Jun
27
Off to Paris
Filed Under Holidays |
After the long delays getting on to the plane at the Perth International Airport the flight to Paris was quite entertaining…
I lost my passport at the Singapore airport. We walked the ~1500m to the transfer desk when I suddenly realised I didn’t have my little documents bag around my waist. I distinctly remember putting it into the pocket oh the chair in front of me so that I wouldn’t lose it and in the rush to get off the plane (hey, it was the first time I had made a connecting flight, I have everything else on me!) I just didn’t put that bag on. It must be said that I did have three items of carry on luggage [laptop bag, back pack and document bag] and I think I was hoisting D’s bag at the time so I counted three attached items.
I ran back to the gate that had finished disembarking to discover it was now starting to admit the passengers for the return flight. I jumped the queue, nearly starting a riot or anti-terrorist action, to explain why I was acting so agitated. Eventually the security people passed me on to someone who spoke a more English and I was able to get back on to the plane. It was being cleaned and from the way the security guard was talking there wasn’t much chance that my bag would still be there. I’m still not sure if he was trying to say the cleaning crew steal everything they find or if they “tag it and bag it”. It didn’t matter. The bag was exactly where I left it. Hooray!
Grabbed it and ran back to the transfer desk. Got the boarding pass but there were no more pairs of seats left, so D and I had to sit apart. It wasn’t that bad actually. Well, for me. I had a great time talking to two brothers (Phil and Col) from Sydney who have, among many other businesses, a surf shop on the east coast, it was a riot. D had to sit next to some over-weight guy who was intent on sleeping the whole flight. We visited each other though the flight and it flew by (ha!) in no time at all. Well, it did for me!
We caught the train in to Paris and quickly found the hotel to drop the bags off at. Breakfast in Paris! It’s quick and simple - whatever they are selling - pastries with meat and cheese. There goes my “try not to eat too much dairy on the holiday” idea. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet!
We took a brisk walk to Notre Dame and, because it was raining, took refuge in a place called Au Vieux Chatelet where I had my first real French Coffee. It was a cappuccino, apparently, but it looked more like a Vienna to my Perth Coffee Connoisseur’s eyes. The cream was amazing! Then came the Creme Caramel and that was divine too. So much for No Dairy.
Back to Notre Dame, the outside this time, and then continued along the Sienne, meandering here and there as the muse took us. Eventually we wound up at La Petit Palais, which was housing a free-to-the-public gallery. It was here that I saw the painting La Bon Samaritain. This is an amazing painting. From the angle that I initially saw it the man on the horse looked real, I really thought I was looking at a real person. The rest of the picture was fantastic too, but that guy on the horse, that’s exactly what he looked like in real life. Possibly more so. I don’t understand how that works, but I was stunned. I can’t for the life of me remember the artists name. Damn.
The Louvre was closed. It was a Tuesday.
That’s twice I’ve been to Paris and both times the Louvre was closed to me.
Fine.
We saw three scams today: The Gold Ring, Save Africa and Do You Speak English.
The Gold Ring - the guy seems to pick up a ring from the floor in front of you, gets excited about finding it and then attempts to sell it to you, because it would be too much trouble for him to take it to the jeweller. He might be accused of stealing it. How about 10 Euros?
Save Africa - Get a bunch of your black mates and some sheets of paper with Save Africa on them. Add a few lines of name, country, date, amount and then accost people with excitement and exuberance and get them to sign the petition. Once they agree to put their name down, get the details and start demanding the 10-20 Euros from them. Right now. (I suddenly realised why those people who legitimately do this wear all those ID badges)
Do You Speak English - Old woman with crumpled (but plastic covered) piece of paper asks no one in particular “Do you speak English??”. Anyone who says yes gets treated to a confusing blast of misery and pointing at the paper. While they are trying to figure out what is on the paper, the lady picks their pocket.
I’ve never seen such blatant theft. Incredible. Obviously it pays better than a job, there were quite a few people doing it (not all in the same place though).