The Book of Crispy

Review of Paris 7:50AM

Last weekend we went to Paris. It was Tammy's birthday, so we had to do something special.

We flew out of Heathrow on Saturday lunchtime. We thought it was a better choice of time than the red-eye flight, but it turns out that we should have gone earlier, because our home to hotel travel time was a total of nearly nine hours. Ridiculous considering that the Eurostar would have only taken us 4.5 hours. We know now for next time.

Our hotel was a three star in the 15th district, which is near the Eiffel Tower. The hotel could have been better, but it could have been worse too, so it was a compromise for the money. The beds were too small, but it was a quiet street, so we got good sleeps. Funny shower with no curtain, so you have to sit in the bath to use the shower. Also a bum washing sink that we didn't use (or none of us admited to using). We arrived late enough that we just had time for dinner and bed, with a quick walk around the base of the tower - a very pretty sight at night. Every now and then it would suddenly sparkle like a fireworks sparkler. Very pretty.

On the Sunday we climbed the tower in daylight and got to see the fantastic views. Paris is the most beautiful city I have visited so far and the tower is the most enjoyable tower I have been up. Thumbs up for Paris.

I visited Napoleon's tomb, which is in a gold-domed building. His tomb is a massive wooden coffin in a really orante interior. Also a must visit.

After that we went to the Arc de Triumph, which is an archway in the middle of a roundabout. The roundabout has no lanes, but is wide enough for 4 or 6 lanes. There are 10 different multi-lane roads entering it, and then it just becomes chaos. It is great to watch from above (we climbed up more steps to the stop of the arch). More good views of the city to be had from up there too. After that we were sick of steps, so we retired to a restaurant for a late lunch and drinks.

That night we did a river sightseeing cruise. There is so much nice architecture in Paris. Much nicer than London. Pity that the people are much ruder. The back of Notre-dame is stunning (but not as stunning as the interior). We passed the Louvre, which is massive. The largest museum in the world.

On the Monday we visited Notre Dame and took more photos. Onto my second film. Tammy wanted to go shopping so we wandered up and down rue St Michel. She bought a shirt, and I came away empty handed.

Time was running short, so we had to do a rushed visit to the Louvre, and find the Mona Lisa. We found it, but I don't see the appeal. There are lots of fantastic and huge paintings on the way to this tiny and non-dramatic picture. The museum says that if you spend one minute in front of each exhibit, it would take four months to tour the whole museum. I have to go back when I have a spare four months :)

An overview of Paris:

• Very pretty buildings, and lots of stunning monuments to look at
  
• Expensive to eat and drink
  
• Rude people
  
• Learning a little french was ineffective - you need to know a lot or none at all.
  

  
  We only managed to find one nice restaurant - the rest were for tourists. We will certainly need to go back and spend a lot more time.