A week in Paris

My last day in Nice was a cliche - Aaron and I hired bikes out for 10 euro and rode along Cote D'Azur (D'Azur Coast) enjoying the scenery on offer, and also the Mediterranean Sea on a beautiful spring day.

On Monday the 28th of April I caught the TGV (which stands for the Train that Goes Very fast) from Nice up to Paris which was a 5.5 hour trip through the heart of France. When I arrived I did my best to navigate myself through the Paris underground train network out to a little town called Marnes-la-Coquette where I met Parisian friend, former housemate, and soon to be translator, Jean-Louis Afonso. Jean-Louis was kind enough to let me stay at his family home and I had the pleasure of meeting his Mum, Dad, Brother and dogs. On my first night there, Jean took me around and showed me one of the most famous places near Paris, Versailles, which is only a 5 minute drive form his place. On the way there we made an important stop off at the mall to buy GTA IV, which would provide hours of entertainment on the days to come. On the way home we stopped off at a little cocktail bar, had a quiet drink and.....um... reminisced about the past.

On Tuesday I had a rendezvous (thought I'd throw in a French word for the flavour of the post) with my Mum and her partner Paul. We met at Luxembourg Gardens in the morning and began our expidition across Paris. Our first stop off was Notre Dame, then past the Louvre, up Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumph. From there we headed back down Champs Elysee, past the tunnel where Princess Diana died and on to the Eiffel Tower. The walk took a few hours and my feet were sore, however it was a great was to see Paris during the day.

That evening Mum had organised to have dinner with some distant French relatives who have the "Langoulant" name (The family name from my Mum's side). This gave Mum an opportunity to practice all the French she had been learning, and it gave the French Langoulant's an opportunity to practice their Engligh on me and Paul. It is here that I would like to say that I was not ignorant with French (believe me I did try), however to save us all the pain of trying to hear me ruin their wonderful language, it was far better for them to speak English. This was a very common theme during my time in Paris as I found the locals very accomodating and willing to speak English to me.

On Wednesday we had planned to visit Versailles and see the castle where King Loius XIV, and XV lived, and where the most famous Monarch, Marie-Antionette spent her days. Well sometimes people things just don't go as you plan and Mum and Paul failed to arrive, leaving me sitting on a post for 1 hour all alone in a foreign country at the hands of beggars and dodgy Nigerians trying to sell dodgy "souvenirs". Later on Mum would claim that there was maintenance taking place on one of the lines and they couldn't get out to Versailles.

That night Jean-Louis and I headed out into town with his friends to celebrate someone's birthday. Our first stop off was a bar called Ice Kube, which is a bar made completely of Ice even the glasses are ice. The only downside was that it cost 38 euros to enter however I was told that it was all you can drink. This sounded like a great night out: 38 euros, all you can drink all night. Wrong! I then found out it was for only 30 minutes and it was only vodka on offer. Well how much vodka could I drink in 30 minutes just to get my money's worth? The question was answered for me too. You were only allowed 4 drinks. Unfortunately I got through two drinks when they called last drinks so I only ended up with 3 drinks in total. The experience was great but no surprises why Ice Kube doesn't make it into my Lonely Planet Guide "Europe on a Shoestring." The night was topped off when we all headed out to a place called "Strictly House", and one of the guys (who works in promotions for Heineken) got us into the VIP section and we were given free drinks all night.

Thursday was a public holiday and it was spent sleeping until midday then later that night I went out with Jean-Louis and his friend Steven for dinner then went and played poker in the evening with some of their friends that I met the previous night.

Friday: Take 2 Versailles - On friday afternoon I met Mum and Paul at Versailles and we went to the Castle with the intention of exploring the Castle and the grounds. Unfortunately there were a herd of tourists and the lines were enormous so we decided instead to explore the gardens which were free to enter. The grounds are immaculately maintained and span a vast area which seem to stretch as far as the eye can see. We ventured down from the castle and towards the cross shaped lake, then onto the Grand Trianon which was built by Louis XIV as a place to escape the hectic life of the Castle. We then went to see Marie-Antoinette's House which had hoards of people outside of it. We didn't go inside the house, just looked from the outside, then slowly made our way back to the Castle to end our visit to Versialles. For those interested in the history of the French Monarchy, the Castle of Versailles was built after Louis XIV was married and they moved from their castle in Paris (now the Louvre), into the Castle of Versailles. The Monarchy contninued to reign in France until the French Revolution where they were driven out of Versailles and dismantled.

On friday night I went and watched Iron Man (In english with French subtitles) and on Saturday I booked my train ticket home to London, thus concluding my week in Paris.

Unfortunately on Friday night after watching the movie, some bad news came through that my Grandfather who had been in poor health had passed away. Mum was able to fly home the next day to be with the family and I want to send my love to all of the Lovell/Langoulant family who knew Donny and say that we are all going to miss him greatly but are so much better people to have known such a great man. I was lucky enough to see Nanna and Donny before I flew out to London, knowing that it would be the last time I got to see him. While I was there I told them how I would take lots of photos and make sure I kept them up to date on my travels so they could share the experience with me. Donny said to me, "Do this for yourself and not for us". These words really stuck with me as they epitomise how selfless and caring he was, that he didn't want me to be concerned about their wellbeing but to just enjoy myself. From London, with all my love I am thinking of you.