PARIS BY SEGWAY

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We don’t have breakfast included with our room here, at 22 Euros each there is no way to justify spending about $80 Australian on a couple of bits of toast for Tim and an egg for me! But we have heaps of cafes across the road leading up to the Eiffel Tower, so it’s not hard to find one. It ends up costing 11.60 Euros between us - big difference!

SEGWAY TOUR

We head to the Eiffel Tower where we are to meet our group for our Segway tour of Paris. Even though it is only 9am there are already long queues for the Tower. I ask someone about 30 metres along the queue for the stairs what time they got there, 8:30am! And that was just for the stairs, if you want to go in a lift its 3 times as long. Plus there are two other places you have to queue up once you get to each level. Might be reconsidering going up…

Segways have just 2 fat wheels with a standing platform in between and a long arm with handlebars coming from in-between your feet straight up. The Police in Bangkok use them, they were used by Australian Police at the Sydney Olympics and it was used in the movie Mall Cop if that helps you to find one in action.

We follow our guide, a guy from Texas, back to the office to get our Segways and have a lesson. There are 4 of us plus our guide in the group. So we learn the fine art of Segway riding, it’s like using a Wii Fit Balance Board as you move it forward and back by putting pressure with your feet leaning towards the front or back. If you want to stay still, your weight needs to stay central. To turn, you tilt the handle bar the direction you want to go. You can also control how fast or slow you go by how much you lean. Too easy!

They pretty safe, except it seems if people panic. For example, because it works by leaning, if you get on and lean backwards, it will start going backwards. When you panic because you are rolling backwards you automatically hold harder to the handlebars, pushing your body back further, so now you are going backwards faster! Until you hit a tree and stop! No, this didn’t happen to either of us!

So now that we are all experts, off we go. They are a lot of fun to use and initially we start in areas with not too many people, cars, bikes, trees. But then it gets busy. Most people see you coming and either move out of your way or just stop to watch. This is what happens for most people anyway… I’m the one who gets the pedestrian that tries to guess what I will do and go the opposite way (even though I’m obviously following a group going in a straight line!) and so she goes left, then I go right and she goes right, so we play this game for a few minutes and we both stop. So ‘excuse me’ I say and start going again, and then she walks straight in front of me! So I become the first (and only) one in the group to run over a pedestrian. Hopefully, I don’t see her later when I’m trying to walk across the street and she’s driving a car!

We stop at a lot of the tourists spots, and get a pretty good explanation of everything, especially since our guide has only been here from Texas for 2 months! But he is a huge military buff and the majority of things here have a military story to them.

We see the obelisk from Egypt that we saw the partner to, so that was pretty cool, it is in a great big open area which is the end point of the Tour de France and also where many executions in the past were undertaken - even the beheading of a hated Queen back a few centuries!

We stopped and had lunch at a nice café in a park not far from the Louvre Museum. Other things we saw were Military museum, Military school, Les Invalides, Palaces and The Church which was built exclusively for the royal family because they didn’t want to mingle with local people. This is where lays the remains of Napoleon.

We head back to their office on the Segways going faster than ever (because we’re all pro’s now!), gather all our worldly goods and walk to Notre Dame.

NOTRE DAME

There are two queues, one for the cathedral and one for the South Tower. We figure we have seen our fair share of spectacular old cathedrals so opt for the Tower.

It started being built in 1163 and took 200 years to build. We queue for one hour to climb the South tower, 387 steps. Whilst waiting there were more than a dozen groups of planes flying in formation really low overhead practicing for the upcoming parade on the 18th which helped kill time. You walk up a couple of flights and then you are in the souvenier shop where they keep you waiting for another 10 minutes or so, clever, you have nothing to do but shop. But once you finally make it to the top it’s great. The reason for the waiting is they only allow a certain amount of people up there at once, even so, it is still quite crowded.

