Bonjour Paris!

Apologies for the lengthy absence – we were on holiday last week and this week has been about adjusting and sadly returning to normality. So, first impression of Paris? What a fantastic city! We hiked around for 4 days from late morning until late evening each day, avoiding the metro whenever we could to really try and capture the essence and feel of the city. It’s much bigger than I thought and far more crowded – although this may be due to the fact that we were continuously hopping between tourist traps. The Eiffel Tower was obviously extremely impressive and I took far too many photographs of it. Here’s one of them:

It’s an extremely photogenic city and I took over 700 photographs – the beauty of digital! That was the fun part – editing them into some sort of order and choosing the best is a little more arduous and time-consuming. Carrying my tripod around was a burden at times, but paid off when the light faded. We saw all the usual sights – Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées, La Defénse, Montmartre, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, the Louvre… etc etc. When we did get tired (and lost) the metro system is extremely well developed and proved very useful. Our apartment was central and 5 minutes walk from a metro station.

We spent many happy hours sat in small, quaint cafés and restaurants, savouring the local cuisine (although we found a good Italian one night). Anything that said ‘Traditionnel” outside was bound to be a good bet. Leffe beer also proved to be popular amongst the male folk – a suitable cold refreshment for any time of the day…

The view from the second platform of the Eiffel Tower is quite spectacular. Unfortunately we arrived at 2230 and the queues for the top platform were still horrendous. Still, it’s not a bad view from this height and in the photo below, La Defénse, the main Paris business district in the background is clearly visible against the horizon.

The temperature was scorching all week, well into the 30s which made regular refreshment stops all the more important. I think the sheer number of people and traffic on the roads must add several degrees to the heat and even at 1am, the pavements were busy and scooters were zipping everywhere. No doubt the best way to travel in Paris and a scheme which should be encouraged in Warsaw! A scooter in Warsaw equals a death-trap, whereas it’s catered for in Paris and car drivers pay attention to them (I think they’re just outnumbered). Still, one of the biggest problems in Paris for the car driver seems to be parking. This is a very common sight on the side streets and by local accounts, perfectly acceptable.

I heard that Parisiens leave their cars in neutral so that they can be shunted about in order for other drivers to get their cars in, or out. The solution? This I think:

Even smaller than a Smart car! This one is parked between a pedestrian crossing and a major road junction. Still, it seems to blend in easily and practicality is key in this city!

I really have far too many photos to post here, so they can be accessed at my pbase account. They’re not all downloaded yet or correctly labelled, but I’ll work on it over the next few days/weeks. Meanwhile, here’s my favourite picture from the holiday, a carousel in motion not far from the Eiffel Tower.

Hope you like the pictures and I may post some more about our trip once the happy memories come flooding back.

To find out more about life in Warsaw – have a look at warsawdailyphoto.