Hostel Shuffle

So the reason that I'm in France at all is that I'm headed to a conference, which runs this week. I booked a hostel with good ratings, and was looking forward to staying there, and I arrived there yesterday. I've stayed in hostels in Paris other times, so I had some sense of what I was in for, but I was still unpleasantly surprised.

When I arrived I found out that there was no elevator and my room was on the top floor... the 6th floor. Yeah. At least the guy at the desk helped me with my suitcase, actually, but the stairs were very narrow and windy (I think maybe I recognized them from an MC Escher drawing) and on top of that, the stairs were in semidarkness because there were no lights on. All the lights for common areas, like hallways and stairs, were on timed switches so they were off most of the time, which is normal. But I felt like the massive amounts of dark, narrow stairs, with me walking clumsily with my heavy suitcase and boots amounted to a safety hazard.

I also had to use said stairs to go to the bathroom, since it was down a couple of floors. The bathroom also didn't have any toilet paper, although my room did come with a roll, so I had to make sure and not forget it, or else I would have to climb twice as many stairs going back to get it.

If going to the bathroom was a workout, going downstairs to leave or ask a question at the desk amounted to an expedition. After getting the luggage upstairs and getting a bit settled in, I made the trek down to ask about wireless and breakfast. First of all, the wireless was an extra euro per day, and breakfast was an extra 5 euros, although the desk attendant told me it was "not always available" but did not give any other information about which days it might or might not be available. I really hate being nickel-and-dimed with every little thing once I get to a place I'm staying, and I think that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I like to know when and where it's happening, so I was a bit disappointed. I trudged back up to the 6th floor, made some calls with my euro of wireless, and went to sleep, which was difficult since it was cold, the blanket was threadbare, and I couldn't figure out how to turn up the heating.

I did finally fall asleep. I know I did, because I woke up at midnight because it sounded like the street downstairs had turned into a big loud disco. The loud music and voices lasted for another couple of hours, and I was feeling pretty nervous about my location. What with the staircase being how it was, I couldn't stop wondering... what if there's a fire? Could I get out OK? I was having some major late night paranoia. Hearing someone try my door handle, for example, did not help me relax either. Probably it was just someone drunk and a bit confused about their room number. Probably.
Eventually I did fall asleep again, and I got up at 7 so that I could beat my doubtless hungover fellow guests to the closest shower. It was down a floor, so modesty demanded that I walk down dressed, and I carry my nasty cigarette-smoke-smelling towel with me. Then it turned out the shower was this claustrophobic little room that consisted of a shower stall with a door in front of it. Small enough that it was hard to find room to get undressed and stash my clothes so they wouldn't get wet. The steam that built up inside from the couple of minutes I actually had the water on made me feel like I couldn't breathe. I was definitely feeling a little claustrophobic.

Once I was clean, I headed down for breakfast. I found out that this morning was one of those unspecified days when breakfast was not offered, and so I went next door to a bakery to get overcharged for some acidic orange juice and slightly burned croissants. It was the last straw, and I made the command decision that staying somewhere like this would be unendurable while I needed to focus on my work. So I went back to the hotel and told the guy at the desk that I was sure the hotel would be somewhere nice to stay if I were a student and on vacation, but it was very loud and I was here for work, and he was quite nice about it and told me that if I needed to leave then I would just pay for the night I had stayed and that was fine. I refrained from telling him that I couldn't get over the sense that my room was somehow a deathtrap. Then I went back to my room and used the rest of my euro of wireless to book a room at a place that was more of a hotel than a hostel, where I am now using the wireless that was included with my stay. Oh, and status update: I just put on my pyjamas and discovered that they still smell like cigarettes from staying in that place. :( On my way out of the hostel this morning, the guy at the desk actually changed his tune a bit and gave me a hard time. He told me that it was only noisy at night maybe once a month at most and that anywhere might be noisy, and blah blah... uh yeah, dude, I already booked another place, bye.