It’s an old gothic church with goblins as such all around the top. While up there helicopters in formations pass again really low, great to see from the top. The view of Paris is fantastic and it would look great at night. Perhaps after the soccer tonight, if the queues aren’t too horrendous at the Eiffel Tower we may go up…

We walk to Hard Rock Café for tea via what we think is supposed to be our pick up point for the Arc Du Triomphe tickets. It turns out the street that Carmen the Garmin took us to was the right street, but wrong suburb. Bit like looking for Hester Ave in Mindarie and ending up at Hester Ave in Perth. I found this out by eventually going into a really nice clothes shop, as they all seem to be in Paris (looking every bit a tourist who has spent the better part of the day walking around), and asking if we were in right area. The man serving was more than happy to help, but the lady really wasn’t interested and quite obviously turned her nose at me. It was my Julia Roberts moment like in the movie Pretty Women. I wonder if she would have been friendlier towards me if I was going to buy something, somehow I don’t think so. But it was on the way so no harm done, just a bit of an extra look around.

HARD ROCK CAFÉ

We eventually make it to Hard Rock Café. We sit outside to watch the world go by. It’s pretty busy and at the table near us is a couple in maybe their 50’s aren’t letting age or location stand in the way of the way of passion, I’m not a prude or anything, but I hoped their meal would come out quick to give them reason to stop and take a breath, or their bill so they could just leave and get a room! Paris is definitely the city of love!

We catch the train back and got off on the end of the grassed area in between the Military School and the Eiffel Tower.

HAPPINESS IS WATCHING DOGS IN A POND!!

Walking back through the park there is a large pond. We stop to watch two dogs chasing each other and playing with a ball, jumping in and out of the pond. There are about ten other people watching as well. Then another dog joins in, than another until there is eleven dogs in all. There are now around one hundred people stopping to watch them all play. It’s so nice to be in a country that allows such freedom for people with their dogs, Australia is such a Nanny State that this sort of thing just wouldn’t be allowed. All of the dogs here are so well behaved as well, which obviously makes this sort of thing possible.

We go back to the hotel (eventually) to get changed and then head to the big screen near the Eiffel Tower to watch Holland play Uraguay in the World Cup.

HOLLAND V’S URAGUAY, NEXT TO THE EIFFEL TOWER

We are all set with our drinks and chocolate only to have our bags searched and all drinks confiscated and then everyone gets a pat down before entering the area. Security is pretty tight. Even though we have to sacrifice our drinks, it’s a small price to pay considering the event is free.

There are thousands of people here and the game has already started, but we still squeeze ourselves into a really good spot on the hill. It’s an awesome experience, the Eiffel Tower can be seen alongside the big screen, the atmosphere is electric and the mood is great. The crowd seems to be more Holland, but there is still a good Uraguay contingent.

At half time they have people on the stage doing ball stunts and singing so it’s entertaining all the time. Each time there is a goal scored confetti is shot out of canons and everything lights up. Even though there is all the security and frisking coming in, a couple of guys manage to smuggle in orange flares and when Holland scores they set one off, the first guy is taken out and then when they score again the second guy set his off - Go Holland!!!!

So it ends with a great win with Holland beating Uraguay 3:2.

EIFFEL TOWER - NOT TONIGHT

We leave the Soccer with thoughts of going up the Eiffel Tower, but from where we were watching the game we could see the huge queue at the half way point up the tower and once we get to the bottom it’s still just as bad, so we can that idea. Instead I get a Sugar Crepe, they are so good, they are definitely one of the 5 food groups!

It’s still amazes me how big it is when you are standing underneath. The 4 legs are about 150 - 200 m apart.

There are a lot of African guys selling all sorts of souveniers and at night they have these glow toys that they shoot up into the air in the middle of the tower. There are so many of these guys selling all the same thing, but you don’t see many people buying them. They sell everything from Eiffel Tower keyrings, statues, postcards to champagne, beer and water.

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