Saturday 23 May

Last day in Paris. Overcast, cool wind.

Catch a taxi to Eiffel Tower. Join queue at the Pilier Nord at 10.05am. Tina comments, “We English are used to queuing!” Where did that come from? She left England when she was 7 and has never been back (the closest she has ever got is China for goodness sake!!!). The queue is a giant snake winding around underneath the Tower. It is not the only queue. Circling around are the hawkers peddling their souvenirs and gypsy women who come up and ask if we speak English. If you answer yes they thrust a piece of paper at you, presumably asking for money.

You also have to deal with the charming people who try and push in.

I am not going up the Tower again (did it in 2006 and I don’t like heights) so break away from queue as success nears. At 11.20am Tina enters security (yes, that’s 1 hour 15 minutes so far in the queue) and at 11.42am she buys a ticket and I lose sight of her.

I go and sit down and watch people. All of a sudden 6-8 black hawkers race pass me (one bumps me). They are running from a policeman on a bike. Presumably they are all in France illegally but the policeman is only biking slowly. Annalies described this situation in Italy. Yes they are illegal but the police don’t make a concerted effort to catch them.

At 12.32 we are reunited. Tina beaming with happiness. But she wants to go to the toilet and this takes about as long as waiting to go up the Tower (OK, I am exaggerating).

We wander down the Champs de Mars and the rain starts. We take refuge and have a jambon et fromage crepe. The rain is very heavy whilst we eat it and then stops. We are heading to Les Invalides. Tina only wants to see Napoleon’s Tomb and nothing else. This is ominous.

We get a taxi back to the hotel. Today we have had two taxi rides and what a pleasure it is to have two honest drivers who take the direct route and do not rip us off with the price.

Back to the Louvre to the tie shop – 2 more arty ties.

Back to the internet café and then a meal. Sitting calmly watching the world go by I remember I have left my memory stick (16 gig!) in the internet café. Tina power walks back. She enjoys this as she is finding it frustrating walking as slowly as I have to.

Thoughts on Paris transport:
- taxis are brand new Mercedes or BMWs
- how come cyclists don’t wear helmets with a bigger population and narrower streets (Tina’s theory is that we are pampered and too politically correct)
- there are free/cheap cycles everywhere – in stands of about 20 – and people ride them.
- Very few SUVs (urban assault vehicles). I guess the roads are too narrow.

Final comment on hotel. Very nice but our voucher/itinerary describes it as “One superior room with a large bed on the courtyard side”. Well … on the hotel’s rate card it was the second cheapest so what is it superior to? The one category below it I guess. The bed was a double and could only be described as large if comparing it to a single bed and as for the courtyard, I am still looking for it. Wait to you see the photos of the view out the window. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good hotel with a great location but a little more honesty would be appreciated and internet that works would be good.

Finally, Tina loves Paris! Of the 4 big cities so far visited, Paris comes out tops for her and she would come back. Istanbul is second, Rome third and Athens fourth.

As for me, I have been two Paris twice now and still haven’t seen a woman driving “in a red sports car with the warm wind in her hair” (The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan). I have seen a woman in a black VW convertible so that will have to do.