Paris (Day 1)

We woke very early as breakfast is only served from 7-9am! It consisted of a croissant, a bread roll, spreads, tea, coffee and juice. Quite simple, but none the less, free. Veronika decided to join me on the bike tour, so we set out to have our first experience on the underground. We had been given a very good map from the Hotel, so i knew where we needed to change train. We went down the stairs and i used the ticket that the American girl had so kindly given me in Munich (She had spares). They have a bizarre system here. You walk to a validator style thing, put your ticket in, it sucks it in, spits it out the top and then you walk through a turn style, and then a swinging wall device, clearly to prevent you from jumping the barrier. The ticket worked thankfully, and we waited a few minutes on the platform for our train. It was very speedy and efficient, it took us a little under 25 minutes to get to the Eiffel Tower (Bike Tour Meeting Point) including change over and walking. I’ve said it once and i will say it again, take that Connex!

We met up with Wes, our friendly American tour guide from Texas, and hung out waiting for others to show up. After a few photos of the tower, a brief talk from Wes and 20 minutes, we set out for the “shop”. It was a 5 minute walk and when we arrived, we paid (20 Euro) and were allocated bikes. Once again, no one over here believes in helmets, so that wasn’t included. The bikes were very similar to the ones from Munich and Berlin, Fat Tyre! We all got used to our bikes on the strange street and Wes gave us a pep talk, explaining that Parisians only respected bikes in numbers, so where ever possible we would take up a whole lane, not single file. He then allocated me as the Ass Man! Essentially, like the pub crawl, i was to stay at the back and make sure no one got left behind. I was okay with that, it gave me some standing within the group and i was asked throughout the day questions about the monuments, to which i explained that i didn’t work for the company, i had just been lugged with a shitty job! We passed a number of cool sights, including the newly erected peace monument, featuring peace written in over 70 languages.

Our second spot was the Military School where Napoleon had been taught and to which he credited all of his knowledge. This site had been a hiding place for the Nazi’s during the war as they believed Allied soldiers wouldn’t bomb such an important monument, they were partially right, as the building features scars from bullets and mortar shells from the Allied troops and the French Resistance. We then moved onto a church that is one of only two monuments in France that featre real gold tops. We also visited the Louvre, the Notre Dam, the best photo spot for the Eiffel Tower and conquered a French round about which was a very odd experience because not only was it the wrong way (from Australia) it also had no lines on the road. The tour took about 4 hours and was sort of worth the money. We were asked to tip Wes, and I did, because he was genuinely nice.

Veronika and I then headed straight to the Louvre as it is closed on Tuesdays (today being Monday) and so it was the last opportunity to see the Mona Lisa. When we arrived we deviously avoided the lines by entering through the “locals entrance”… I will never reveal it, you will have to beat it out of me! We then made a bee line for the Mona Lisa. It was a lot smaller than i though… nah only joking, apparently that’s what everyone says. It was very impressive and i found myself standing there for some time marveling about the amount of people she sees every day, and at 9.40 per entry, how much money she makes! We then got suitably lost in the museum until we got kicked out at 5:30. I got some amazing photos and saw some really stunning works of art. It was exhausting and so we almost fell asleep on the tube back to the hotel. We got back around 7:30 because we had done a bit of a round trip, lost in the streets and trying to find a shop for Veronika to buy cigarettes, which aren’t sold in supermarkets here.

I was planning to go and see the Cat Empire at a bar at the other end of town, and i got Ariana to call up for me, because she did French Immersion in school so she can speak french. I found out that it was 21 euro and it would take me 40 minutes to get there, so i would be late. It was a very painful experience, but i chose to stay with the girls, so we got some dinner and went down the supermarket and got some booze and drank in our room. We were quite tired and didn’t last long, i think we were in bed around 12:30.

Paris is beautiful and the view from my balcony gives me a good taste of the culture and atmosphere in the street. It is a very beautiful city, more beautiful than i imagined. I am going to the Arc De Triumph (spelling is wrong) tomorrow and the Notre Dam, and visiting some other sights. I am tossing up the Moulin Rouge, but at 99 Euro, its a bit of a stretch.

Hope everyone is well!

Much love, from the city of love.

Geordie