Left Chartres for the quick drive to Paris and to dump the car back with Avis and to spend the afternoon wandering along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. However, Avis had relocated the drop off location without letting me know, so 3-4 hours later I finally found a place where I could drop the car. Did two laps around the Arc de Triomphe as I tried to find the 6th exit (which is actually kind of fun!), drove past all the landmarks (Tower etc!) and ended up about 2 hours walk in the pouring rain from my hotel which is in the 9th arrondissement. Today was much better. Normally I stay in the 7th arrondissement on the other side of the river near the Louvre, so its really good to explore on foot a different part of Paris. I did notice that the city is jam packed, all the restaurants are full (all day), the tourist spots are ridiculously busy with massive lines, but just on 20,800 steps so far and I didn't leave the 9th or 10th (apart from climbing the hill at Montmartre). I am not sure how Paris is going to cope with the World Cup and have even bigger doubts on their ability to host the Olympics. But it is such a walkable city and its impossible not to take lots of photos. Tomorrow I'll head back to St-Germain and the Latin Quarter.
Some interesting highlights today: Due to the lousy washing machine at my last AirBnB, I decided to do some washing at the local laundry, as every time I arrive back in the UK I turn up with a load of dirty washing.... The technology at the local laundromat is quite impressive. My clothes dried in about 15-20 minutes. Another interesting thing I discovered was how they move furniture into the local apartments (through the window) as most of the elevators are tiny. And speaking of tiny things my bathroom is so small that you have to sit or stand sideways when using the loo.
Comments