Paris

My few days in Paris were essentially the last hurrah before my return to the UK. Having only driven through Paris by bus on a high school trip to Venice 25 years ago, I was naturally eager to explore the French capital.

Sacre Coeur

I booked into the Hotel Audran, which appeared to be more reasonable than other hotels advertised on internet booking sites. Despite being more reasonable, it was still not cheap.......and the hotel itself was very basic with an unworkable wifi connection.

Montmartre cafe

However, the hotel's saving grace was its location, Montmartre, only a few minutes walk from the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. Oddly enough, my fondest memories of Paris were not the famous sights, but sitting outside a small cafe near my hotel having brunch each day. The weather was extremely pleasant and tourists from all corners of the world would amble past. It also felt a novelty to be able to read a UK newspaper for the first time during my travels.

The Sacre Coeur was better and more beautiful than I anticipated. The location overlooking Paris was memorable and I was surprised not to be bothered by the notorious scam artists that are known to prey on tourists.

Notre Dame Cathedral

After ticking off the Sacre Coeur, I used my invaluable iPhone map application to navigate on foot around Paris. Notre Dame Cathedral was splendid, but my aversion to queueing prevented me from venturing inside. Instead, I circled the Cathedral and walked along the Seine, looking at stalls selling bric a brac and at the numerous bridges.

Seine

By pure chance, I crossed the river and walked through the gates of a rather old and impressive building - it turned out to be the Louvre Museum. Again there were long queues, but I was happy enough to take in the outside views and sit by one of the fountains. The Mona Lisa will have to wait until next time. The best photo I took came from my iPhone, a rather nice panorama shot.

The central glass pyramid attracted a lot of controversy after it was completed in 1989. Personally, I think it looks fantastic and successfully marries the old with the new.

Louvre and glass pyramid

As far as I recall, the Louvre represented the end of my formal sightseeing on my first full day. Although I had refreshments along my route, it was time to return to Montmartre for dinner and a few drinks.

The next day followed pretty much the same pattern as the first. Brunch and then more walking (about 15 miles in total) to the final sights I wished to see - the Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triomphe, and Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

Scams in Paris are the same as those in Berlin. Girls pretending to be deaf and dumb approach you with a clipboard requesting you sign a petition. Once the girl has you distracted, a fellow scam artist will attempt to rifle through your pockets. Perhaps next time I'll place a mouse trap in my pocket and allow myself to be distracted.

The L'Arc de Triomphe reminded me of my visit to Pyongyang. Although smaller, the workmanship and detail of the French version makes it clearly superior. A military ceremony was about to begin in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Next to Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Despite an incredibly long walk through Paris, my final destination was well worth it - the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, home to the remains of many leading lights.

Jim Morrison's grave

I visited the rather modest and ill kept grave of The Doors singer Jim Morrison, and the tasteful grave of Frederic Chopin. Sadly, I did not manage to find Oscar Wilde. The weather was warm and because of its scale, the cemetery did not feel crowded.

Paris, I loved every minute!

Some (short) final thoughts regarding my mammoth journey from Japan to the UK will appear over the next few days. After that, I'll have more mundane matters to report on. Thanks for reading my unprepared jumble of recollections.