Bonjour Paris!

No, we didn't see the brilliant film Funny Face but have gone to Paris for the week. We decided we needed a break and ten minutes later we had a week booked up in Paris. Bizarre! So finally the day has arrived and we pack and take a taxi to Cheshunt station. From there we take a train to Liverpool St and then the Underground to Waterloo. ABBA songs aside, we catch the Eurostar at 4pm and take a direct train to Paris. This gives me a chance to try out my bad French (and even write some of my blog in the language too!).

We arrived at the Gare du Nord and were accosted by a beggar asking for money . We said we didn't have any, but then he saw us going to the Bureau de Change so we quickly ran around him when he was distratced by a group of tourists loading a taxi with their cases. We found our hotel really easily, literally just around the corner, and we checked in without any problems. The nightclerk introduced himself as Keith which we thought was rather English-sounding for a Frenchman. Its a bit like a Spaniard being called John Smith. Our room is on the 7th floor and has a lovely view of the Tour Eiffel and Le Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. The traffic however is deafening. In Paris there are no houses - everyone lives in a flat. So all the buildings are built 7-8 floors high. This makes the sounds in the street resonate up the buildings. So you can imagine how loud it is when you are situated on the main road. Nothing but police and ambulance sirens wailing through the air not to mention that Paris has possibly the world's worst drivers and they do nothing but cut each other up and sound their horns repetively.

Tired from the journey and feeling rather peckish, we leave our room and walk towards Le Gare de L'Est in search of food. We find a little Italian-style cafe and order a pizza to share. The waitress looks a bit annoyed by this and prances off into the kitchen. The couple next to us ask if we speak English. On reply, they start talking nineteen to the dozen about how they came to Paris for a long weekend and gave us tips about visiting Notre Dame and the Open Tour buses that dot the city. We thank them as they leave and we order dessert. I ask for fruit salad so the waitress yanks open the fridge door, pulls out some fruit, slams the door shut again and stalks off to the kitchen. It is mega hot in the retaurant and the ceiling fans are just circulating warm air. I think the heat is getting to her...! When it came to paying up, we put down the cash but mistook a 1 cent coin for a 1€ coin and she got really annoyed. "Fifty not five!" she yelled at us. Reuben swapped the cash over and apologised but she wasn't having any of it. Something tells me we won't ever be going back there...

Very hot and bothered now we wander back to the hotel and hope that next day we fare better.