Bonjour mes amis! We're in Paris!
We made it to Dover in plenty of time to catch our evening ferry across to Calais, and before we knew it we were driving along on French soil! (And yes, Cam remembered to move over to the right-hand side of the road!). We'd decided to head straight to the big smoke of Paris first up, so wound our way towards the capital city that night (spent the night in a rest area somewhere in the countryside) and the following day. My job as navigator was to try and ensure we kept off the expensive toll highways and stuck to the smaller, free highways that go in basically the same direction. They can be a little hard to spot however (and admittedly my navigating skills leave a little to be desired - one more than one occasion a frustrated Cam was forced to pull over and study the map for himself. Not to worry, I'm sure by the end of the next 3 months I'll be a pro! Or else Cam will've pulled all his hair out and dropped me off on the side of the road somewhere...). We only ended up on the toll highway once and managed to get off at the first exit, which cost the princely sum of 2.50 euros or something, so not too bad!
Anyway, approaching Paris was exciting - I let out a squeal as soon as I spied the tip of the Eiffel tower, and from then on completely disregarded any navigational responsibilities I should have been fulfilling....preferring to gape out the window and try and spot landmarks than study the map for the best exit off the highway like I should have been doing.
Before we knew it, we were hurtling down Place Charles de Gaulle, the massive cobbled road leading to the magnifique Arc de Triomphe, round the huge, chaotic roundabout (with no lanes, heaps of traffic, and of course going anti-clockwise, lucky Cam!) and then we were crusing down the Champs-Elysees - it was so cool! Hard to describe how excited we were, especially me, as Paris has been my dream destination for a long long time, so all quite overwhelming to actually, finally be here.
We made the notorious Bois de Boulogne, a big park very close to the Arc de Triomphe which supposedly plays host to rather unsavoury nighttime behaviour - we never saw anything of the sort - our home for the evening, and then for the next 4 days, as it was nice and quite convenient.
It's been amazingly easy for us to get around Paris - as August when most French people go on holiday, almost all parking in the city is free. So we were able to drive within a few blocks of places like the Louvre and park all day and it cost nothing! Of course we didn't realize this until after our first day, when we walked (in the scorching heat, I might add), from Bois de Boulogne to the Arc de Triomphe, to the Eiffel Tower, up and down the Tower, then all the way to the other end of the River Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral, then all the way back, up the Champs-Elysees and then back home. I don't know how many kilometers that is, but it took 12 hours and we consumed 7 litres of water! Yes, we nearly died, but it's such a nice city to stroll around, amazing buildings and beautiful bridges everywhere you look, parks to rest in with water fountains - plus we had to do something to work off all the pains au chocolat and ice-cream we've been scoffing! Needless to say we were a bit slow on our feet around the Louvre the next day - which also was free because it was the first Sunday of the month! Who said Europe was expensive? (Though, surprisingly, supermarkets seems a lot more expensive here than in England).
We've done all the touristy stuff people do in Paris, aside from the predictable highlights of ascending the Eiffel Tower and seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, we particularly liked Notre Dame Cathedral (a couple were getting married while we were there) and seeing the Impressionists at Musee d'Orsay - Van Gogh, Monet etc. Amazing to see the originals, we both wish we'd knew more about art to more fully appreciate it all.
But the best bit has been just wandering the streets soaking it all up. Parisiennes seem quite friendly, contrary to their reputation - not only the overly-friendly street artists in Montmartre , but average people - like the two old men who strolled past us eating dinner in the park last night and wished us 'bon appetit'. My 6 years of French study is slowly coming back, though at first I found the speed a problem and kept wanting to speak Japanese (particularly odd considering I can't speak Japanese, and, when I first arrived in Japan I kept wanting to speak French!). But it seems to be improving, and it's nice to be able to communicate with people.
OK, this really is a novel so will stop now, sorry! Tomorrow morning we're leaving Paris, boo hoo, via a visit to the cemetery of famous people including Jim Morrison of the Doors, and then we are going down to Versailles. Hope this finds you well, keep the emails coming!
p.s. we saw 3 people we know from nz on the streets of paris....typical!
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