Now I'm going to going out on a limb here, throw my hat in the ring, let the chips fall where they may and say Paris is the most beautiful city I've visited thus far. That may be shooting my load early in a years travel but if there is a city on a cloudy day that can keep you walking and walking and looking and looking without the need to stop for refreshment as effortlessly as Paris did to me today, could you tell me what it is. If it isn't on my travels then I need to put it on. I've been to Paris a few times and Europes next city to London, never ceases to amaze.
I started the day walking the virtually straight line south from Gare Du Nord roughly towards the Latin Quarter. Even the dodgy areas of questionable clothing and Algerians drinking expresso with water and chugging on full tarred cigarettes doesn't take anything away from it. It took maybe an hour to reach Notre Dame, which is unremarkable in my view, but I sat there and typed an email to my wife who is arriving tomorrow, while occasionally looking up at the tourists with day packs and Nokia cameras. Then I catch a reflection, and I am exactly the same. From Notre Dame I walked on the north of Seine and past the Louvre to a garden to the east of the glass pyramid. There I found a perfect deck chair by a disused fountain and sat and read Stephen Frys Chronicles. A book so funny and endearing, I've been guilty of scaring people next to me by giving an audible laugh.
From the deck chair I walked up the Champs D Elysee to the Arc du Triumph. On the way I saw a Citroen show room and I saw a renovated 1970s Citroen convertible.I took a picture, which I will label Martines Daddy (Martine is my recent Citroen C3). Anyway Martines Daddy looked amazing and like the lone my dad used to drive when I was younger. Just about was Martines Grandad, as I think it was a citroen from the 40s or 50s. Anyway I love Citroens so much, I was a bit like a kid in a sweet shop when I found the shop.
Having reached the ADT, I decided my mission was to the continue to where else? The Eiffel Tower of course. I didn't stay there long as I viewed it more as a mountain peak, with the journey to rather than the destination being important. I decided to cough up EUR 1.70 for a Metro back to the hostel where I am now typing this on the free WIFI. I'm proud how I've kept costs down. I'm sticking to my rule of no beer until Germany. However, I really really need a cafe au lait in a nearby Cafe and that is where I am going now to continue my Stephen Fry book.
Looking forward to seeing wifey tomorrow. Its been too long and there is only so much peace a man can take,
I started the day walking the virtually straight line south from Gare Du Nord roughly towards the Latin Quarter. Even the dodgy areas of questionable clothing and Algerians drinking expresso with water and chugging on full tarred cigarettes doesn't take anything away from it. It took maybe an hour to reach Notre Dame, which is unremarkable in my view, but I sat there and typed an email to my wife who is arriving tomorrow, while occasionally looking up at the tourists with day packs and Nokia cameras. Then I catch a reflection, and I am exactly the same. From Notre Dame I walked on the north of Seine and past the Louvre to a garden to the east of the glass pyramid. There I found a perfect deck chair by a disused fountain and sat and read Stephen Frys Chronicles. A book so funny and endearing, I've been guilty of scaring people next to me by giving an audible laugh.
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| Martines Grandpapa and Papa!! |
Having reached the ADT, I decided my mission was to the continue to where else? The Eiffel Tower of course. I didn't stay there long as I viewed it more as a mountain peak, with the journey to rather than the destination being important. I decided to cough up EUR 1.70 for a Metro back to the hostel where I am now typing this on the free WIFI. I'm proud how I've kept costs down. I'm sticking to my rule of no beer until Germany. However, I really really need a cafe au lait in a nearby Cafe and that is where I am going now to continue my Stephen Fry book.
Looking forward to seeing wifey tomorrow. Its been too long and there is only so much peace a man can take,
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