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| January 21st 2010. France - Capital City: Paris. Picture with a type of local Policeman. 191 Capital Cities to go. |
I was due to fly to Paris at 7pm, but ended up with a five hour delay at the airport - so with any delay we decided to drink the time away. In the bar also waiting out the delay, was a couple in their fifties, and a man travelling by himself. Now because I travel through airports quite alot by myself, I have the ability to end up speaking to all sorts of people. This guy seemed a bit odd, but I thought he would offer me some entertainment, and I wasn't wrong!! After several drinks I made my way to the busy gate. I sat on the floor and waited, and Mr Odd Ball saw me and sat besides me, he was very drunk by then and started to become quite rowdy, even yelling at kids - it was at this point I tried to make a metal note to heed my mum's advice and 'not to talk to strangers!' He fell into a drunken stupor and I quietly got up and went elsewhere leaving Mr Odd Ball looking odder, sat in the middle of the floor by himself, asleep, whilst people walked around him.
I had wished that there was a way to take a picture, but I thought the flash might wake him, and I didn't want him speaking to me again.
At Paris Airport I had to get a Taxi, as by the time I landed the trains were no longer running, but being patrolled by guards and their big dogs!!
I got to the hotel (ATN Hotel) which was three minutes from St-Lazare train station. The hotel itself, was really cute, amazing decor and lighting throughout the hotel, and it has the smallest lift ever. When I say small, I mean so small, that only one person and their bag is about all that can fit in it.
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| The Smallest "glitter lift" ever. |
The first day I spent wandering around Paris, I walked to ‘The Arc de Triomphe’ (the closest metro is ‘Charles de Gaulle’).
The monument is colossal standing at about 50m, It stands in an exceptionally busy roundabout, where twelve major avenues lead to it. Just seeing how mental the traffic is, is worth alone going to see. There are no road markings, no traffic lights just a heavy police presence. It’s the only place in Paris where accidents are not judged. Each driver is considered equally to blame, and Insurance Companies split the cost fifty-fifty. (I do love facts :0))
There is an underpass to get to the Arc de Triomphe, and you can reach the top either by climbing the 284 steps or taking the lift then just climbing the mere 46 steps!
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| Arc de Triomphe |
To complete the touristy thing I then walked down to the Eiffel Tower, it’s mad to think that still to this day, it gets painted approximately every seven years still with brushes!! Would you want that job? It stands 324 meters, tall which is about the same height as an 81-storey building, and get painted in three different shades of brown – the darkest at the bottom in order to maintain a uniform appearance to the observer on the ground. (I am on a fact roll!!)
We didn’t go up the Tower, I was far too interested in watching someone on the ground walking around in a Chimp suit!!!
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| Chimp Boy!! |
After a busy day, we made our way to a bar, passing along the way, Pont Alexandre III bridge which has these amazing gold statues, and we seemed to pass alot of Traffic Policemen, it was this day that I got my photo.
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| Traffic Policemen |
I awoke the next day with a huge hangover, we were meant to go to Disney land early but I was being too much of a weasel to get out of bed.
A strong Starbucks coffee and a good talking to myself and I was out. I checked on the website and it said that it was open until 8pm. I caught the tube, where we saw the majority of men just jumping over the gates. I got there at 5pm only to discover it actually closed at 6pm. That meant rushing around to get on the best rides - with one them breaking down just as I got on it!!
After Disneyland, I headed back to the hotel and went out for dinner, not a heavy night as I was flying back the next day. Gave 20 euros to a homeless man (I hate seeing homeless people).
Following morning I caught the train from Gare St-Lazare to the airport. thankfully no delays going back.
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| Pont Alexandre III |
