Our journey started well with an easy trip to Sydney airport and getting on the plane to Perth. Unfortunately Qantas had changed our flight about a month before and we were faced with a 5 hour transit in Perth. Luckily we were able to have a shower in the lounge and then on to an evening direct flight to London of 17 hours. The flat bed in business was a life saver. I’m sure I couldn’t do that flight in economy but landing in Heathrow the fun began. We knew it would be a long transit as we landed soon after 5am and our flight to Paris was not due until 1.30pm. There is only so many times you can walk from one end of the terminal to the other. Our lucky break was that we talked with a Scottish family for about an hour and they showed us a new website that sold packages to the football in England should we not be able to buy tickets in the ballot when they become available in a few days. Eventually boarding our flight one hour late, we stayed on the tarmac while they continuously checked the engines. Then two hours later they offloaded us all. Back onto the buses and back into the terminal. We waited again another hour for a new plane. Back onto the buses back onto the new plane and another 2 hour wait on the tarmac waiting for new staff. By this stage the babies and children on board had had enough. The little Romanian 3 year old in front of us lost it completely and was rewarded by a belting from both parents. Needless to say that didn’t settle him at all. Eventually we arrive at Charles de Gaulle at 10pm and then navigated the trains and the 15 minute walk to our Airbnb in the Marais area. We had trouble finding the door and every code we tried didn’t work. Eventually a couple of girls let us into the building but once again there were no key pads on the doors to open our apartment. I contacted the owner and I was told to walk another 500 metres around the corner to another address, access that building, access the key pads and access the keys to our apartment. It was recommended that the luggage stay with one person while this was done. The only saving grace was that the streets were packed and it was not scary. By 11.30pm we had entry!! I had booked the apartment based on the reviews about the bed, the shower, the washing machine and the location. Thankfully It delivered on all of those but we calculated it had been 50 hours since we had left our home in Sydney. It proved to be a great little home for a Paris stay with oodles of restaurants and bars right at our front door as well as a great supermarket and a fantastic boulingerie (bakers) a few doors away – and it opened at 7am each day..
Our first day in Paris was bright and sunny but cool. We were only about 300-400 mts from the Seine, so we walked along it’s banks to get orientated and then used our boat pass to view life from the river. Our initial thoughts of Paris were that they really are not bothered by Covid. There is hardly a mask to be seen, no social distancing and very few sanitisation stations. Very different to Aust. We also noticed the lack of rubbish. It’s very clean and of course no masks lying around on the ground. They other thing we noticed was the lack of children. Very different from Italy, Spain and Portugal where kids abound. We stopped for lunch across the river from the Eiffel Tower and lucked on a great restaurant that served delicious salads. Mine was salmon and prawns washed down with a glass of Rose. A fine start. Next it was over to the Eiffel Tower and checks through security. I watched the bloke in front of me having to bin 3 bottles of wine. Not sure if he was thinking of having a party at the top or if he was going to throw them over the railing and see what happened. Our upset was that the 3rd (top) level was closed due to staff shortages, so it was the second level only for us. It still is a spectacular view and the day was clear. We boated it back to our hotel and prepared for Moulin Rouge
Feeling as if we had worked out the metro system we headed out but we managed to stuff up the first move and catch the train going the wrong way. We jumped off but had to exit the station to get to the other track. Then we were faced with barriers that didn’t work and I was stuck on one side and Danny the other. Just mild panic for a moment. It made that drink in the bar next to the show all that sweeter! The show was pretty amazing. We had excellent seats, the stage was in touching distance. We had meal and show tickets courtesy of my kids, and the meal was better than anticipated for a crowd of about 600. The bottle of champagne helped also. Despite a pretty piss poor lead in act by two singers who would be hard pressed to get a job on the love boat the show girls and guys were outstanding. They actually looked like they enjoyed performing and were having fun. The costumes were spectacular and the acts diverse. In one part the stage descended and a huge aquarium raised with about 6 huge pythons in it and a girl swam and danced with them. As we left at 11pm the 11.30 supper show people were lining up. We were just needing to nudge each other on the way home so as to keep awake and not miss our stop.
The next day it was an early walk to the Louvre to get on the 9 am line up. Once inside and through the security checks it was a hasty dash to see the Mona Lisa and I’m glad we didn’t muck around as by the time we got to the front to see her there was a queue of possibly 100 people behind us. Danny has brought a toy from both Rossco and Freddie and they are being photographed visiting the sites along with us. We spent another couple of hours at the louvre and continued to get lost. I’ve decided that visit art galleries and museums is a bit like wine tasting, you can only do so much before the sensors are overloaded and everything starts looking/tasting the same. We did find Napoleons apartments which of course were opulent and over the top.
In the afternoon we took ourselves on a self guided tour of Montmartre and despite the crowds the place still has its charm. It’s easy to imagine life of the artists stumbling along the narrow streets frequenting the bars and trying to make a living and their steps up the fame ladder. We knew the streets were steep and narrow but we were not prepared for the very steep and long winding stair case out of the metro. Certainly raised the heart rate and got the legs ready for hill climbing. Then more climbing and walking with the street food walking group. While good it was not as good as we have experienced in both Florence and Budapest. Still we did get to try pates, cheeses, hams and sausages, crepes, macaroons and chocolates and plenty of bread. The wine, sparkling and cognac were all pretty average.
Going to see if this will publish now. Often adding photos throws things off. Will try and catch up on rest of Paris later today as the walk begins tomorrow
Jane treks Lycian Way 2022 