Best laid plans....
Trip Start
May 01, 2006
1
75
122
Trip End
Sep 01, 2006
Paris,
France
Thursday, July 13, 2006
After discussing every option I finally conceded defeat and cashed in our VB train tickets for one-way tickets to Paris. Then we looked up the timetable - 12.13pm!!
So instead of spending 3 hours visiting a nice museum and memorial in the French countryside - we spent 3 hours nursing one juice (5 euros!) in the train bar
01 Not happy Jan!
. Not happy Jan!
We arrived in Paris 2 hours later and easily found our hostel in the lovely Marais area. The hostel is an old aristocrat's building with an inner courtyard and lots of charm and character. It can accommodate over 100 people and most of them seemed to be American teenagers on summer camp. Oh dear...
After checking in, we wandered around the corner to the laundromat and washed everything we owned except what we were wearing. Instead of waiting around, we jumped on a tube and went into the city to the tourist bureau. We collected a thousand brochures and the BOSS had a long chat with a very helpful lady. As it is Bastille Day tomorrow, we wanted to get the best view and be in the right place and not miss the action so the lovely lady drew all over the BOSS's map with explicit instructions and times. We weren't keeping track of the time and it was past 5pm when we got back to the laundromat. Luckily he was still open as I didn't fancy wearing the same dirty clothes for the next two days.
We spent the next two hours pouring over the pamphlets and making short lists of things to do
02 Notre Dame
. One of the 'must do' things on the list was the night boat trip on the Seine - but as the sun is not setting until 9.30pm, we had to wait for the last tour of the night. We wandered past Notre Dame and grabbed dinner in the Latin Quarter which is supposed to be a trendy university type area of the city. I just found it tacky with dozens of Greek tavernas and cheap souvenir shops. Tip: When choosing a boat tour, make sure the commentary is via headphones or it is an exclusive single language tour with a real live guide. The idea behind the "sightseeing boat/bus" is so that you can get a taste of what is available and a little bit of interesting information, then mark it on the map for a revisit in the next few days.
We boarded the boat and sat up on the front deck. Unfortunately, our commentary was via a speaker and in 6 different languages. This meant that when the voice had finished in French, she had to repeat the whole thing 5 more times. Our speakers were so distorted we couldn't tell her German from her Spanish from her English. Also, the time it took to repeat the info 6 times meant that very little narrative could be imparted before we were past the building/ monument/ statue and the next round of commentary started. In the end her voice just became one long drawl and we gave up trying to extract any information about what we were seeing - it was pretty though.
We walked back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. The courtyard which I had found so charming earlier in the day, had the unfortunate habit of channeling all the noise from the guests straight up into our room. The American kids had set up camp there and their dull chatter could have been pleasant background noise except for one voice...
"So who's coming to the catacooooombs? They're soooo coooooool !!"
Comments
My favs
Okay, by no means do you have to do any of this, but..my fav things in Paris...sure it's against the rules to eat Italian food in Paris but there was a fab restaurant on the end of the Champs Elysee, furthest from the Eiffel Tower called Pizza Pino(had the most amazing pizza with 4 cheeses). Go to smell amazing perfumes at Sephora(also on Champs Elysee), grab a baguette sandwich and go to Luxembourg Gardens and watch the kids sail their boats on the pond(also check out the university closeby) or fall asleep in a chair at Tuiliers Gardens, wander through all the bookshops near St Michel(also lots of cheap eats there, 3 course early bird specials), stroll down the fashion street Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore and check out the opera house, go to the Les Halles metro stop and check out the sculpture l'Ecoute created by Henri de Miller. I find it quite an interesting sculpture. It is pretty huge. St Eustache the church which it is next to is considered one of Paris' most beautiful churches and it was modelled on Notre Dame. Don't hold back-take the boat trip along the Seine and learn the history of the different bridges. And if you're wise, you won't try to discuss the world cup with any natives right now. Have a blast...I LOVE PARIS! Will Jordan try and contact Martin Fodor-don't even know if he studies in Paris or where in France but it would be neat to see a familiar face, no? Tues is finally the return to school and the long anticipated trip to the ski fields. Then I think they have 5 weeks until their final exams for year 10-sure it'll be a full on rush to squeeze in the last info and revise before tests. Kisses to both of you! Ciao!!!