Disappointed in Paris

A dream turned into a nightmare.

I’ve always wanted to go to Paris! I had very high expectations, which is probably why I didn’t enjoy it on my first visit. And it was so damn hot! Our budget hotel had no fans, and the heat from the street just rose up and into our rooms. It’s hard to enjoy anything when you’re suffering heat stroke.

I am going to try to say something nice about Paris, but after spending three weeks in Nantes last Christmas, I am finding it extremely difficult. Nantes is just as rich in history as Paris (maybe even more so) and has a much more pleasant populace. Yes, I know the Parisians have to put up with millions of tourists, but they have done it to themselves — I was amazed to learn that Sacré-Cœur was built in 1886, and here’s me thinking it’s the 16th century like Nantes’ cathedral.

The traffic is horrendous — cars do not stop at pedestrian crossings, not even when you have a green walk sign — and do not seem to care if they damage their cars at all. They park anywhere and everywhere — literally bumper to bumper (actually touching!)

The noise is continuous with lots of ambulances through the day and night (probably attending the many traffic accidents!) but you soon get used to it. As if that’s not bad enough, I have escaped being run over at least twice by looking the wrong way!

The Eiffel Tower — La Tour Eiffel

Oh yes. The Eiffel Tower is truly magnifique, in size as well as in design, but the lines to walk up the stairs were indescribably long and it was 27 degrees! We bought an ice cream (€4-what a ripoff!) and departed, deciding to reserve a ticket on the internet and return in January when the lines will be shorter and the weather cooler. On arrival back at our Montmartre hotel (lovely corner room with three French windows overlooking Boulevard Rochechouart), I decided to go supermarket shopping.

Le supermarché

I love supermarkets in other countries! I bought Evian for 40 cents a bottle, apples, bananas, and a bottle of champagne for €3 (and yes, we did drink it all and now I have a headache to prove it!) We even bought Subway-type rolls of egg, chicken and tomato for €1.99 each (lunch!) We tried to buy ice (to keep the champagne cold) but they do not sell ice. Neither does anywhere else in our neighbourhood! And we don’t have a fridge so the only option was to drink the whole bottle before it got too hot!

After the champagne, we lay down to sleep even though it’s very hot (Keeley is still out to it!) in preparation for La Nuit Blanche tonight where everything stays open until 5.30am and is free. Stacey arrives from Nantes soon and has our evening all planned for us. I hope Lorelle will be well enough to join us as she has been resting up all day on prison rations — bread and water.

Paris’s hottest October day in history — 29 degrees I heard — not hot by Aussie standards but quite stifling when all you have are thermals and winter clothes in your suitcase! I ended up buying two t-shirts yesterday anticipating a hot day today and I was not disappointed.

The day did not start well with Keeley having to stay up until 4 am deleting one by one all the photos I have posted on Facebook for the past few days — they all doubled up and went to her wall as well as mine — not sure why, but she was not a happy chappy. So if you didn’t see my Paris photos when I posted them, sorry. They were pretty ordinary anyway. I have many skills but photography is definitely not one of them. I really don’t know why I bother. Both Keeley and Kiryn, and now Stacey, take amazingly good photos.

La Nuit Blanche ( White Night)

Oh, I am all out of sync here. Stacey ended up joining us last night from Nantes and took us out on a tour of the art installations in the Montmartre area, not that my feet needed any more walking. I lasted till after midnight, and Keeley arrived back at our hotel at 2.30 am. Stacey stayed on to see as many displays as she possibly could. Not having an artistic bone in my body, I tried to appreciate what they call art, but I obviously missed the point of many of them, even though Stacey was translating what the artist was trying to achieve.

Le Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens)

After an early breakfast of a croissant and orange juice at a café around the corner, we headed off to the Luxembourg Gardens. We decided to have a picnic lunch, so we stopped at the supermarket en route to pick up some food, but the supermarket was closed! It is Sunday after all but there were dozens of sex shops open which implies that Parisians will go without food before they go without sex!

We eventually found a patisserie and bought some baguettes and pastries and water for lunch, found the yellow bus pick-up point, and hopped on. We changed onto the green bus at La Place de la Madeleine, hopped off at Notre Dame, walked down to the orange stop, bought a Paris cap on the way, hopped on the orange bus, and then off again at Le Jardin de Luxembourg. We sat down on the grass to enjoy our picnic lunch until a garden gendarme told Keeley to get off the grass. She wasn’t happy.

We couldn’t find any toilets in the Gardens but spied a McDonalds across the road, only to be informed we had to buy something BEFORE we were allowed to use the toilet and the lines were the longest I have seen in any Maccas anywhere. There weren’t even lines — just the whole floor area was crammed with people!

I snuck into the toilet while the security guard wasn’t looking while Keeley abided by the law and waited till she had finished her Mango-Passion Frappé. Now to navigate our way back to our hotel by the shortest possible means. We hopped back on the orange bus, and hopped off at Esplanade des Invalides, walked along le Quai d’Orsay, across Le Pont de la Concorde, over La Place de la Concorde, along a lane (where Keeley got in trouble with the gendarmes again — for walking on the road!) and back to pick up our yellow bus home. It was after 5 when we finally arrived, eager for a cold shower.

Dinner at L’Ertine Bistro

We headed out for dinner at the local pizza/pasta place but when we found it closed, we tried L’Ertine Bistro just around the corner — a 3-course meal for €16.50 — bargain! Tuna salad for entrée, steak and Bearnaise sauce and chips for mains, and REAL crème caramel for dessert! All washed down with two bottles of rosé! After dinner, we went back to Lorelle and Kiryn’s room for a game of cards and a few more drinks before bed. I slept very soundly despite the noise from the street. I keep thinking of Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night.

We tried a new place for breakfast, 6.50 euro for orange juice, tea, croissant and baguette with butter and strawberry jam. I had finished my baguette before Keeley had even finished buttering hers, and I wasn’t even hungry! Stacey, Kiryn and Keeley are going cycling to the cemetery that has many famous people interred there while Lorelle and I are doing the laundry. So exciting! Also did some grocery shopping to prepare for Norway. We’ve heard things are outrageously expensive in Norway. I bought a new pink and black backpack for €15 that I hope will be more user friendly.

Back to Charles de Gaulle Airport tomorrow for our flight to Bergen where we will start our 3-month Eurail pass.

PS I’ve been back to Paris since then and have a completely different opinion.