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Published: April 20th 2010
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No ash cloud was going to stop us. Luckily, we predicted that the volcano, whose name cannot be pronounced, would erupt when we booked our tickets from South Africa - 5 months ago - and we snuck into Paris on the morning it started to close airports all over Europe. Our next prediction is that we are entering a great European spring and summer. One that will live in our memories for years - or at least in our photos and on this blog.
The flight from Jozi was long and, with the break in Abu Dhabi, took a total of 17 hours. Not a bad flight though and no nett change of time zones so we were both pretty fit for the trip to our rented apartment. Even a train strike was no real problem. Doubled the cost of the trip in though. It took the bus longer to negotiate the traffic than we had anticipated and we arrived nearly an hour late for our appointment to take up our little apartment. We have an apartment here in Paris for a week to give us a chance to have a look around the city without having to worry about
Flowers on the Main Drag
Actually on the Champs Elysees. Impressive street. a car. It is small at 28 sq metres but quite liveable. (Perhaps when we finally do get home it won't take long for us to build a new house.)
A lot of people have told us that we would like Paris although we have been warned about Parisiennes. Well the city lives up to its hype and Parisiennes, so far for us, don't. The people we have met and talked to have all treated us well. A good sense of humour - generally laughing at our poor attempts at French - polite and friendly. And we agree that Paris is well up there with the best cities we have visited, perhaps at this stage even at the top. It is easy to get around with broad avenues and a great transport system. The plan that the Baron Haussman put in place in the 19th century provides an excellent base for the development of a city that is very good for visitors.
I will admit that we did start to wonder whether everyone lives in those 6 and 7 story apartment buildings that seem to line most streets inside the Peripherique. There must be excellent and stringent heritage
and planning laws here. There aren't many buildings that break the mould. But outside the numbered arrondisements (districts) inside the Periperique (ring road more or less) there is difference. In the area where we are staying, Malakoff, the places aren't necessarily that flash but in the new east side area they are well and truly modern and very flash. The new Bibliotheque Building would have to get a special mention here.
It is also a great city to walk around. One of the first people we met told us that we should walk or ride where we could because 'Paris is too beautiful to move around under the ground'. We took the advice and decided to walk home from the Arc d'Triomphe. We haven't been walking that much in the last few months and the 10 km that it turned out to be gave us a decent workout. Lovely walk though through a few different districts. I insisted that we should follow the Etrex and that took us through a lot of very small streets and lanes. One wrong direction but that was purely operator error - that I will never be allowed to forget.
Walking does have
its hazards. On the metro you don't happen across flea markets, or any other type for that matter. Up the road from us we came across a major antique market at Porte Vanves (and it sounds nothing like that when the lady on the metro announces it). This market had streets of antiques of every description. I read a review that told us that there is another much larger one on the other side of Paris but that, with 15 acres of markets, it is a little overwhelming. The small one was enough for us. We have also found a Friday morning one selling clothes and such here in the Malakoff square. This one happened again on Sunday and was extended into a large building where meat and vegetables were also for sale.
I will be very careful here but I have to point out that French is a language that is, perhaps, somewhat profligate in its use of letters in words. That is, they include a lot of letters in some words that don't seem to ever get used. Consider 'l's in the middle of words - you never use them. Consonants on the end of a word
- never used. I could possibly go on but won't. They have a major institution here that determines what is a French word and what isn't. The matter is clearly serious and I should no longer be flippant.
Again we have used the hop on/hop off buses as a means of quickly getting a handle on the place. It is handy to get a pretty quick heads up on what is what and then be able to move around between places of interest at will. We have been able to have a good look around the city and to get a look at most of the key sites. This allows us to decide which ones may deserve a closer look. Surprisingly, for a place full of churches we have so far not been inside one, although that is likely to change tomorrow when we have a closer look at Notre Dame. Neither have we yet been inside the Louvre and again that will be addressed tomorrow.
We have made it up the Eiffel Tower although probably shouldn't have bothered. It is a great edifice and, in its day, was clearly a magnificent achievement. It would provide a greater
spectacle and a much better view if the people who run the show here did more about the smog that seems to envelope the city most days. And I am pretty sure that it isn't all volcanic ash. It was a memorable trip though. After paying the extra fee and queueing for 45 minutes, we climbed into a lift to the top. The operator sat there reading his blackberry until there was a loud bang, followed by another and another and another and then nothing. No movement, no light and no doors opening. We were stuck for 20 minutes or so in a crowded lift at the top of the Eiffel Tower. There was a fair bit of laughing and joking when we first stopped, but after 10 minutes or so things were becoming a little more tired. Everyone was very pleased to be out of the thing. I guess if it had crashed to the ground we would have interrupted the constant flow of news on the ash cloud and that would have given people throughout Europe some relief.
We have another couple of days here this time and then we pick up a vehicle and head off.
The current plan - and as always it is subject to change - is to spend a couple of days somewhere not too far away and do a bit of shopping. We need a tent, sleeping bags and a few sundry other things to let us live on the road for the next year or so. Then we move on through Switzerland and on eventually to Greece. We plan then to work our way back through Italy, Spain and to France again. We will get to Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium as well.
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Heather
non-member comment
I enjoyed your photos and reading your Paris post! It reminded me of my own time in Europe. My blog is looking for travel photos, reviews, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)