After a quick flight to Paris, we had several hours to explore the city, and we headed for Notre Dame and the surrounding area. It was nice to stretch our legs and walk around, and surreal to be in such a different place after only a few movies on the airplane. Walking around the St Germain neighborhood around Notre Dame was really wonderful, stopping at a cafe for hot and delicious crepes and fresh squeezed juice. We walked around some parks in the area and witnessed the abundance of motorcycle riding, scarf wearing Parisians.
This is a small neighborhood named Yoff near where we stayed (also close to the airport). This was one of our favorite places, where we could witness the slow paced life of the people outside of the city. Kids played in the streets, chickens, goats, and dogs wandered, and colorful laundry and beautiful bougainvillea add to the beauty of each street.
Our first day in Dakar, Senegal we dive right into the urban market scene, which is very overwhelming, kids leading us through the different sections (some "sections" include chicken, clothes, autoparts, trinkets, nuts, smelly things, etc.) of the extremely large section of town that is the "market". With some sections inside, some in stalls outside, some along the streets, and some on the 2nd/3rd floor of buildings, it was easy to get lost. If I hadn't had Matt with me, who has an impressive inner sense of direction, I might have spent the rest of my trip in this one market.
We spent the rest of the day, and the following couple of days, exploring the city and walking a LOT. We saw lots of Baobob trees, which are beautiful--you should look these up if you have the time--and some boys using a slingshot to get the baobob fruit down from the tree.
For all of you who have ever been to Muscle Beach in Cali, the Muscle Beach in Dakar is quite something to see as well. They have work out equipment on the beach and the stretch of sand along the road is packed with people running, working out, showing off their bodies, and starting games. Amazing how many people there were!
Dakar is one of the only developing countries I've been where there hasn't been street dogs hanging around...even more surprising is that in lieu of the street dogs, there are goats!
Highlights: There are beautiful African fabrics everywhere and the food is wonderful, partly due to the French influence, I'm sure.
Ha ha. I was like, "Wow! Talk about a serious colonial influence. That church in Sénégal looks *exactly* like Notre Dame." But then I scrolled down and realized I am dumb and you had a long layover in Paris. Hope you're having a fun time. Take care.
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