After I got to the hotel where I'm now staying, which of course included hauling my suitcase up and down lots of stairs in the metro stations, I decided that for my day to be an overall win, I needed a good lunch and some good sightseeing. So first I went to a really reasonably priced cafe that's nearby, had a club sandwich and some more coffee. I was kind of awkward taking a seat... I still can't figure out when I'm supposed to wait for someone to seat me and when I'm supposed to seat myself at these places, with the result that I often tend to look like a confused idiot for awhile until someone asks me what I want, I say "umm... to eat" and they tell me to go sit down somewhere. Oh well, I'm pretty awkward in the U.S., so I can't really expect to be less awkward in France.

After my tasty and filling lunch, I went out to the architecture museum in the Palais Chaillot, which is in the Trocadero looking toward the Eiffel Tower. On the first floor it's full of 1:1 size plaster casts carvings from cathedrals all over France, which is pretty interesting, especially since it allows the viewer to compare all of them side by side, as one never could otherwise. It was also nice to have at eye level casts of portions of cathedrals that are quite high up in real life. The second floor was devoted to more contemporary work. There was, for example, a reproduction of a unit from one of Le Corbusier's apartment buildings. Actually I found the ceilings to be low, and I don't think anyone taller than me would be comfortable living in it. And I'm not that tall. Sorry, Le Corbusier, I wasn't really feeling it as a living space. Maybe just because I was still feeling a little claustrophobic from the hostel last night, but still. My favorite part of the exhibit was about contemporary new apartment blocks and proposals to replace current budget housing in various French cities. The architects of the various projects described had all used the arrangement of public and private spaces in ways to foster community and encourage interaction between residents of the building. Sounds like something my office building could use.

Additional highlights of the museum included a display about the construction of the building it was in, as well as some very striking photos of it, and the nearby area around the Eiffel Tower, from the German occupation of France during the second world war. Also, appropriately for a museum about architecture, there were lots of windows facing the Eiffel Tower, so I had lots of good views of the area. Oh, and at one point I asked one of the museum guards a question and he told me I spoke French very well. That was a highlight for me. :) Actually, apparently my language skills were on today because the person at the entry desk assumed that I was studying here rather than back in the US.

But anyway, I'm back at the hotel for the evening. One of my strategies for eating well yet cheaply here is to have a big lunch out and then just pick up something smaller for dinner. Lately it's been quiche from bakeries, because they're cheap, tasty, and easy to find. So tonight it was quiche Lorraine (again). I am starting to wonder if I am going to turn into a quiche Lorraine, so I might have to try something else tomorrow. OK, now here's hoping for some better sleep tonight!

Carcassonne!

Right now I am very much regretting that I can't get the photos off my camera for another couple of weeks, because I took lots of awesome photos today. But even the great photos can't really capture the amazingness of the medieval city of Carcassonne.

So I actually first heard about Carcassonne the city because I own a fun board game by the same name, and found out only after owning it awhile that it shared its name with a city. I chose to come down to Toulouse specifically so that I could see Carcassonne because I really love seeing castles. Carcassonne, the medieval city (there's also a modern town nearby), actually consists of not only a castle, but its surrounding walled city. Some of the buildings have been updated, of course, as there is a thriving tourist industry with many shops, restaurants, and even hotels also contained in the walls.

When I went to breakfast this morning, I actually met a couple from the bay area, which was neat since I hadn't met any other Americans so far, and now that I finally did, they were from pretty close to where I'm from. Amusingly, I saw them again sitting next to me on the train, and then walking from the train station in Carcassonne over to the medieval city. If it wasn't enough of a coincidence that they were from the same area as me, it actually turned out that my French instructor from last semester at Berkeley is a mutual acquaintance. Small world.

