McLays in Europe

The first we saw of Paris was flying over it about 9pm. The lights of Paris were everywhere beneath us as this is a huge city. Two million live in the city centre and another 8 million in the surrounding area. Alison was sitting by the window and Ian joking asked if she could see the Eiffel Tower! On closer inspection it stood out like a beacon, just a magnificent sight from 30,000 feet.

Landing at Charles De Gaul airport we followed the rest out of the plane and this airport was another 'monster'. We were carried by long elevators through rendered brick tunnels and then through cylindrical glass tunnels to the baggage area. Unsure where we stood with the train strike we collected our bags and then asked the information desk the best way to get to our room. Taxi she said, so 50 euros later we were at our hotel! The traffic was unbelievable with cars going in all directions cutting across roundabouts etc. Our hotel resembled the one we had in Munich, another one person at a time lift and almost as tiny a room. But the bed was good and we had breakfast included and free internet!

Next morning we were ready to go and set off after a great breakfast to find the Eiffel Tower. Almost outside our door was the entry to the Metro Rail system but they were still on strike so we headed off along the river towards the tower. Walking along the river was good, we slowly experienced the tower coming towards us whilst taking in a number of different sights of Paris. The number of barges that were moored there and offering retail outlets or restaurant services was interesting. Also the number of high rise residential buildings.
After around 1 1/2 hours of walking we arrived at the tower. It is an unbelievable sight. Awesome you might say! There were long queues here especially for the elevator ride up the tower, so we decided to take the shorter queue to climb the stairs. Only went to the first level as that was scary enough. We enjoyed a diet coke there that cost us €5! The security at the site was high with army personnel patrolling and warnings in the toilets about pick pockets and notices about it being forbidden to give tips to the toilet attendants. We did notice a number of beggars at the doors of the toilets and others approaching people for money. After climbing down from the tower we took a tourist bus which drove around for 2 hours to all of the main sites. We sat up on top to get a better view but it was freezing and Ian was shaking by the time he got down as he did not have any thermals on and had given his scarf away to Hartmut. We then finished the day with a 1 hour cruise down the Seine just as it was getting dark so had a good look at the sights with lights followed by another long walk back to the hotel.

The next day was made very difficult by the train strike but that night we were booked to see the Moulin Rouge (at great expense) which was unfortunately on the other side of the city! We rested in the morning and decided to walk to save the taxi fare and it took us around 2 1/2 hours to do this. We got caught in crowds of people all looking at Xmas windows and lights in one of the big department stores. As time began to run out, Alison was very keen to push on and find the building then relax for a while until it opened at 6.45. Ian was unfortunately in need of a toilette but also wanted to know where it was. As we finally rounded a corner there was the sight of the Moulin Rouge and its brilliant signs and windmill all in beautiful lights. We found a pub just across the road to fill in 30 minutes. As Ian disappeared down to the toilette he noticed it said 'dunny' - we were in an Australian Pub and right over the road from the Moulin Rouge. The pub had VB stubbies, picture of Ayers Rock and signs saying 'wallabies' and lots of other Australian memorabilia.

Having composed ourselves after an arduous walk we went to the Moulin Rouge and were ushered into a huge cabaret room. Alison was a little offended to have to pay more money to put our coats in clock room when we had already paid a large amount of money to attend the show. We were escorted to our seats and they were right up front. Ian's was right up against the stage, Alison one back. We were seated with Japanese on one side and Spanish on the other so gave up trying to chat to others at our table. We talked to ourselves during the meal as two cabaret singers provided quiet entertainment. Then the show started and it was the most dazzling and professional show we have ever seen and went for almost 2 hours. The girls were extremely glamorous and the costumes brilliant. There were four segments with the dancers and in between some great support acts (Jugglers, acrobats and the such). For one act a huge tank of water came up from the stage and had huge snakes swimming in it and all lit up. A girl dived in and swam and wrestled with the snakes for several minutes. Our seats were so close we could have reached out and touched them. We purchased a program as a souvenir which still listed Claire McDonnel from Alice Springs who although was not dancing has recently completed a 6 month stint with the company. Getting home loomed as a problem but we were lucky enough to hail a cab after 10 minutes which got us home by midnight.

Next morning we were tired but had no need to rush due to a late flight booked to Norwich, England. We took the whole morning to pack and catch a cab to the airport (another €50!) and find our gate.

Paris was another great place that we felt we did not have enough time to fully appreciate it, but a definite place to return to. Mind you the train strike really did reduce what we could see.