Bonjour Paris!

Saturday July 3, 2010

Okay, now for leg 2 of this holiday. Board the plane and get settled for the 6.5 hour flight. Across the aisle are a French family – they look like they have come straight from the pages of a Bonpoint catalogue. How adorable. Scratch that – the mother wants to sit next to her kids, so I have been asked to swap with her. Now I’m sitting in that shitty seat, right at the front of the aisles. Hit it Rick –

Fast forward to getting off the plane and waiting to get picked up by my shuttle. Charles de Gaulle is kind of gross, but it is one of the busiest airports in the world, so whatevs. Even though it is 9:30pm, it is still light out. Strange. My driver is Indian...I am in Paris and getting a shuttle from the airport and my driver is Indian – there’s a joke in there somewhere...

Enter the apartment and meet the owner Marie – she is lovely and the place is beautiful. In true European style its quite small, but functional and accented with feminine, artsy touches; very much my style. Am relieved that the internet photos are true to life. 
http://www.parisattitude.com/


Sunday July 4, 2010.

Up early and it seems like I am one of the few awake in the 10ème. Take a stroll around and soon realise that the area is quite bohemian (read: gay and black). That should make it interesting. Jump on the Metro for a few stations and grab brekky. I love how dogs are everywhere - unfortunately in Australia its not so liberal in that regard.  Everywhere you turn there is a postcard scene; on the Boulevard St-Denis there is a mini Champs de Elysee, and an antiques market on Rue Poissonnière. I pop home to cool my heels for a sec and to stash my purchases from le marché – fruit and groceries.

This morning I noticed that the Musee de Picasso is not too far, and decide to hit it this afternoon. To get there I must walk along the Rue de Bretage, and past le magasins. On the way a group of people are causing a racket, banging on drums and marching down the street. Not sure what the point of that was. Merde, the museum is closed for renovations. Wander back and grab an early dîner – steak and béarnaise sauce. Yeah baby.  

Today I found a dachshund book and an actual dachshund – Theo will be pleased :) I also think the Vélib' system is delightful - a public bike hire system. For €1 the bike is available for hire for a minimum of 1/2 hour, with stations dotted around Paris - ingenious. 

Unexpectedly I have found that Paris has some of the most inadvertently hysterical signs and store names –case in point:

Tomorrow I start my language class, so leg it home to rest home to be ready for the morn.