It’s been awhile since we have been here. 2007 rugby World Cup, the one where we went on the semi and finals tour that the All Blacks never played in. I guess when you think about that Paris has never really been that kind.
Its been a messy few days wading through the custard, with finding new accomodation and then moving and the other two arriving and sorting everything out. But here we are, three generations, enjoying the sights and sounds of a wonderful city. In amongst it all we do a bike tour that we had pre-booked and meet at the Peloton cafe – where we see flat white on the coffee menu. “Got to be Kiwi” and sure enough it is and I have the best coffee since leaving home over two weeks ago. Biking is a great way to get around and because its a Sunday it’s quiet. We learn lots of fun facts, “that house there just sold for 60 million euro”, Wallace fountains were donated by Mr Wallace several centuries ago in order to provide safe drinking water for all (safest drink prior to this was wine and beer so maybe he was just sick of drunk people.) anyway they are still in use today and you can fill up your water bottle, they even have a couple of sparkling water ones as Paris is just that fancy.
Yesterday we went to the Louvre and did a teenage tour with a guide. It was incredibly busy, I mean incredibly. Even the guide commented on it. The tour guide was really good and I even learnt a few things but when it was over and we were asked if we wanted to go back and stand in line to see the Mona Lisa up close, the answer was a most definite no.
We saw the 1000’s of year old Sphinx and works by Da Vinci up close and Mona Lisa in the distance. We learnt about greek statues and gods. We wander amongst the crowds and go home exhausted. Not the least of the two who had only just arrived from NZ that morning. We catch a Tuktuk home which is a crazy way to travel in the busy streets of Paris but fits 6 of us easily unlike most other modes of transport.
Our new apartment is in a good a location, has leaky showers, is above a boulangerie, is one bed short, has a cute bar on the corner, doesn’t have tea or teaspoons, so good and bad, good and bad Doesn’t really matter as we continue to immerse and exhaust ourselves in this city.
We do a street art tour. I click away as we walk the alleyways, art in corners where no-one wants to be. There is a world that exists in a sub-culture who have there own heroes and villains. Who have 10s.of thousands of followers and in my critique head some is good and some is bad.
We go to the Eiffel Tower. Then we grab another tuk tuk because we are too tired to walk back to our apartment and he says he will take us on a hour tour. Our tired legs oblige and we ask him to drive around the Arc de triumph which is a real experience then to stop so we can buy a sandwich as its nearly 3pm and we have no lunch, which he thinks is hilarious: Picnic in the tuk tuk as we pass the monuments and eat our sandwich and drink our water. Our day is done. Our time is Paris is nearly over and tomorrow we head to Nice.
