Journey and Day 1 in Paris.
Monday 14th March 2011.
Alarm set for 4.10 am, but as is usual when I am travelling, my body clock lost all faith in alarms - and woke me at 1.45am! 30 minutes later, realising there is no chance of getting any more sleep, and I am up, and heading for the shower. Long journey ahead or not, I still can't 'do' breakfast this early, and sustain myself on several strong coffee's and numerous cigarettes. Phone my fellow student and friend, Dawn, at 4.15am, as arranged, to make sure she is up, and she turns up at 5.20am, as she is driving us both to the coach pick up - we are waved off by DH, who (bless him) has dragged himself out of bed to see us off!
Coach arrives at 5.45am, and seated 4 rows back, next to Gemma, we set off not long after. Feeling very spaced out and tired, can't get interested in the first film showing, 'The Still Man' (films, to me, are watched only after youngest is in bed, after 9pm, when I can get some peace!), so I settle for listening to the music on my mp3 player . . . we have a good collection of 100's of songs on the hard drive back home, but the newly bought pc for some reason won't allow me to play or load them onto the mp3, so 15 year old DS (Darling Son) offered to load up a selection for me from his own collection on his lap top . . . after an hour of everything from Queen to Mika, from Meatloaf to Michael Ball, from Shaggy to Westlife, Bon Jovi to Take That, I am left wondering if I really know my son that well . . . !
First stop is at the Services at Keel, where we collect our driver for the the bulk of the journey, Ray. We also grab a 'breakfast' - 1 OJ, 1 chocolate Twist, 1 mushrooms on toast and 1 coffee (to be shared between Gemma and I ) - £11. 35 - it seems the days of Highway Robbery are still going strong.
Films play away whilst we continue our journey - 'American Graffiti', and ' Ratatouille' - a problem with the sound system means that those at the back can barely hear, whilst us near the front are just about deafened, unfortunately!
We arrive in Dover at 1.40pm - and miss a ferry by just a few minutes. Still, time for more coffee and several cigarettes, and eventually, back on the coach, and we board the 'Pride of Burgandy', for our trip across the channel.
Bit of a swizz, Dover - not a bluebird in sight!
Bye Bye UK !
A brief trip to the on board restaurant for a late lunch - I tucked into a gorgeous veggie curry - and then most of the journey spent on deck . . .
Our first glimpse of France
Calais
We arrive in Calais 4.30pm, French time, and board the coach, ready for the final leg of the journey - at this point I could mention Gemma's unfortunate lapse into complete political in-correctness - but I wont (A theme that emerges on this trip is that 'What happened in Paris, stays in Paris') .
The film that accompanies us for this leg of the journey is 'Moulin Rouge' - one of my absolute favourite films, but again the volume is so loud, that by the time we stop to stretch our legs after 1 1/2 hours, the ears of those at the front of the coach are ringing like we have just come out of a Metallica gig!
I try a brief phone call home, and have no problem in getting through - youngest DD (Darling Daughter) can't quite get her head around the fact that Mum is no longer in the UK, yet I can still talk to her!
We hit the outskirts of Paris at about 7.20 pm - and I know I would never, in a million years, be brave enough to get behind the wheel of a car there! Stretches of no visible road markings, vehicles changing several lanes in one go, with horns blaring and the frequent sound of sirens wailing - hats off to our driver, Ray, though - he got us to the hotel by 8.15pm - and all still in one piece!
By now, we had been travelling for around 13 hours, and I think everyone was pretty dead - and hungry! First, room allocation - a bit of a shock that we are all asked to stump up 20 euro's each, as a deposit (and are later told that if anyone breaks the 'rules' of the hotel, everyone in the party will lose it !), and then Gemma, Katie and myself are given our room - Stewart says he thinks we are in the basement - and he isn't kidding ! The chap behind the desk (christened 'Lurch') beckons us forward and points through an archway at steep spiral stone stairs going down - we look at our cases and look at him, and he informs us that there is no lift . When we ask how we are supposed to get cases down, he shrugs - and walks away. Not impressed, we start to struggle down - and the lights (which are on a timer) go off half way down . Gemma gropes about in the dark and finds a switch, and we reach the bottom, to see corridors going off in a couple of directions, with no clue which way to go - and the corridors are level for a few feet, then there are a couple of steps up or down, then another level stretch, then more steps.
We eventually find our room - long narrow, small bathroom - OK in itself, but we are not happy with the location, especially as it looks like everyone else in the party are on the top 2 or 3 floors of the hotel. Added to that, there is one window, which we cant get to close . Behind that, is a metal shutter (like you would see on the outside of a shop) and behind that, iron bars. Beyond that, there is the wall of the narrow alley the room overlooks. Its like an oven, and none of us feel safe with the window open to let air in - not that we can work out how to lock the damn thing anyway. Gemma and Katie are no more happy than I am - we've all seen Svankmajers 'Down to the Cellar', thank you very much ! Thankfully, a quick trip upstairs, and its sorted - we find ourselves in room 701, on the top floor, and are very happy with that!
Quick wash and change, and we head off to find something to eat - only by now it's well gone 10pm, and choices are limited - however, we find a kebab house and tuck into our first taste of French cuisine - chips !
