Paris j'arrive! Here we are, l'enfant et moi at the Place de la Concorde. And as I write we find ourselves at a Brasserie on Rue Brissere half way between the Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower. It's hot, cloudless and everybody is bustling with activity after the first day back from the Easter break. We've just all ordered salads and the ubiquitous diet coke...and a biere for the adults.We've walked from the Arc de Triomphe right down the Champs Elysee through to the Louvre (which is closed on a Tuesday...quel bugger!) and back and now we're off to see the Eiffel tower as it appears it's the only reason we came to Paris or indeed France according to the OC. Coming to Paris was a breeze thanks to the Michelin guide online. It got us ninety nine percent of the way to the camping ground The guide has served us very well around Europe so far and I'm happy to concede that I might have put a small error in the last part of the address. Suffice to say I had the Cook driving around a roundabout that was fifty metres from one side of the road to the other with at least a dozen roads entering and exiting. It was full of Parisien drivers displaying their joie de vivre...and no road markings. I had to send the Cook around four or five times while I got my bearings before sending him up the road to do the same around the Arc de Triomphe....a couple of times while I got my bearings there. THEN back down to the original roundabout by which time the Cook's pallor had returned somewhat and there was a hint of a glint in his eye as he realised he had the biggest machine on the road. I think the 750 Euro fine for crunching the van had gone out the window by this stage. It's fair to say when sharing a bottle of Macon vin over dinner the Cook did admit that he was grateful for having driven around L'Arc de Triomphe.....several times.
Anyway...eventually we found ourselves firmly ensconced with the 567,000 campervans and 8 caravans from Europe and we're for another 2 nights before heading for Rotterdam again on Thurs morn. Today and tomorrow we do the tourist stuff a la pied and Thursday I hope to do coffee with an old school mate who now lives and works in Paris. You find folk from Oamaru everywhere!
1 comment:
Bonjour tout le monde. Good to hear that all is going well and that the French experience has been magnifique!! Looking forward to hearing the full story of the Arc de Triomphe driving - I hope that there are photos to accompany. I am most impressed with OC's shoe buying - no such thing as too many shoes and it is always a good way to remember a place by. Hopefully the Cook and the rest of you are in gastronomic heaven and that the food markets are all that you expected.
Take care.
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