Paris...It's good to be back

No need for an introduction

How can you not love Paris ? It took me about 5 minutes to love, hate and love this amazing city again. There is nothing like it and thank God for that.
Chris' first taste of Paris came as a crash course in basic survival techniques in the centre of Paris. Our train arrived in Gare de l'Est from where we had a 15km cycle to Bois-Colombes, in the North Western suburbs, where we were invited to stay for the first couple days. After spending the last 5 weeks riding around Europe, it came as a surprise to be reminded of Hanoi, Vietnam as we wove our way between double-parked delivery trucks, pedestrians, scooters and aggressive drivers all around us. We made it safe and sound but certain we would be using public transport rather than our bikes during our stay. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting acquainted with Sophie (my father's GF), her daughter Myriam, a bed (a luxury we had not experienced since St-Petersbourg) and showering barefoot (no thongs/flipflops) which, although not amazing, is still worth noting.


Has anything been more photographed?

On our first real day in the capital, we launched ourselves headfirst into the bottomless pit of Parisian "must-sees". Chris picked our starting point (the Eiffel Tower) and I took it from there. From the Tocadero, we walked down towards the Seine and followed it, passing the dense Green wall of the Musee du Quai Branly, towards the Place de la Concorde. We went all the way up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de triomphe and back down following the rue du Faubourg-St-Honore, drooling in front of the windows of all the most exclusive designer stores in Paris (the world?). We circled the Place Vendome, an oasis of diamonds and rubies in the heart of the city, and walked down to the Jardin des Tuileries to rest our sore feet for a while.


So Frenchie !

We walked down the centre towards the magnificient Louvre which we traversed to end up in front of the church St-Germain l'Auxerrois. We took the Rue de Rivoli and arrived in Chatelet-Les-Halles from which we quickly diverted to end up on Rue Montorgueuil, a lovely old fashionned street full of mouth-watering patisseries, butchers, traiteurs and cafes. We sat at a terrace, having our first french coffee, watching people walk by, going about their daily lives. Feeling tired and satisfied, we got into the closest metro station at Etienne Marcel and made our way back to the burbs.


Le "tout Paris"

With well band-aided toes, we attacked our second day very much the same way, straight on. We began with a quick walk-through of the school where I began studying Architecture many moons ago. The impressive building of the Beaux-Arts was in its usual classical state of disrepair although I did note that the photocopy machines appeared to be functionning so they might have gotten a few things under control since my departure. We then explored the area around St-Germain des pres, its narrow twisting streets filled with art galleries and cafes. We took the long way around heading towards the Tour Montparnasse, the biggest planning mistake in Paris with the best view where we had organised to visit the offices of the UIA and meet Catherine H. for a lovely lunch à la Francaise (there was steak tartare involved).


Beautiful AND delicious

We pursued our exploration of the Quartier Latin with a walk through the Jardin du Luxembourg looking as beautiful as ever, followed by a coffee rue de la Montagne-Ste-Genevieve. As we walked back towards the Seine, we walked through the enormous cathedral Notre-Dame-de-Paris. Back outside, it was starting to show signs of rain so we headed towards the nearest metro at St-Michel only to fall face to face with Fred, an old-time friend from Nice, whom I thought was in Saudi Arabia. We, of course had a beer, probably the most expensive half-liter of the golden liquid you'll ever have and shared stories of the last few months, eventful on both sides. Eventually, we went back to Bois-Colombes where we gave Sophie a little potted fig tree reminiscent of the Sydney ones as a thanking gift for having us for the first couple days back in the Motherland.


The old bookcases along the Seine

For the time being, this resumes our pavement pounding activities and, as predicted, we have already ticked off long walks, coffee and friends with lots more to come in the following days.