Last day in Paris...for now!

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My last day in Paris and I was off to the 4th place to stay out of my 6 nights in Paris! Avenir Hotel is the pick-up point for my first BusAbout leg to Amsterdam tomorrow, so I'd booked it a while ago to ensure I'd be there for the bus on time. Again, I was lucky the hotel was only 5 min away, so I didn't really lose too much time moving. In fact, all 4 hostels I stayed at were within 10 min walking distance of each other so I know the area of Montmarte pretty well now - well, at least from a backpacker's perspective! Knowing where the cheapest internet cafe, cheapest patisserie, a budget supermarket, and how to walk to the quickest Metro line, really saves a lot of time...and Euro's!

That night I walked up to the Basilica to enjoy the views across Paris. There were a couple guitarists playing on the steps, which with the warm weather made it a great spot just to sit down, relax, and enjoy the Parisian culture. Paris has some of the best musician 'buskers' I've ever heard. From the steps of the Basilica to the Metro stations, I heard a lot and loved them all. The number of beggars was unexpected though. After a while of people coming up to you on the street and asking if you can speak English, you quickly learn that they are only after money, and to reply by muttering something under your breath that means 'No'. On most occasions that worked, but today there was this one guy who came back again and grabbed my arm - a little disconcerting! You here so much about pick-pockets too that I find I'm constantly patting down my pockets doing a wallet and passport check - almost obsessive-complusive like!

Another scam to watch out for are the guys walking around the Basilica 'selling' wrist bands. They grab your wrist and start making traditional African (so they say) wrist bands for you. After asking how much (in French even), the guy who started making one for me said 'Don't worry. Very cheap, very cheap.' He wouldn't give me a price until he'd finished and said 15 Euro's! Haha, there was no way I was paying that. I emptied some coins from your pocket and told him all I had was 2 Euro's, take it or leave it. Of course he took it. By the look of his cashed-up wallet (that he showed me in case I needed change!) I'm sure a lot of people actually pay 15 Euro's. You learn which areas to avoid pretty quick, including the sex district which I discovered runs along the same street as Avenir Hotel. I thought I must have already been in Amsterdam! One more sleep to go...

The Paris unforgettables...

- Patisseries (baguettes, croque-monsieur, chocalat au pain)

- Nutella crepes

- The Basilica

- Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees

- Eiffel Tower (by day and by night)

- L'Opera...

- Buskers and beggars.

I hope this isn't the last I see of Paris this trip. I'd love to spend a couple more days here somewhere along the way. I think I might squeeze it in when I head from Spain to Switzerland for Octoberfest.

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