So, we went to Paris.
It's a tricky one to write about, as while it was quite long (10 days), it was also a very different vibe. Dara's girlfriend, Anna, came to visit - so he's been off holidaying with her. Thus, it's just been Finbar and I. Lovely to have space in the van, and not-knowing-anyone gave us opportunity for some time to ourselves, and even to some quiet-nights-in-watching-tv-shows, which was nice for a change. Of course, being Paris, an awful lot of my time was spent finally doing the touristy things I've never done, due to being drunk the last time I was here (3 years ago - time really does fly..). As those would be boring to write about, I'll just post photos with snappy captions; for your enjoyment. Hey - you're the one reading this. You can't really be picky. Is it weird that I'm talking to you? In the next 48 hours, you will meet someone new, or something will happen to you that will have a serious effect on your life. However, if you don't send this message to 5 of your friends - your dog will die. No, no matter that you don't have a dog. It's a metaphorical dog. Like the "Death" tarot card. You know - silly..
Shut up David.
Here is David at the Opera house. David is wearing a scarf because his throat was sore. Not because he's a hipster. That's a different issue.
Here is the Mona Lisa. While I made sure to barge my way through all the Chinese people (as I am taller) to the front to see it properly, I thought it was more interesting to watch all the people...taking photos....of what surely must be the most photographed painting in the world....maybe they don't have the internet in China yet. That's actually kind of true in a way, isn't it...
This is the view from the top of Notre Dam cathedral. I went to a mass service there, too. Mum'd be proud. It was pretty unimpressive - about 30 attendants and it was in French (I was hoping for Latin). Made me kind of pity the institution - for all the terribleness of the Catholic church, it is kind of mellowing to see something so great and powerful reduced to a tourist attraction..the gargoyles and whatnot were pretty damn cool, though.
They say the real gems of Paris are found just by walking the streets, by day or night. We found this to be true, certainly. Though perhaps for different reasons than others. For example, this particular carpark we're parked in seems to have occasional prostitutional campervans, and extreme-late-night-Petanque-players-of-all-descriptions)...oh, sidenote - we're parked for free about an hour's walk from the city center, or 10 minutes on a metro...about the same distance as most of the hostels...this campervan lark even works in the big cities so far). Here is a Michael Jackson shop.
Here is an Indian Music Shop. In the Indian district of Paris - where we were genuinely the only white people on the street. Kind of fun. I am Midnight's Children.
Sometimes it strikes me as strange that most of my photos contain a Finbar. It's hard to do selfies with attractions, though. More selfies. Both of the above scenes made us think of our friend Shrinky. We miss Shrinky. Ironically, there's no way in hell he reads this. Maybe someone can pass on the message.
What else. Ah yes, the busking. Busking in Paris is notoriously difficult. Mostly because it's illegal. Yet full of buskers. It's strange though - the police don't arrest you or anything. They simply move you on, with a nice friendly sort of warning, so you don't get in trouble.. it's just a little risky if you keep getting caught by the same officers in the same spot. Which is annoying, as Paris is huge, so I only knew of a few spots. Today was a funny one though - a policeman actually said "We don't mind it at all, but unfortunately it's forbidden". Strange. But I did okay - enough to get by anyway without hitting up the savings. Met two really nice travelling buskers too - one who was permanently on the road for what must have been 10 or 20 years from the sounds of it. He'd been busking through Asia and everything, said it's completely doable. Cool to know! It's a bit nervewracking though - never knowing how long you can busk for, and watching out for police all the time. You feel like a drug dealer or something. But at the same time there's no malice, I've even had them clearly avoid me so that they wouldn't have to stop me. Today I actually followed two policemen at a safe distance, so that I knew when they'd walked past my spot - to guarantee me the most time before they walked past again. But yeah, even though the money per hour is as good if not better than many other places, I'd rather do 4 hours with no hassle in Toulouse then a stressful 2 in Paris.
Ever the problem with writing a blog intermittently is the lack of detail. So for my last paragraph I'll just write about today, I guess..I do hope you're still reading. Thanks for your support. No, really..sometimes it's really hard not to sound sarcastic. I'm a nice guy. See? Anyway. Today I went to meet Cristina, the aforementioned lovely-voice girl from Paris with whom I was to do a duet. We only had a few hours, so she showed me to a good thrift shop, as I'd hoped to buy some new threads whilst in the fashion capital. Or old threads, I guess. I realised something today though - I can't shop with anyone else there. I honestly didn't know that until today. I mean she wasn't in a rush at all, tonnes of cool clothes and dirt cheap..I had money from busking...but I couldn't do it. Gave up after 5 minutes. And we're leaving tomorrow so I can't go back. Oh well. We went to write a song and record it with the time left. It was fun - I've never really done anything like that before. We had a harmony and everything. I mean it could be far better, but for only a few hours it was good I think! I'll post it up here when I get a copy sure. That girl's destined for great things if she tries. And then having done a duet with her, I can a reality TV show contestant. Dream big. Oh, and she brought me a little bottle of Tsuica from Romania (she was away, hence us only having one day) - the Romanian version of Poitin. We've had it before, actually, 5 years ago, on our last big excursion. Dangerous. Can't wait.
I was quite sad leaving today though. It's easy to forget the farewells when one thinks of travelling. Great to meet new people every day, but you also have to say goodbye too soon.
Tomorrow, Lille. Finbar and I took the night off tonight, as the next few weeks are gonna be full of parties (electro club in Lille, then Caoife and Sonny come to visit, then Amsterdam, then Berlin. Recipe for...success?).
And by night off, I mean, kebab.
And by kebab, I mean kebab followed by a 12 pack of Snickers icecreams.
And by kebab and a 12 pack of Snickers icecreams, I mean we ate them all. All of them.
Is that chocolate around our faces? No, silly. That's your jealousy. Don't you even dare try and judge us. You know you'd do the same thing if you thought no-one was looking. We just photograph it. Next level. Das Collective. We're living your dreams.
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