One night in paris

Ok so I am not there – almost, I’ve started this years blog without even reaching europe yet….see I bought myself a tiney ennie weenie laptop beforeI left… its ok, has winXP but the keys are rather close – tough typing has gone out the window!! Well almost..

So far I have…been delayed at Launceston Airport and forgetten my jacket.. hope this is the end of things for the day…. Really looking forward to getting into france and getting amongst things… wish me luck hey!


…………..and now I am writing from the backpackers in Paris. I’ve survived the long flights from Australia (when will I learn that aus to europe really is a killer?) From Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was pretty uneventful, had a brit sitting next to me and I am sure he was a mute, apart from that have watched a few movies here and there, nothing much to report…except that I am thrilled with the service from Malaysian Airlines. The legroom was AWESOME (better than Qantas..ok that’s not hard, but 50 times better than BA!!) and the service by the flight attendants was greatious too, so there I sat eating and drinking my way to KL without a wink of sleep…hmmm..

Bleary eyed I stumbled my way through KL airport, having filled in my ‘I’m 100% perfectly healthy and no I don’t have pig flu’ declaration and passing the checkpoint from the department of pharmacy (oh dear god) I am allowed into KL airport to wait for my next onward flight…however did manage to have a yellow card shoved at my ‘just in case’ I get pig flu…seems the card will explain all to the doctor who’s had his head in the sand. …ah soo early in the piece to be yellow carded..hmm
Ok so I degress – hopped onto my next flight after in my dreary state trying to go to the gate too early, then going for a wander, buying some duty free, then lining up fori the correct gate (they’d changed the departure gate..thank god I was clued on by this point!) So there I was, liquids out of my backpack, same with the laptiop, off for screening they go – I walk through and set the alarm off…nothing unusual I am thinking for Asia… and seing as though my experience in Thailand saw me standing on a box in the middle of the airport and with no box in sight in KL I thought I’d be safe…except when I was directed to a second metal dector this time manned by a..err, man to which I set off again and he then patted me down VERY THOROUGHLY may I add…especially in the groin area…. Feeling slightly sqew-if I waited for boarding, counting my yawns till I lost count, and barely made it through to meal service where I could get a red (wine for the unitinitated) to down my sleeping tablet with…and without warning I was out cold…don’t think the pill had a chance to work – although I bet it kept me out to it for as long as I was..all in all about 6 hours I think! Well that was until they put the lights on in the plane to serve breakkfast some 3 hours before we landed…wasn’t happy…but you get that I suppose.

So into Charles De Gaulle Airport we landed…and with a thud I remembered why I was chasing an EU passport last year – their line was clear before you knew it while the rest of the world waited…and waited..Mes Temps! But I made it through…even the initial check by the police as SOON as I got off the plane, looked like they were after somone..but alas I saw no one being escorted away…damm it!
So there I was sitting on the train into the city when two things dawned on me…. I was in Paris, and it was morning peak hour. The latter seemed more of an important point at this time, as the train continued on its journey into the city collecting parisians off to work for the day – me stuck in the middle with my backpack…. I was back in the game baby!!

Managed to find the backpackers ok….ok so I’m not giving myself 100% pass on this one as I actually walked two more blocks than I had to, but at 8:30 and bleary eyed, my sence of reasoning was working better than my sence of direction… having finally made it to the canal (via a very vocarious street mind you) I backtracked to the backpackers along the canal..turns out that’s also a running track. So with the sun in my face (yay the fog cleared) and the backpackers in sight… I was starting to feel almost human, until what was coming did – check in was at 2pm, and like the other aussies and cannuks (Canadians for the uninitiated) I would have to wait it out…so being surrounded by other dreary onlookers wasn’t doing much for me, I set out to tackle the Met system once more…thankfully last year I’d had it down pat – so this year it was like water off a ducks back, I went cross city and back all without hassle…except for when a group of black teenagers had a yelling fight with a white chick in french…wishing I’d taken those lessons now to understand what was said – from the eyes and faces of the others on the train it was somewhat of a concern… I just used the ‘I’m not here, I’m not here’ tact…seemed to work..I was too tired for that crap!
Back at the hostel it was beer o’clock. So I had beer, and waited the final moments for check in. like a stampede at woolworths for the 50c cans those of us from early flights checked in, those with enough energy hit the showers, those who couldn’t give a stuff and just wanted to meet their bed did so..and that’s where I stayed until I’ve now showered, feeling human and back alive. Although I don’t know how much longer I am going to last – think I might flake it early again, is that bad? I mean all I have done for my first day in Paris is go cross town and book a tour for when I am back in the city at the end of my travels… have decided on a day trip to versallies. I did see the Eifel Tower today, and unlike last time..just thought ‘oh, theres the tower’ and kept walking… bad traveller..bad traveller! I did try to make amends by stopping at the catacomb to go below paris for a look at the many millions of stockpiled bones (for more information google it) but when I hopped off the train, went in the wrong direction..then realised it was STRAIGH opposite the train station and then saw the line up for 400m that wasn’t moving – I returned to the train station, returned to the backpackers, to my beer and bed!
So that’s things so far…tomorrow will see me go cross city again to my tour accomodation, and to find the 8 storey shopping centre to buy a coat – similar to the one I left in my bedroom at home…any excuse is a good excuse and I intend to use it!