Arrived at Montparnasse station yesterday and made our way to the taxi stand.….only to find a long queue of people waiting and no taxis in sight. We gave it a couple of minutes but soon tempers started fraying and when I heard an American woman ahead of us in the line getting very loud and panicky when a taxi driver said she and her friends had to order a van for all their suitcases, I started getting quite uncomfortable. We tried our Uber app but all the drivers were being very coy and it took ten minutes or so to confirm one, and even then the driver wanted us to meet at a place quite a distance from the station. This suited us, though, so we made a break from the taxi queue and ran for it. We only just made it before the driver left in a huff so it wasn’t all plain sailing, but still preferable to the taxi scrum.
We are staying in an absolutely fabulous place on the Champs Élysée. It’s a reciprocal club to the one my husband belongs to in Wellington, so we get to stay here, and at a very reasonable price. Apparently it was famous for debauched parties back in Victorian times, when it was owned by the husband of a famous sexpot, a former Polish peasant who had reinvented herself and married up. Anyway it is like a palace inside, incredibly sumptuous. I will try to add some photos.
We took a stroll around Sunday Paris on a lovely Autumn evening, having a drink on a barge parked on the Seine, people watching and greatly enjoying ourselves.
We were meeting friends for dinner, just a few stops away on the metro line. Unfortunately when we walked into the nearest metro station, there was a big queue at the ticket machine. Those waiting were made up of two different sorts of people, bored Parisians and sweating, stressed and anxious foreigners. As seasoned travelers of course I assumed we’d have no trouble buying our tickets, but I was wrong. Even in the English language option, the process was impenetrable when you had 15 people impatiently waiting behind you. We ended up buying some sort of hugely expensive multi trip long distance option we didn’t need at an eye watering price. Even then, the ticket barrier ended up defeating my husband and we had to split up, with him buying yet another ticket to follow on a later train. A fiasco and a bit demoralizing I must say. My husband is very keen to get to a civilized country where they speak English, but really this sort of thing could happen anywhere, couldn’t it? Fine after the first time but a challenge when it’s new.
Today we had a more leisurely start, and ended up doing that most touristy of touristy things, the hop on hop off bus. In fact we didn’t bother getting off at all, but did a whole circuit in 2 hours before hopping off back at our mansion for lunch. The mercury hit 28 degrees today – thank goodness for the three thrift shop dresses I bought in Guingamp!
Dinner this evening was a highlight – at a restaurant up on the Tour Eiffel that I had booked months ago. The meal was wonderful – a very expensive degustation, the view was lovely, the service was excellent. And now, early to bed. Big day tomorrow – Paris, London, Belfast. Wish me luck.