We then stumble upon the Cafe Bistro - which becomes our 'local' for the rest of the trip . . .
A couple of wee drinkies, and we head back to the hotel . . . I manage maybe 2 chapters of a Val Mcdermid, and I am out for the count . . .
Tuesday 15th March, 2011.
We had set the alarm on my phone for 7.30 am - of course, it would have helped if I had also changed the time on the phone to French time - but luckily, Gemma woke, and we were all up in time for breakfast . . . croissants, rolls, crisp bread (what I call melba toast), and cake, with a selection of jams and chocolate spread, fresh orange juice and coffee so strong the spoon could stand up in it by itself - just the caffeine hit I needed !
Back upstairs to collect our gear, and I snap the amazing views from the skylight windows in our room . . .
By 9.15 am, Katie, Gemma and I were ready for the off - none of us had any absolute 'must do's' - apart from Montmartre Cemetery, and both Kate and I wanted to see The Eiffel Tower at night - so Montmartre was our first choice of destination. Off we set, with a map, and a very sketchy idea of distance - but the sun was shining and none of us minded walking.
Gemma, outside the Est Hotel .
Bearing in mind that this trip is all about 'Street Photography' we snap as we go - we make a brief detour into the Marche San Quentin - I'd like a shot of the interior, but I can't get the light settings right, as it was pretty dark in there - we walk on, and a rather rotund 'gentleman' (for want of a better description) stood behind a stall selling wine and cheese calls out 'Thank you asking' - I look at him puzzled - it seems he thought I'd been taking his photograph ! "I know I look like ze bear in ze cage' he continued "but you could ask before you take ze picture !".
I resisted the temptation to say that he was more porcine in looks, than ursine - this guy would have made Gerard Depardieu look handsome - and I politely explained that he was mistaken, and after waiting a couple of beats for him to apologise for his mistake (in vain, I may add) we continued on our merry way. Gemma had a full time job reminding both Katie and I about the cycle paths that run along the pavements - we kept forgetting about the darn things and poor Gemma had to keep telling us to get out of the way of the on coming bikes.
Our first proper stop was at the base of Sacre Coeur - we decided not to venture up the steep steps and into it, as we were aware that we had probably got a lot of walking ahead of us today - however, we lingered for maybe 40 minutes, taking pictures and enjoying the warm sun and the sights and sounds of the bustle around us.
Sacre Coeur
I managed to get several 'Street Photography' shots around this area, that I was pretty pleased with - however, it was also here that we encountered, for the first time, one of the more unpleasant aspects of Paris - the beggars and con men. They were an absolute pain, constantly pestering and crowding in on you, and we soon discovered that on occasion, you had to be more than a little forceful to deter them .
On we went, and it didn't take us long to find Montmartre - and all I can say is "WOW" ! This place was absolutely fantastic - not so much a cemetery as a 'City of the Dead' - a mixture of very old and very new tombs and sarcophagus, mostly incredibly ornate, a huge mixture of styles from the very modern to the more traditional . . . we spent a long time here, and I took so many photographs !
The details were amazing
Eventually, hunger forced us to call it a day at Montmartre - I at least, could easily have spent several more hours here - it was so vast, I think we only saw a fraction of what was there!
We made our way out, and stopped for lunch, in of all places, an Irish pub/bar - it was the first reasonably priced place we came to - and here we tucked into a very nice lunch and were very grateful to the owner who evicted a beggar who decided to target us as we waited to eat.
Next we came across The Moulin Rouge - this was another 'WOW' for me - it looked exactly how I hoped it would, and I was thrilled to see it 'in real life', so to speak . . .
It sounds silly - but it was so cool to see that there really was a windmill !
Katie and Gemma perform the 'Can-can'
The Moulin Rouge is right on the edge of the red light district - Oh my - was this area an eye opener! We decided to skip the 'Erotic Museum', because a trip round an 'erotic supermarket' was quite enough for the 3 of us ! Prostitutes were touting for business quite openly, which I have never seen before and I was pretty gobsmacked by how they looked exactly like the stereotypical image, in short skirts and high boots - made for a couple of good street photography shots though !
By now, it was heading for 5pm, and so we made our way back - very wearily - towards the hotel, snapping as we went along .
Much appreciated and needed showers and changes of clothes followed, and we decided to see what food was on offer at our 'local', where we were joined by Andy, Will and Linda. It was at this point that gemma introduced Katie and I to the joy that is 'Desperado's' -
I tucked into 'penne avec des quatre fromages'
The conversation flowed - aided by the booze - and a highly hysterical evening followed - a conversation about chocolate rabbits (in blindfolds) resulted in Gemma acquiring the nickname 'Bunny' , and Will's not so darn innocent remarks about 'cream filled' and 'batteries' led to this evening falling under the heading 'What happened in Paris stays in Paris' !
Eventually, staggered back to the hotel, where I paused to snap a picture of some of the hotel rules -
I'm still trying to work out what was meant by the threat that they will 'suit any one who do not respect this way of life rule' !
Then it was fall into bed, ready for the next days adventures!
Next up - day 2 in Paris.
Great read Sue! And fab pictures :-)
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