Warning: This post has insufficient funds.
The final leg of my trip to Europe was a night in Paris before jetting back to Osaka. The original plan was to go early in the morning with Sam, have a romantic walk along the Seine and check out the city before a night out. Sam couldn't make it in the end, so I headed off in the afternoon to check into a hotel and have 16 hours of Paris to myself.
First stop was a compulsory trip to Le Tour Eiffel, which was quite surreal - felt like meeting a celebrity. I avoided the queues for the lift and the guys selling roses (trying to con boyfriends into thinking an obligatory romantic gesture is in order), and merely enjoyed staring at it from underneath. For all its hype (and anti-climax: I heard at least one American girl say "it's so small!"), it really is a beautiful structural work. I want to climb amongst the steel and take pictures at interesting angles. Can't say I thought much of the epileptic strobe lighting that intermittedly explodes from it.
Getting halfway across the city (from Gard du l'Est to the Tower) was almost as simple as it is in Japan - though the Metro system suffers from graffiti scratched on the windows that brings the whole image down. I found it painful to look at - for some reason it reminded me of scar tattoos that gang members inflict on themselves with knives. The subway limped along, a victim of torture.
Dinner was pizza at a cafe, and after a kip I headed out to Rex Club, where Danger & Digikid 84 were playing. Nice club, large without too much fronting from the kids and only 15EUR to get in. I say "only 15 EUR" when that's around $NZ37, but considering the price of the drinks the entry fee was a bargain. 10EUR for Sex On the Beach* may sound like a cheap hook-up, but it's very dear if said sex on said beach is in the form of a mocktail masquerading as an alcoholic beverage. Still - I guess it stops binge-drinking...
Drinks weren't the only expensive thing - the hotel was 42EUR for a watercloset with a hard bed. This was apparently a steal seeing as I had the room to myself and most places would ask for double that, but it's hard to see it that way when you're wondering if the bed is supposed to make that cracking noise when you get in it.
But bar the prices, Paris did have this air of a city I could get very accustomed to. If I could only afford it. It's certainly on my growing list of places to visit (again) when I'm off travelling in 2010, but I might need to make some Parisian friends to avoid blowing my budget in a week.
Finally, here's a 5-second clip of a guy playing an accordion on the train. I think he's awesome. I bet the locals hate him.
More photos on Flickr and Facebook.
*Let me point out I don't drink Sex on the Beach. People I bought drinks for do. I'd never stoop to that alcohol level.
4 comments:
did you know that you'd recommended me sex on the beach when we first met at zbar?
Ha! Most likely. It could either be because a) I didn't want to get you drunk, or b) it tastes nice. I think it's both.
These days I recommend you tequila and you decline - and fair enough ;)
hehe.
I saw that accordion player as well. He's a local himself :D
When I visited Paris we went to a little square/park thingy (I think it was well known but it's so long ago) and since then I said I'd live in a Mansarde there *is getting nostalgic* I forgot about that until you mentioned it:)
Oh, and you'll be travelling in 2010? You know you'll have a friend in Switzerland, right? It's a pretty nice place=D
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