Chilling in the city of love

I managed to make it all the way on regional trains to Lyon. When I got here I found a TGV going direct, but it had no Interrail places left, so I paid the 45 Euro to get to Paris that night rather than waiting until morning. I got in around 1am, struggled with the bus system to end up in Montparnasse station. I then took a taxi to the hostel. Saw the Eiffel tower for the first time but was not impressed, it only had 4 lights on. I arrived at around 0230 and there were still people drinking, a good sign. A guy at the bar said I could crash in a room for free but in the morning I should pretend I was just then checking in. So I got a few hours sleep, walked around the block, then checked back in. This hostel is another good one, although the shower in the room was another push button jobby. Also they had one key per room which was left at reception when no one was in.

I went out and found the meeting point for the Sandemans NewParis tour. Was shown around the city by a Canadian girl and meet 3 Kiwi girls and an Aussie girl on the tour. I heard about how the Romans slaughtered the original Parisii tribe, how the Romans tried to stop the Vikings with chains across the river, how the faces on the new bridge were drunk guests of Henry 4, how a Templar grandmaster cursed the king and pope for betraying him, how Henry 4s assassin missed his heart on his first stab and Henry told him he could do better, about revolutions, an idea to move the Louvre, how the German commander refused to destroy the city so just blew up the outer suburbs and the roof from the Grand Palais, saw the bridge and the M from Bourne Identity, Notre Dame, the new bridge, the Louvre, Cleopatra's Needle, the Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palias, Invalides, lots of statues.

Later that night I on went on the Montmartre tour, saw Moulin Rouge, Van Gogh's apartment, Picasso's apartment, the last remaining windmill, a city vineyard, Sacre Cour Basilica, the view of the city, Amelies cafe, the headless Saint Denis statue, the Agile Lapin cafe were Picasso swapped paintings for food. After this I went on the pub crawl. Drinks in Paris are damn expensive. still, for every one you bought you got one or two vodka orange shots from the crawl crew. I met mainly Americans here, a guy and girl from California, a Marine Cobra pilot, can not really remember the rest. went to a Irish pub and another bar, then ended up walking back to the hostel with the American girl.

Slept in the next day, then had a picnic on the banks of the seine, thought about climbing the tower and the arc but the queues were too long. I ended up doing a big long walk trying to find a supermarket. Then finally had a few drinks with a girl from Melbourne. On my last day I got up early to go out to the Normandy beaches, but didn't actually make it. I got to Bayeux and went to the museum there, but by the time I had finished I had ran out of time. The beaches are something that require a decent amount of time I think. I got back to the hostel and had some drinks with some Kiwi and English guys, went to a few bars were we met a French girl, then hung out with a girl from Brazil before calling it a night.

I just about missed the train to Calais as I had neglected to buy a souvenir before now.