France - Day 2 (Paris)

Monday, 5 September 2011

As you can see from the previous piece, our hotel was quite close to the Eiffel Tower.  So on our first real day in Paris, we strolled down cobblestone alley ways lined with bakeries, pubs, bicycles and flower baskets towards the Eiffel Tower.  On the way, we picked up croissants and coffee for breakfast.

The Eiffel tower was certainly an impressive sight.  Photos and postcards cannot do it justice.  Not afraid of looking silly to get the best photos of this masterpiece, Jason laid on the ground on his back with the camera in front of hundreds of people.

We then went in search to buy an international SIM card and Australian adaptor with the assistance of Jason’s best French.  We kept getting directions to a shop that was supposed to be within walking distance.  After an hour and a half of walking and asking for directions, we hailed a taxi.  The driver advised us that he knew of a closer shop where we could get one, so we agreed for him to take us there.

15 minutes and 10 Euros later, we were on the other side of town.  But, at least this misfortune resulted in us being within a stones throw of the Arc De Triomphe.

After purchasing the adaptor and “international SIM card” (which we later discovered could not be used outside of France), we took a walk down what seemed to be France’s equivalent to

Rodeo Drive

.  It was a high end shopping district with all the best designer stores.  Every shop on this street was a high end designer outlet.  Armani Emporio, Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabana, and Louis Vuitton where salivating, fashion-hungry ladies formed an endless queue out onto the street.

For a late lunch, Sarah tried a froggoir salad at a nearby restaurant.  Froggoir (unsure of spelling) is a type of small bird used in French cuisine.

As we were eating our lunch, and much to Jason's amusement, a trap door opened in the floor, centimetres away from Sarah’s chair.  Jason was quite amused and took photos of this, including some rather unflattering ones of Sarah in the foreground.

We finally headed to the Arc De Triomphe, the centre of Paris, for an aerial view.  It was a clear day and we could see several famous landmarks.  We took turns using a telescope and experienced our first Parisian sun set.

But the strangest and most amusing thing we saw from the top was the traffic below.  The Arc De Triomphe is in the middle of a roundabout, and a dozen roads shoot off from this.  There are no traffic lights, signs, markings on the road, or rules it seems.  Kingsford nine ways eat your heart out!

We polished off the day with a light dinner served with crusty bread and some quality chardonnay.

France - Day 1 (Paris)

Sunday, 4 September 2011 (again)

The first thing I (Sarah) must share was our train trip adventure from the airport to our hotel.  Several unfortunate things had happened to us up to this point, and they continue at a daily rate.  Lost/Stolen valuables, luggage bags breaking, bad service, and many more that we will share in future pieces.  We were both feeling quite stressed by this stage, but I began to take it in my stride a bit more, seeing these things more as part of the adventure.

The Paris rail network is even more complex and criss-crossey than the London tube, and announcements are not provided in English.  However, we were able to work out where we needed to go after intensly studying the train map several times.

On the first train we boarded, a bloke got on who smelled of horse manure, and although there were many empty seats around us, he chose to sit opposite myself.  I was in a four seater compartment, and Jason was in another.  This man then proceeded to stare at my breasts for the remainder of the trip whilst I did my best to cover myself and avoid eye contact with him by studying a French phrasebook.

When we went to get off, we learned that the trains here close their doors without checking if people are still getting on or off, so I would have left Jason behind if it wasn't for a kind man who held the train door open whilst Jason jumped out with his luggage.

The second train smelled of perfume but was really tiny and we had to keep moving our luggage everytime people got on, got off or needed to get past us.  We thought we had mastered the art of getting off the train in five seconds after the first experience, but we were wrong.  I got off quickly, but one of Jason's bags fell on the floor when he was trying to squeeze his luggage between two of the handrails.  A quick-witted gentlemen forced the door back open so Jason could jump out with his bags, left one of them behind and another man threw it out onto the platform for us whilst another forced the train door back open to make this possible.

I thought the whole experience was funny but Jason was bemused.

We got to the final station in one piece, and attempted to communicate with bad French with an information lady who answered only in French.  We just headed in the direction she pointed in.

We finally arrived at our hotel, the Mercure at the Eiffel Tower.  The concierge was courteous but advised us the lift would be out of order until tomorrow morning, so we would have to take our months worth of luggage up five flights of stairs to the top level.  He helped us up to our room which we discovered had a great view of the top half of the Eiffel Tower with a spectacular light show...