GAY PAREE, GAY PAREE!
We're in The Tartan Army and we're off to Gay Paree!
An ignominious start. There was an electrical fault at Lorient airport so our flight was diverted to Quimper, an hour away by bus. Gail was travelling with us on her first leg back home to Brisbane. Here she is with prominent pink suitcase heading for the bus.
There is a cat in this cage on the bus also travelling with us to Paris. Getting more agitated by the minute.
I was sitting near a window on the aircraft so I watched "kitty" being loaded on board. The cage arrived with all the other suitcases, one on top even. The baggage handler, without a glance to see if the animal was OK, reached inside his cab and came back with a length of rope which he put on top of the cage and then dumped the cage on the elevator ramp. I'm thinking "What do they do with the rope and is the baggage compartment pressurised etc.?" Didn't see if it arrived in Paris.
Cathy and Gail checking out our room at the Grand Hotel Gobelins in the Latin Quarter. The Latin Quarter is so named because it has been a university area for 400 years and at one time all lessons were in Latin. The University is The Sorbonne.
Stairwell.
and shower.
We are on level 3 above the café. A bit noisy with sirens and honking of horns but the sound could be blocked out if the double glazed windows were closed. Then, of course, you got overheated. But at 150 Euros a night for the room served us well. Damp start.
DAY 1
Learning how to navigate around the Metro System.
We found our way to Pigalle and one of several drink stops. L to R Wilma, Jimmy, Cathy, Alastair and Helen - the Scots contingent. The three girls were schoolmates and first came to Paris with a school trip when they were 15. All have recently celebrated their 70th birthdays which is the reason for being here now.
The artists at Mont Martre up hundreds of steps.
In front of namesake Café.
The Sacre Coeur Catholic Cathedral.
Harpsichord player in front of the Cathedral.
Macaroons.
The Eurocup Soccer Championships are currently being held in France. Here are a few German supporters.
Electric Hire cars.
A three wheeled motor bike. Very popular here.
Alastair, who's daughter is married to a German, engaged in conversation with a German supporter and his daughter outside The Louvre. She had to translate Alastairs German as dad couldn't understand him!
If he's going to clean the glass this way he has got a big job in front of him!
There were a number of over sized images like this one on buildings.
Haven't seen this method of taking shopping trolleys upstairs before.
and back to the Hotel.
DAY 2
Pont Neuf.
Two Austrian supporters.
Working out how to negotiate the open top bus system!
Champs - Elysees
Through the headphones they kept playing a song "Oh Champs Elysees" over and again to a tune reminiscent of "Two lovely black eyes"!
Getting ready for the Tour de France.
Statue of Charles de Gaulle.
We thought this headline read "They are fools these English". A Frenchman was very anxious to explain that it did not mean fools literally. I gave up trying to understand his slant on it but accepted that he meant well. Checking with the dictionary later fous means crazy so I get his point.
The Arc de Triomphe.
Lots of souvenir sellers about particularly with soccer paraphernalia.
Three Austrian supporters at the Eiffel Tower.
Another monster poster disguising a building being renovated.
On the open top bus going down The Champs Elysees.
Soccer ball there because of the EURO cup/ You couldn't get close to the foot of the tower without passing through intense security.
The three musketeers, Wilma, Helen and Cathy
The Scots depart.
Waiting for our shuttle service to Orly Airport we have a look at the botanical gardens nearby. This poster says there are over 900 species of bees in France! Last year they were having problems with bees dying off which they suspected was caused by agricultural chemicals. Hopefully that has been sorted now?
The shuttle bus was late and the hotel people rang them for us. The taxi got stuck in traffic associated with a market being packed up so anxiety was building. It didn't matter though as there was a technical holdup with our plane.
Here it is. A wind up job!
Much bigger inside than it looked from the outside. The steward approaching whose head was brushing the ceiling was about to tell me off for photographing cabin crew. The flight was very bumpy but that wasn't the fault of the plane, there was a lot of turbulence.
All and all we could have driven to Paris and back quicker, usually about 5 hours each way, but we wouldn't have got the entertainment and would have been stressed out!
We got back to Guemene to find that our five double glazed front windows had been installed. Bill Macaffrey and assistant had done a great job. The traffic noise is reduced to a swish and the heat from the storage heater in the kitchen is retained a lot longer. Now for the paint job!
BREXIT
Next day we get the disturbing news that Britain is to leave the EEU! We are in shock.
Can't believe they put it to a Referendum.
They now discover that although 80% of people under 25 wanted to stay (from polling), only 20% turned out to vote. In the over 65 group roughly the opposite applied and won the day.
It seems to be a reflection of the post war insular British attitude when everyone over the channel is a WOG.
