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Five awesome things to do in Paris

Dave — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:04:33 +0000

My five awesome things to do in Paris, that may involve getting drunk, being solicited and breaking traffic laws. Amongst other things.

Fun with flying and a heat wave

Dave — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:32:00 +0000

Up and gone by ten - plenty of time to jump on the metro and RER train to the airport, check in and relax before our flight at 12.30, right? Wrong. So, so wrong. The trip on the metro wasn't so bad - figured out which station we needed to get to for the RER and got there fine. The fun began when trying to buy a couple of RER tickets - was the ticket machine interested in taking any of our credit cards? Hell no. Was the ticket booth open? Nope. Would the ticket machine take notes? Not a chance. Would the shopkeepers give change for 10 Euro? I think you know the answer...

Last full day in Paris

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:57:00 +0000

No photos from today unfortunately, due to a minor miscalculation (ie, leaving my memory card in my laptop. Duh.) Not that there would have been too much to take photos of, but more on that in a second. So we were up and out of the apartment by nine - Tim and Greer had a plane to catch in the early afternoon and we wanted to get to the catacombs first. It was an absolutely perfect day - warm and sunny, the best so far. Bec was off to try her luck at the Musee d'Orsay again so we bid her farewell and grabbed some bikes again (can I just mention one more time what a fantastic idea they are?) and we headed off down the road in Monday morning peak hour. Ahh the serenity. It's such fun though, you really just forget that you're not wearing a helmet (nobody does on bikes over here, maybe they don't want to spoil the coiffure or something...) and that the rest of the road users are trying to kill you, and just get into the swing of things.

Random explorations & the Eiffel Tower

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Given the late night, an early morning wasn't expected - or likely. And so it proved, with the first bleary eyes being opened around 11. At least it was prior to lunchtime, I guess. I did the morning coffee & croissant run - had some minor amusement with trying to get lids for 4 coffees (nope) or a tray (non) or a carry bag (nyet). My look of bemusement must have sparked something in the cafe owner because with a flash of inspiration he disappeared out the door and off down the road.

Moulin Rouge

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:56:00 +0000

A bit of a grey old day today, but not enough to dampen the mood of these intrepid explorers. Or something. Today was Moulin Rouge day, but the show didn't start until 11pm so there was plenty to do in the meantime. Tim & I were pretty keen to see the Catacombs while Bec checked out a medieval museum, so we went our separate ways and after a while of wandering and chatting found ourselves outside the entrance - along with half of the rest of Paris. Seriously, the queue was around the block.

More bicycle madness, with a royal flavour

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:55:00 +0000

Six hours sleep again (why we keep doing this to ourselves I do not know...) then up early to grab croissants and cafe creme for breakfast (and not just because that's all I can order) and navigating the subway to get to our starting location for the cycling tour of Versailles. Yes, that's right, more cycling. I almost managed to suppress the grimace of pain as my ass hit the bike seat for the second day in a row.

Bicycle madness

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:54:00 +0000

The alarm went off far too early and up we got for a day of bicycle madness. Paris has an awesome automated system where you can hire a bike from one of many, many stations around the city, ride it round for a while and return it to any other station for a few euros. Brilliant way of reducing traffic congestion and (for tourists like us) of seeing more of the city than you can get to on foot, at your own pace.

Farewell to Zurich, and hello gay Paris

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:52:00 +0000

So our last day in Zurich dawned wet and shitty ... probably not a huge surprise after the downpour the night before. Stowed our luggage at the hotel and proceeded to wander fairly aimlessly around the downtown area for a few hours - had plans for more sightseeing around the lake and old town but the conditions really were pretty average so we were content with shopping, eating and honing our rain avoidance techniques.