Paris

A few weeks ago we went to Paris for a long weekend to celebrate my dear wife’s birthday. Although some time has passed since we got back, I felt I couldn’t let it pass without comment.

Paris is a truly beautiful city. From the moment we came out of the Metro at St Georges into a little green square with narrow streets running off it, it was a pleasure to behold. Over the next couple of days we visited all the major attractions we could, only missing the Louvre due to it being closed on a Tuesday, not a Monday as we thought.

First thing in the morning (11am!) we went to the Eiffel Tower, but the queues were quite long so we decided to return the next day even earlier. We then took a Batobus down the Seine to Notre Dame cathedral. One of the highlights for me was going into the cathedral. The sheer size of it inside was breathtaking, and the massive stained glass windows in the north and south wings were very impressive.

Sacre Coeur was a highly recommended attraction, and I enjoyed it mostly for the view over Paris it affords from the steps at the front. Though it was very (very) nice inside and out it could not compete with Notre Dame in my mind. The view however was perfect on the day we were there as the sky was clear blue and you could see all the way to the horizon. From our position we couldn’t see the Eiffel tower, but could see Notre Dame in the distance and even further away the Montparnasse tower, looking like a black monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, looming over its surrounding buildings.

That evening we went for a walk, finding by chance the Moulin Rouge, before taking the Metro into the centre of Paris for a meal within sight of the Eiffel Tower and watching a cabaret show at Crazy Horse (my wife rocks!) before getting the last train home (they locked the gates after we left St Georges station, very lucky!).

Unfortunately it rained for most of the next day, but despite this we went up the Eiffel tower which gave great views again. I was very impressed by the Victorian engineering, but DW was less keen (certainly of the lifts) and would have preferred something a bit newer I think!

After that we travelled to L’Arc de Triomphe which again impressed me with it’s sheer size, walked a little down the Champs Elysses, and visited the Musee D’Orsay and looked at some painitings by artists such as Monet, Manet and Renoir. To be honest, art galleries are not really my bag, and we didn’t even bother going to see the Van Gogh paintings in the end. After that it was time to go back to the hotel for our bags and to head for the airport.

The food all weekend was amazing, even for us poor vegans! It helped that we found a vegetarian restaurant across the water from Notre Dame where I had the biggest vegan mezze platter in the world. Smoked tofu, seitan, grilled peppers and courgette, vegan coleslaw, a tofuburger and loads else, it was so good!

While Paris was excellent and the people very helpful and friendly, my French was appalling. Despite 4 years studying (admittedly finishing 17 years ago) I was unable to string 2 words together on the first day, mostly out of fear of embarrassment. I was getting more into it by the time we left, but still very slow and quiet.

The woman who asked me (in French) “Is this the stop for Charles de Gaulle” as we arrived at the domestic terminal stop caught me completely off guard. What I should have said is:

“Oui, c’est Charles de Gaulle. Mais il y a un autre gare en 5 minutes. Ici pour domestique, l’autre gare pour international.” (I think this is right, I haven’t looked it up)

However, as my brain was too slow at translating what she said, what I actually said was:

“Pardon, je ne comprends pas.”

Still, it’s the thought that counts and at least I answered in French.