The Longest Day Ever

Thurday July 25

This turned out to be the longest day ever! The night before all the big people made a plan to get up early. I thought this was pretty funny when they said they would have breakfast at 7am and leave just before 8am by taxi to the Eiffel tower but that is exactly what they did. I could not see where we were going but they sure enjoyed being whisked across Paris in daylight instead of under the ground on the Metro. It was sunny but not too warm when we arrived at an already growing queue at 8.15am. Now the tower does not open till 9am but by the time it opened a huge queue had formed and snaked all around below the tower. There are queuing lines when you get closer to the ticket office, but the initial line forms as people please and it was like trying to find the end of a ball of string as the end of the queue ended up inside itself like a spirial. 

The early start was rewarded by getting onto the second lift up and being at the top by 9.10am. The views over Paris were wonderful. Last time we came Paris they took me up at night which was great because we could see all the lights, but this time it was in daylight and we could see all over Paris. 

 Don't let me go it's a long way down there!

 New Zealand has the sky Tower in Auckland and Auckland was the furtherest place away.

Montmartre from the Eiffel Tower.

The river Seine from the tower.

Hamish and Louise had bought a lock to padlock on the Des Arts bridge over the Seine but we hadn't got back there. Alan noticed that people had started to put their locks on one side of the top level of the Eiffel tower and suggested they put their lock there. They decided to do this. (the bridge is pretty full now and people are starting to fine new places to start putting locks) Howver they still wanted to throw their keys in the Seine and had to find a way to do this. More on this later.

After leaving the tower, (it had become increasingly crowded) Alan got us up to Montmartre on the Metro.  He had planned it all out the night before.  This is quite a long way so it took a while and Hamish was hungry again after that early breakfast. After a nice break in a pavement cafe we found the petite train in the street parked and ready to go in the direction of the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral.

This was a great way to see the famous streets of Montmartre and getting up the hill without having to walk. There was also a good commentary in English so we all knew what we were looking at. The train stops at the top to allow you to get out and view the cathedral and then rejoin the train for the rest of the tour which takes you back to where it started.

July is tourist month in Paris and everywhere you go there are crowds and queues. Last time they brought me here it was May and there were not so many people crowding the steets and tourist sites. This time there have been walls of people and eveything has to be queued for. To get into the Sacre Coeur we had to queue and once inside you really need to keep moving in the direction of the traffic flow. Outside the cathedral there were loads of very black africans selling souvineers and bottles of water. Suddenly they gathered everything up and ran flat tack out of the area. The police had arrived and they were selling illegally. They had all the stuff they had for sale on mats in front of them and these colud be gathered up into a bundle really fast and they could leave as soon as they saw the police coming. They were all young, fit and street wiseand made a hasty exit, Likewise the gamblers in the lanes. These guys all play various games involving 3 articles they swap around and people have to watch and guess which cup has the ball under it. They all have “a plant “that takes part to start and supposedly wins 50 – 100 euros and then the tourists foolishly believe they can get it right and start bidding big notes with the hope of doubling their money and then loosing it as it is all slight of hand. They too were cleared out by the police in the main souvineer alley. There would have been a dozen illegal games going on at any one time. They know how to make a quick exit as well. They use the upturned empty boxes used to deliver clothes as tables and aboandom them quickly once the police arrive. They seem to have a lookout warning them one to run as well.

Rejoining the petite train, we made our way down the hill back to the area of the Moulin Rouge where they were going tonight. A metro ride 2 stops took them back to touristy part of Montmartre at the foot of the steps leading up to the cathedral. 

Here we did some tourist shops and purchased a few gifts. When I had been here in 2001 Mary and Alan had been to this exact same spot where there were loads of cheap clothes out in the street in boxes every now and then a truck would arrive with another box and tip more out on the street. That was still happening today and there were still crowds of people chasing a bargain. Ast empyting s it was for Mary, it was too hot and there was just too much stuff to look through, although she did have a quick look as she couldn't help herself but managed not to buy. 

 Moulin Rouge by day.

Because we were booked for the 11pm show back at the Moulin Rouge we took ourselves back to the hotel for a rest as it would have been too long a day otherwise.

At 7.45 we set out again for Montmartre to go for dinner at a cafe and then onto the show. We found a little cafe off the main street where there was man playing live piano. It was all very French sitting out on the pavement in the evening in Paris. Every evening we have eaten outdoors like this. they have all been great experiences.

 Dinner on our last night in Paris.

This time we noticed that the elctric cars that are parked in the streets to charge up were right where we were sitting. People seemed to come and go with swipe cards and plug them in and walk away. It seems to be like the “Boris Bikes” in London. People have a keyless entry system. They have obvioulsy paid some money and can get in these cars and use them and then they return them to a charging station which weem to be strategically placed all over Paris. There are about 5 plug in and parks at any one place. While we were sitting there we saw several people return or take cars and also some tryng to return cars but there were no free spaces. 

http://www.treehugger.com/cars/new-paris-car-rental-autolib-success-so-far.html

At 10.30 pm we made out way to the queue for the Moulin Rouge. The tickets said that we had booked for the 11pm show. This really meant they started letting you in at 11pm. The show actually started at 11.30pm, so we had over an hour to wait in the queue. By the time 11pm came the queue stretched right down the road and around the block. Some people tried to negoitiate getting further up the queue with two burly doormen. They tried repeatdly but were told to go to the back of the queue.

 Moulin Rouge by Night

Once you did get in they asked how many were in your party and took you to a suitable table so wherever you were in the queue had little bearing on where you finally got to sit anyway. We got great seats in the centre near the front. It was a huge stage and all the seats would have been good. Our tickets included chanpagne and Alan was surprised when the waiter arrived with an icebucket and two bottles for the four of us. He thought it was a glass of champagne each not half a bottle each!

The show was on on a lavish scale with no expense spared on set or costumes. It was vibrant, full of vatiety and very entertaining. To allow the girls to change the big production numbers were indispursed with solo acts, a juggler, a ventriloquist and a skating acrobatic couple. Every minute of the show was enjoyable and action packed and it was all over too soon. We realise it was 1.30 am and there was no way we were going back on the Metro. So it was into a taxi for a long drive from the North of Paris to the South. On the way Hamish and Louise asked the driver if they could stop and throw their padlock keys into the river, which he kindly stopped and let them do. Well Lousie got hers in but Hamish's landed on a boat! But as they had been unconventional with their lock who cares?

We finally got to bed at 2.30am so it was the longest day ever but it was our last full day in Paris and we all enjoyed every bit of it.