When I got to the city, I walked around the ramparts and took lots of photos. The weather was mild and slightly overcast, and I was very happy having my walk. The owner of my hotel here in Toulouse mentioned to me that because of a large forest nearby, Toulouse enjoys excellent air quality, and I have been enjoying it. This morning, standing up on the castle ramparts, smelling the cool breeze, I felt like a happy dog with its head out the car window.

After my tour of the ramparts, I went inside the city and walked around a bit. Unfortunately the castle proper was closed for New Year's Day, and so there weren't any tours running there. That was unfortunate, but in some ways I think it was still a good day to go because only about a third of the shops and cafés were open and there were probably a lot fewer tourists than usual. It was kind of nice because a lot of the people who were around seemed like they were just from nearby and were walking their dogs and so on.

After my long walk, I decided it was time for lunch, and after a search found a place that seemed reasonable. I got a set lunch menu, and the main dish was cassoulet, a local specialty. It was very good. It was a sort of thick, hearty stew with white beans and I found it also had a lovely duck leg and hunk of sausage sitting down in it. It was so delicious I ate pretty much all of it, but it's a very heavy dish. But then my dessert was so amazing that I found room for more- gateau. It was a delicious pastry with a light flavor and a lovely accompanying dollop of cream. Then I got a cup of coffee afterward so I didn't fall asleep on the restaurant table. What an excellent meal.

Afterward, I had a very gentle walk around the city center, and then stumbled across one museum that was actually open- the inquisition instruments of torture museum. I thought I would pass it by, but found myself morbidly curious, and so I went. There was also an intriguing posting in French that I couldn't quite entirely read about how the museum was in some way controversial, but the curators disagreed.

The museum was small, but kind of interesting, since I felt like taken together, the items gave quite a sense of the how a society used to function in terms of its rules and norms and how they were enforced. There were a lot of things that were just meant to be uncomfortable and embarrassing, like the stocks, but there were quite a lot of more painful things as well, ranging from ye olde nippleclamps to an iron maiden. I found it very interesting that "keeping women in their place" seemed to be a recurring theme. Ladies had to wear an awkward metal mask for awhile if they talked too much (that was more on the "uncomfortable and embarrassing" end of the spectrum), or wear a chastity belt if their husbands were worried about them messing around while they were away. The Inquisition was also pretty worried about witches... because ladies have scary lady-magic. Another recurring theme I noticed had to do with persecution of homosexuals. If we think the Catholic church isn't a fan of homosexuality now, it really didn't like it back in the day.

One more thing about my trip to the museum. So I already knew that France is a country where public displays of affection are more acceptable. I'm not really one for displaying affection publicly myself, and although unfortunately it means I have to admit to being a little bit of a puritanical American inside, sometimes seeing pda makes me kind of uncomfortable. For example, when I went to the Pompidou modern art museum in Paris, I felt like all the couples who were also there visiting needed to go get a room instead, but I couldn't really justify saying it's inappropriate. It's an art museum, and it's at least plausible that the paintings would make you feel inspired to make out. But the medieval tortures museum? Really? I was out looking at the displays in this tiny little garden, and the only other people out there were this couple who would not stop kissing each other. When I'm reading about bodies being left outside to be eaten by crows, I find it unacceptable to have to hear kissy noises coming from 5 feet away from me. Freaks.

So after leaving the museum, I walked slowly back through town toward the train station. I think a lot of blood was still in my stomach because of eating the cassoulet, rather than in my brain, and I (uncharacteristically) got a little turned around. To be fair, there wasn't anywhere open where I could get a map of the area, so I was trying to find my way without one. After a bit I decided to just use that French lesson on asking directions, and approached an older woman, who pointed me in the right direction, and told me at length that I just had to go straight that way and I wouldn't miss it. She looked appraisingly at my boots and told me I would probably get there pretty fast. I'm glad I asked her because I had been about to go the wrong way. Anyway, I got back to the hotel all right, and realized that I was tired and had been on my feet for a long time. Since getting back I've just been chilling and reading, and continuing to digest the cassoulet. I may never need to eat again.