Here I am in another internet cafe... did some sight-seeing 'round Paris today and managed to find the holocaust memorial. Wow. Very sobering. I probably should've visited the one at home first just as a little mental/emotional preparation.
On an amusing side, I did the massive walk yesterday. Got the train to just near Notre Dame, did that and St Chapelle, then walked over to Isle de Paris and walked all through there, over to the Louvre, through the Jardin de Tuilleries (sp?), down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triumphe. What wasn't so amusing was that it started absolutely *pouring* with rain when I was just starting up the Champs Elysees, and then one of my sandals broke.
:-( My first day as a tourist, in a foreign country, and my shoe dies. *sigh* Well, they have fared me well (pre-travelling), so I will have to bid them a sad farewell and figure out what I will do without them.
So, post-shoe-breaking I ran into an American woman who looked like she was *completely* lost. She was ecstatic to find someone who spoke english, but of course she was very unimpressed with my efforts when she realised I couldn't give her directions to anything other than the obvious - the Arc de Triumphe! So off she went a little disgruntled... :D
*enter pouring down with rain*
The next thing you see is me hitching up my pants ('cos they're dragging a little . . .) and scooting up the street to try and find a shop to shelter in. Picture this: Christian Dior, Gucci, Ermenagildo Zegna (sp?), Calvin Klein, blah blah blah, you get the picture, and here's me shuffling along in true backpacker style looking for a haven. Needless to say, I spent the next 20 minutes in the Disney Store (DS) and felt guilty at even *that*! I did a token "perusal" of their wares to satisfy even the crabbiest of salespeople. Tell me, who buys all that stuff??!!
Back to my huge walk. I've now stood in the DS for 20 minutes waiting for the rain to subside, and even though it hasn't, I plunge into the great outdoors shuffling at a much faster pace - urged on by the glaring of the security guard watching me drip on the floor. Hmmm. . .
As I make my way "up" (literally - the Champs Elysees is a gradual incline *all the way*) towards the Arc de Triomphe, thankfully, the weather clears, but it appears that the traffic does not. I thought Sydney was bad. Parisian traffic is incomparable (at least I thought that until I went to Italy). Imagine a massive roundabout, with about 10 streets coming to a junction at it. Imagine it is the width of about 8 lanes all the way 'round, but of course, there are *no* lines marked . . . It is a case of the gamer, the quicker. You hesitate, your car gets bumped. You hesitate again, the car behind will just give you a little nudge until you get the idea . . . Now you tell me - who would pay 11 euros just to go and stand in the middle of that insanity?! Stacks of people apparently, but not me.
Right. Down the hill from the Arc, and I'm making my way towards Trocadero (thanks, Ails!) for an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower. Of course, I'm not going to come all this way and just look at it from a distance, so now that it is no longer raining, but blowing a gale at a mere 120km/h (in round figures), I think I will in fact go up. :D Funnily enough, a couple of Aussies were standing next to me in the queue so we got chatting. Man, was it cold. I don't think I could feel my toes at the end of that little episode!! Oh, and what's with the guide book? Apparently that walk was meant to talk 3.5 hours. For me, 8 hours later and I still have about 4 kms to go!! Maybe I'm a stroller... :D
And now to today. My walking today (which included the Holocaust Memorial) also took me through the Jewish Quartier (funnily enough) - man, do they make good felafels! Also found a simply smashing store and bought some new sandals! They are *the* most comfortable shoes I've ever worn in my life! I tried on ONE and said I'd buy them... :D
Also randomly ran into a crazy parade going on - what was with that?! I have *no* idea what it was all about. There were about 10 semi-trailers, oh, maybe about 800m apart, each with a different band on the back and they were just driving through all the streets belting out their gear! Wow! :D So I walked in the opposite direction and managed to see them all a little quicker and ended up sitting near the Bastille memorial and watching the post-party procession - i.e., the street-sweepers and garbage cleaners. Those guys are ruthless! They use massive pressure hoses on the trucks and spray you if you get in the way. :D Some drunk guy was collapsed on the ground next to me - the police nudged him then left him there. Nice work.
Heading out to amsterdam tomorrowmorning - been brushing up on my dutch. Actually, I think I'd better not say a single word, since I don't know any dutch and am liable to abuse someone by saying something awful. Or amusing, at the very least. :-(
1 comment:
No, like really funny.
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