Paris

We spent a full week in Paris in the southern edge of the central district. It was a mixed week full of mishaps and moments of bliss. Our camera stopped working. We were sitting in front of Notre Dame and it wouldn't come on. As this happened on a Saturday we spent the weekend trying to find some place to repair it but everything was closed. So in the end we decided to get a new one and get the G9 repaired in Sydney.

We saw all the big Parisian sights - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower (by day and night), Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe etc. On our first full day there we stumbled upon a free walking tour and got a great introduction to the city and its history. Being an art museum buff I was looking forward to the Lourve quite a bit. We got there early so didn't have to line up much at all and we got to see the Mona Lisa without standing shoulder to shoulder with 200 other people. Unfortunately as its covered by glass and cordoned off its impossible to get a proper look at it at. While we saw the most famous of the Lourve's works I found it to be too big and spread out to really enjoy. Its size is quite overwhelming and you have to go trawling through rooms and rooms of mediocre stuff to get to see the good stuff.

Musee d'Orsay on the other hand was a more manageable size. It also had all the great Impressionists masters and their famous works to make the trip really worth while. I also realised that the picture that had been hanging in our Bayswater flat was in fact a copy of a painting by Camille Pissarro. It was incredible to stumble upon the original in the museum.

We discovered the Parisian china town a short tram ride from our hotel and had excellent Vietnamese night after night. Neither of us are big fans of French food so this suited us quite well. I was happy enough to enjoy the great croissants, baguettes and crepes during the day and sit down to a bowl of hearty Pho at the end of it. We spent a lot of time walking around the city and relaxing in its beautiful gardens. Jardin de Luxumburg was my favourite with its grand water features and beautiful flower beds. On our way to it we came across a Patisserie with all sorts of intricately beautiful desserts for sale. We bought a couple of desserts and I enjoyed an exquisite mini creme brulee. I was hoping to go back to it but never got the chance.

We did a day trip from Paris to Versailles but unfortunately Pramo wasn't feeling too well and had to go home as soon as we got to Versailles. I on the other hand carried on & proceeded to stand in the queue to get a ticket for over an hour in the hot sun. The French have such convoluted systems - you had to line up to get the tickets (which come with a free audio guide), then you have to line up again to enter the Palace and then once inside you have to line up again to get the audio guide. Its so inefficient when it doesn't need to be. I didn't bother getting the audio guide after standing in the ticket queue for over an hour. Anyway the palace and gardens were quite beautiful and grand but I think I never got over waiting so long to get it so it didn't seem really worth while.

I had high expectations for Paris. Maybe that was the problem to start with. After listening to everyone I know talk about how they like/love Paris I expected to feel the same way. I think I need more time/visits to feel that way about Paris. Its so huge with so many things to see and do that visitors can have a very varied experience of it. Its one place I want to go back to because of that very reason. Maybe next time it will help to have a bigger budget and know a bit more French as well.