So far...
Paris
Monday: Arrived at about 7 and chilled out at the Sacré-Cœur
Tuesday: Spent day in the gardens at the Louvre, then went to Eiffel Tower
Weds: Most of day in Louvre, then went home to pack.
I liked Paris, and I really, really, really thought I wouldn't. I got warned about it being rough and teeming with pick-pockets but didn't have any issues, although there were quite a few people begging - on the tube and at the train station which was awkward. We also casually seemed to wander into the red-light district when going to a pizza place (which was awesome, even if it did look like the interior of Topkapi) and saw several ladies in their 40s wearing small items made of latex standing on the street corner. I did also get a feeling that Paris seems quite dirty, dog crap on the paths and rubbish spilling out of bins.
We rented an attic room near the Sacré-Cœur in this awesome old-fashioned Parisian building. We stayed with a local girl, Larisa, who was really sweet and the area was chilled out compared with the rest of Paris. It was like 23 degrees too which was nice and a nice break from the arctic weather we've had at home. We watched the sunset from the Sacré-Cœur and chilled out on the steps where everyone was picnicking and drinking, and some guys were selling some questionable beer they probably brewed up in a bathtub to the tourists.
Things that wound me up in Paris: faffing and queueing. Faffing about at the Eiffel tower working out which line we needed to be in (could just be because we are stupid)... Queueing for tickets, queueing for security, queueing to get the top which is pointless as it's so packed out you can't see until you queue some more for someone to move. Then there was the half an hour queue to get down off the damn thing. Wonder if any suicides of the top of the tower were just people who were sick of the faff and wanted a shortcut.
The Louvre: I dragged Dan out of bed really early to get there for the opening at 9am (which it says on the website). We arrived at what I hoped was the sneaky side entrance to find a ridiculous queue all through the shopping centre. I had a word with the American behind me who had found out that the Louvre was casually opening an hour late that day, because (her words not mine) "They're French, they do what they like." So I queued some more and finally got in at 10:30. To be fair, the Louvre was awesome and pretty much worth the faffing. We decided to wing it round the Louvre and spent most of our time in the rather epic Ancient Egyptian section vaguely discussing the difference between grave robbing and archaeology... We stumbled across the Venus de Milo, the Sphinx and good old Mona Lisa - the big three everyone does. Then chilled on the grass in the park and recovered from our queueing trauma.
Onto Lisbon:
The trip to Lisbon is about 21 hours in duration (who's idea was this?). We went from Gare Montparness in Paris to Hendaye, then took a little local train to Irun, which was interesting as there are three 'Irun' stations so we had to wing it. We then got lost in Irun and wandered around trying to find the RENFE station for a good 40 mins, finally finding a huge but deserted station that doesn't suit a town the size of Lincoln. Anyway, somehow I've managed to get onto the right train heading overnight to Lisbon.
I think because I'm so used to all the security passport faffing at airports that I find it so strange to casually walk across from one country to another. Hendaye is the border with France and Irun is on the Spanish side, and because something to do with different track types there aren't direct trains from France, you have to cross the border yourself.
Night train:
Initial thoughts: this is so cool. We're in an admittedly minuscule compartment but it's just ours, with chairs that fold down into beds, a sink, mirror, pack of toiletries (including razor, toothbrush and sewing kit...) and a huuuge window to look at the awesome scenery in northern Spain/Portugal. The porter lady said she'd wake us in the morning, which is good because we keep having to change our clocks and I'm losing track...
***
Hello Lisbon:
I'm finally in Lisbon in a cute little apartment rented by Monica and her two cats. We've got the WIFI going so I can carry on my post.
"I'm sure I'll sleep really well on the night train" - ahaha OR NOT. The beds were amazing but the train was a noisy pain in the arse all night and I only got a few hours kip. I got woken up at dawn by the nice Spanish lady telling me I got free breakfast, which we ate in the restaurant car overlooking the sunrise and awesome scenery. Would have appreciated it more and took photos if not completely knackered.
Might get some rest or go wandering...
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