.

Next morning, we used last moments in Paris to have coffee and croissants in our habitual place. Paris was still crying, but we were leaving knowing "We'll always have Paris".

Sant Jordi

(or the Catalan lover's day)

Hard to understand for those who have never experienced it, Saint Jordi's Day is a popular festive day when book and rose stalls, and, above all, floods of people, take over the streets of all Catalan towns and villages. The celebration could not be simpler: the ritual consists of going for a walk and buying a rose, a book or both to give to loved ones, family members and friends. Although it is not a public holiday, the day and the essential walk fill the streets and squares, making it a unique national festival celebrated on a working day.

The origin of this unusual festival can be found in a mixture of traditions and customs from different periods. The fact that Saint George (Sant Jordi) is the patron saint of Catalunya coincides with another medieval custom of celebrating a Rose Fair or "Lovers' Fair" at the Palau de la Generalitat.

To these more traditional celebrations was added Book Day, established throughout Spain in 1926. The literary celebration ended up mixing with the Catalan traditions to create a special day which has won widespread public support.

The Legend

Once upon a time, a terrible dragon was terrifying the locals in a village in Catalonia called Montblanc. The dragon caused havoc among the population and ate up the village's pasture animals. To assuage the dragon's anger, the villagers decided they would sacrifice someone every day, chosen by lot and offered to the dragon as a gesture of good will.

But one dark day, the person who was going to be sacrificed was the king's daughter. Before the dragon could swallow her, a splendid knight appeared and attacked the cursed beast. This was Sant Jordi (St George). He thrust his lance into the dragon and from the beast's blood a rose bush with bright red roses arose. Ever since then, it has been a custom in Catalonia to present one's beloved with a rose.