More sightseeing in Paris

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This morning after breakfast we said farewell to all of our travel companions of the last two weeks and the wonderful crew of the Elodie - Zac, Sander and Nina. We actually had quite a crowd on board last night with the new guide, Ono, and owner, Michel, joining us without Captain Zac and Nina having left yet. Sander is the one constant - he is the chef on the Elodie for the entire season. Often the guides take tours back-to-back and the captain pilots the Elodie in both directions but, occasionally during season, there is a change of staff between one tour and the next. After spending so much time with such a great bunch of people (in close quarters and out on the open road!) it was like saying goodbye to family!!

And so we dispersed - some to spend more time in Paris, others to spend more time in rural France, some to explore Barcelona, some to visit Strasbourg while others headed for home. With a Fun Run being conducted around the roads surrounding Port d'Arsenal we could not get taxis to come to the port to pick us up!!! We had to wheel our bags through the runners and past the traffic cordons to the end of the Boulevard de la Bastille, opposite the Jardin des Plantes, to meet our taxis.

No early check-in today!! When we arrived at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles we had to leave our bags in their safe keeping and then head out to do some sightseeing before our room became available. We thought that this might be the case so we were all prepared to head out for a few hours before checking in.

When we were in Paris in 2007 we visited Sacre-Coeur on Easter Monday and it was really, really busy. Bernie wanted to go back to see it when it was not quite so hectic so we headed for the nearest Metro station and took the train to Montmartre. Well, there was no scaffolding and there was no grandstand being erected for a fireworks display but, just for something completely different, there was a track set up all the way down the steps for a mountain bike event ... being held TODAY!!

All of the activity going on for the mountain bike event was quite interesting and we managed to take some action shots of the mountain bikers as they came hurtling down the track on their practice runs. However, taking some photos of Sacre-Coeur itself was a bit of a challenge as we desperately tried to crop the mountain bike track out of at least some of our shots!!

As we made our way up the stairs we were persistently hassled by young girls signing that they are deaf and wanting us to sign a sheet of paper to show our support for deaf orphans and, of course, make a donation to their cause. Being pretty hardened to this sort of thing from our travels in Asia we just avoided making eye contact and kept on walking. Part of you feels mean, but another part of you knows that they are just not genuine - just scamming tourists for money.

A bit further up the stairs it was the domain of the African men trying to sell wooden letters with wheels that linked together into word 'trains'. They have these displayed on cloths with string attached to the corners so that they can gather up their 'stall' really quickly the moment the police appear!!

At the top of the stairs we managed to avoid angry gypsies (Leo!) as we looked for a toilette. Damn, we had to go back down some stairs to the WC that we could smell from 50 metres away!!! I very nearly decided to keep on hanging on, but really ... I HAD to go. The WC was actually attended and there was a €0.50 charge to use it so it was clean and tidy and not smelly. On our way back up the steps we decided that it is an 'unofficial' urinal somewhere nearby that smells so bad. The one that people use when they can't afford €0.50 to pee??

Back on the top of the hill we made a visit to the interior of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre before heading around the back to climb the 300 steps to the top of the dome. Of the thousands of tourists visiting the interior, very few were paying €6.00 to climb to the top of the dome. We thought that the views made it well worth the entry charge and at least that way we were making some sort of contribution to its upkeep.

With the mountain bike event now well underway, we struggled back down the steps through all of the spectators. After clearing all of the spectators we bought a couple of baguettes to eat on our way back to the station. On our way back down to the station we had to dodge all of the scammers offering odds on a variation of the game played with three cups where you have to guess which cup the object is under. Their 'gaming table' is two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other. They have a spotter on the corner and if the police appear they are ready to run at a moments notice!! It is astonishing just how many different ways there are to con tourists out of money.

Back at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles we completed our check-in, received the details to access the wi-fi (yay) and lugged our bags up to our room. Thank goodness there is a lift - our room is on the third floor!! Having stayed at the hotel before we had certain expectations for our room. Hmmn, we had a spacious and well-appointed room the last time that we stayed here, but this time they have allocated us to the box room. The room is not much bigger than our cabin aboard the Elodie well, OK, it's not quite that small. The worst of it is that our room has NO SHOWER!! All we have is a bath with a hand-held shower - I hate that!!! I really do not get European bathing. If you are going to have a hand-held shower, why not stick up a bracket to hold it and provide a shower curtain?? It's not rocket science surely?!!

After grumbling quite a bit about the shower situation I went and sat in the bath and washed my hair with the hand-held shower. At least there is a hair dryer - I haven't blow dried my hair for two weeks!!! Perhaps I need to concentrate on that being the silver lining and get over the fact that there's no shower for the next three days?! I think that iRoom has really raised the bar in terms of the standard that I now expect when paying for accommodation. I guess though that a Euro buys more in Brugge than it does in Paris??!

With my hair washed and blow dried for the first time in weeks we went to dine at local Moroccan restaurant where we each enjoyed tagines that were delivered to our tables boiling hot. Literally boiling hot - they were still bubbling when their lids were taken off at the table!! Bernie went for the lamb and vegetable tagine and I enjoyed a chicken and vegetable tagine. I really must buy a tagine one of these days.

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