Adam Turtle, Freelance Web Design in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Since1986
My Trip to Paris – Part 2
- 8th August, 2009
- filed under: France, Mini Series, Travel
- 2 comments
Today, part two of my trip to Paris.
- Part One: The first three days in Paris
BBQ, getting ripped off and a giant beer.
- Part Two: Days Four to Six
Finding the elusive Georges Pompidou, world’s most energetic dog and meeting the French Mr Bean.
- Part Three: Final Days
Versailles Castle, destroying my hands playing Tarzan around the forest and the nicest house I’ve ever seen. Also, smuggling drugs through Belfast International.
I’m going to rattle on with this one today as there’s lots to cover.
When we left off last time, I had just returned from a very expensive evening in the city. Our story continues from the next day.
Parc Asterix
Valerie and I stayed at a hotel near the Louvre as we were heading to Parc Asterix the following day and we were catching a bus at 8:30am from the Louvre bus station.
The bus takes nearly an hour, but at €20 return it’s a good option (possibly the only option) if you’ve got no car. It drops you off just before the park open and the last bus is at around 6:30pm so you have plenty of time.
Our seats were near an annoying young kissy couple who couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. Even more annoyingly they seemed to follow us around the park as they ended up in the queue in front of us a few times. Horrible couple.
Arrived at Parc Asterix just in time. Between it and Disneyland, this is the more mature and geared towards an older audience with arguably better and certainly more extreme rides than Disney. It’s also a fair but cheaper than Disneyland and isn’t far from the airport.
It’s a really fun park centred around the cartoons of Asterix and Obelix. The architecture and sets are really well done and there are some cool shows going on during the day.
We watched the dolphin show and the gladiator show, both of which were excellent. The weather was pretty hot, but luckily I was wearing my P20 suncream (great stuff, once a day and no sunburn).
By far the best ride in the park is the wooden rollercoaster. We queued for nearly an hour for it, but it was worth it – it was excellent.
In the evening we grabbed the bus back to the city where we were meeting some friends for dinner.
Dinner
We were running a bit late getting back as the bus was stuck in traffic so we had to go out for dinner in our sweaty clothes.
Paris is obviously a rather trendy city and turning up for dinner in a pair of shorts and tshirt is not really the done thing, so I felt like a proper tourist.
We met Gaelle and Mars for a drink before going for dinner. I met these girls last year in San Francisco as they were my neighbours, both French and currently working in Paris.
After about half an hour I got a bit of a surprise as two other guys I met in America turned up. Zoltan and Michael were studying in SF and are home for the holidays. Michael’s heading back in a few weeks to finish uni and Zoltan is off to Tokyo to study in a month or two. Really cool to see them.
Parisians also seem to eat fairly late. It was about 8pm and I was absolutely ravenous, yet there seemed to be no rush to get to the restaurant. I nearly finished all the nuts at the bar, was sooo hungry. When dinner finally came, it was great. A cheese and hamburger crepe. How authentically French.
Fancy Apartment
Valerie and I missed the last bus home to Arpajon so we crashed at Gaelle’s fancy place just off the Champs-Elysees, the most expensive street in Paris. Met her sister’s boyfriend there, nice guy. Studying to be a lawyer.
Finding Georges Pompidou
Up early the next morning and on a mission to find a building I’d seen in books, but no one in Paris seems to know. I had described it as a museum, glass and with a zig-zag staircase on the outside. ‘Such a building does not exist in Paris’, I was told.
Literally one Google search later and I found out it was the Centre Georges Pompidou. Went to visit it, just beside Le Marais – the gay district of Paris.
Did a few more sights around the city then headed for the swimming pool.
Swimming faux pas
We went swimming in Arpajon. I walked into the pool in my shorts and was promptly told off by the lifeguard that shorts were strictly forbidden. Since I had nothing else with me, I asked what I was supposed to do.
Long story short, I had to borrow a banana hammock from the reception. Gross.
Chien
Was very happy when we got home as Valerie’s sister had left her dog with us for a few days. I used to have a dog up until a few years ago when he had to get him put to sleep due to cancer. Since then I’ve really missed the company of a dog and am trying to persuade the parents into getting another one.
This dog is totally nuts. He’s full of energy, and like that stupid bunny from the battery adverts he just keeps going and going. He actually never, ever stops. You could spend 10 straight hours playing fetch with him and a tennis ball and he simply would not get bored.
His name is Cahouette (ka-wet), which is French for ‘peanut’. He’s a small doberman, super cute and very friendly. He’s got this weird thing, it’s like an ear fetish. If you pick him up he goes straight for the ear and will lick it until it’s dripping with slobber. Same with the knee joints…weird and highly annoying.
I spent a good few hours playing in the garden with him. When he can’t find the ball, he’ll eat pine cones.
It takes him a good hour or so to calm down before bed, and he’s gone through at least 5 beds over the past year already. He’s never tired, I’ve never seen a dog as hyper as him. But he’s great, I will miss him.
Awesome House
We took him for a good long walk around the countryside in the evening. Like most dogs, he loves getting out for a walk. The houses in the neighbourhood are all really nice, but I spotted one in particular that really stood out.
This is the kinda place I could see myself living in in ten years. Maybe not in France, but a house like this is so nice.
Dinner and Wii
To round up the evening, we went over to Valerie’s sister’s place for tea. Was great food and we spent the rest of the night playing board games and the Wii. Good craic.
I’ll leave Mr Bean for tomorrow as I’ve rambled on long enough. See you then!
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