Paris (Day 2)

I couldn’t really be bothered getting up and going down for breakfast as it was way too early for me. I instead walked down to the local bakery and grabbed a small bread stick and a croissant. It was a satisfying breakfast and I topped it off with a coffee from the local cafe. I walked back to the Hotel and decided that today would be a day of washing and Internet blogging and maybe a wander up to the Moulin Rouge! I did my washing at a local laundromat and whilst it was on, i checked my flight for the next day…

This is where my day got bad. I had accidentally booked it for the 16th, way too late for my liking, and even if i wanted to wait, there was no accommodation in Paris for the next three nights, ANYWHERE! So i handled it like a pro, i rang Lufthansa and asked to change it. They informed me that it was not modifiable or refundable, essentially i had wasted 270 Australian Dollars. I was freaking, because the only other flight they could offer me would cost 850 Australian Dollars. I checked on the net and happend to stumble across a site called SkyScanner, which had cheap flights from Paris to Prague (About 100 Euro), the only problem being that they were on the 14th. I went back and moved my washing into the dryer. I was really really annoyed. I rang dad and whinged to him, waking him as it was 12 midnight Australian Time. He calmed me somewhat and gave me advice, informing me that it was just money and that it would all turn out okay. So with good advice at hand, i booked the cheap 100 Euro flight, and then went and got my washing off, thinking all my problems were solved. I had one more problem to come though.

I had forgotten that there was no accommodation for the next three days, i needed accommodation for the 13th to catch my flight on the 14th. I begged the reception guy, and after 5 minutes, he had done some shuffling and had managed to fit me in. All was good. I had calmed down a little, folded my washing and went down to the Internet cafe to catch up on my blog. Mary and Inger were getting in from Munich around 9pm, and so that was at least something to look forward to. I spent two hours on the computer, got my blog up to date, answered a few emails and was a lot happier. Inger and Mary arrived and we met in the foyer. I shouted them dinner at the restaurant next door as they had been eating bread and cheese for the past two days, as that was all they could afford. Inger and I had steak and chips, and Mary had chicken, which she later regretted, because she doesn’t like it to be on the bone, and it was.

It was mostly enjoyable and we retired to my room with the balcony and sat watching the evening traffic and pedestrians go by. We had purchased a bottle of apple schnapps from Aldi in Vienna that was 5 Euro. We poped the bottle and it was horrible. It smelt of really bad goon mixed with rotting apples. We had a lemonade to mix with it, but it didn’t help much! Inger managed to drink two, Mary and I gave up at the first sip. We chatted and chatted and i caught up on the Busabout goss, including the goss on a certain Canadian and another Busabout boy from Sydney (Josh). As we were sitting there, Inger screamed out at two people in the street. I thought maybe the apple schnaps was secretly absinthe, and she was crazy. But it turned out that two girls from Brisbane who Mary and Inger had travelled with in the early part of busabout were walking below. They came up and joined us on the balcony and we chatted about Paris and the couple in their room… A story for later perhaps.

It got to about 1am and we all decided it was bedtime. I was buggered. The two girls in my room had gone on the bike tour at night and they weren’t back yet. This was because it involved a large quantity of wine. I was woken by them coming in at about 4am, but when i woke up at 9am, they were gone, on the bus by 8am.

A traumatic day, but Paris made me smile still, it is just so pretty!