Bunnies, blisters and three days of lols in Paris

Paris was great! Aside from losing two days to travelling (it felt like an eternity) and a slight blip with the room we got put in there are no complaints here.

Upon arrival on Monday night, after a long and gruelling coach and ferry trip we drove through Paris. If you've ever braved the mean roads of the capital then my hat off to you, since it is terrifying to be driving OR walking. God help you if you stand in the cycling lane too. Parisians are more than happy to ring their bells or beep their horns at the drop of a hat. Once the hotel room fiasco was solved (thanks Sue!) we cleaned up and ventured out for something to eat. After finding a French equivalent to a kebab house (it also sold odd looking Chinese food in little favour cases) we found a small pub called Cafe Bistro or something similar. That pub went on to be our haunt every night while we were there. The staff got to know us pretty well, as did some of the locals!

After a good nights sleep and some croissants we headed off in a random direction to see the sights and get in some pictures. Some coffees we headed for the Montmartre cemetery, it was stunning. So big and each grave was more intricate and lavish than the one before. There were a few that were so over to top though, some even looked like tiny churches. It was so warm that day and the sky was an amazing blue which made for some great shots.

I took a couple of shots through the bars and slots on some graves and caught the statues inside, it looks really eerie!

Walking all morning had given us an appetite so we stopped at an Irish pub for something to eat. The guy who served us was really pleasant and helpful and was quick to throw a strange man who was standing around our table out onto the street (even if he was quite rough!) Paris was full of wonderful little surprises, it was only taking random twists and turns that lead us to them. I caught a random windmill at the top of a street after a passing trip to the Sacre Coeur.
Just looking at all those steps again made me think I sooner not walk up them! The downside to all these beautiful places were the salespeople. They were really pushy in forcing their tricks and tat on people, it takes a fair amount of force and 'no!'s to get them to leave you alone! We also walked past the Moulin Rouge and through parts of the red light district. We were going to visit the museum of erotica but there was seven floors and we were all pretty tired.

That night we went back to the pub and the bunny jokes started! I was explaining the bunny from the last blog (it was a CHOCOLATE bunny) on top form, Will (a friend who also does CLM but in the second year) asked if it was cream filled and of course the subject got turned to the non-chocolate types of rabbit.

After that, and right up to my random selection of a Kinder egg on the way back on Friday (which had, you guessed it - a rabbit!) I've been known as Bunny!

Day two saw us trekking for the Cafe des 2 Moulins; the cafe where Amelie works in the film of the same name. I was a little disappointed as it didn't look anything like the one in the film, but after a coffee I decided to tag along with Andrew as he did what can only be described as 'how to walk to ALL major tourist destinations in one day'. We went to the Arc de Triomph, the Eiffel Tower, the mini

statue of Liberty, and the Louvre. He had been challenged by his friend to repeat some photos while standing on a plinth in front of the glass pyramid, at the entrance to the Lourve.
Sadly, I was too busy taking the shots to catch any myself! Although it was exhausting, it was an epic day I saw so much of Paris and caught probably one of the best shots I've ever taken (I haven't posted it as I'm saving it for one of my projects). By the time we made it back to the hotel I was ready to collapse, I'm still curious about the miles we actually covered but I think finding out might make me want to scream!

That night's visit to our adopted local was rather a speedy one for me as the only thing I wanted was to crawl into bed! Andrew and I joked that our bodies were threatening to kill or seriously maim us if we took another step! I was seriously thinking at a few different stages that we weren't far wrong. Walking back to the hotel that night we took a wrong turn (oh, and while we're on the subject of wrong turns he managed to get us lost! Given it was by around fifty yards, we were still LOST) and we ended up walking up this long street which was full of black people, and shops that specialised in afro care and really long glam nails!

Now that was an eye opener. But then, just like finding hidden gems, Paris seems to be a place where you can turn a corner and life itself changes so dramatically. At the start of the third day Andrew and I walked up a street that must have been a mile long and crammed with jewellery shops along each side. Some had signs saying trade only and minimum spend one hundred euros. It seemed a little strange to me that if it was for trade only that you would go to such lengths to make elaborate window and shop displays? I also noticed that the tourist areas were much busier and scarier than the slightly less touristy places. The atmosphere was different, and more relaxed. Even so, seeing the homeless people was a little heart wrenching, sadly there were people who were pretending to be deaf and dumb and trying to collect money.

We ended up back at the Louvre where we had to reshoot some of the previous days plinth-shots (due to silly manual focus being on - oh yeah sorry Andy, my fault :P) and ended up giggling so much about silly jokes that our sides were hurting. Finding food that afternoon was a disappointment, the place we stopped wasn't very clean and the 'lait froid' (cold milk) was infact warm and not too pleasant tasting. Luckily for me, you can't be around Andy and be sad. He irritates you into being happy (haha) and I was soon in good spirits even though we walked all the way back to the hotel.

Knowing that that night was our last in Paris we all fully intended to make the most of it, so after sitting around our rooms and having a right giggle we went off to our little pub and started drinking.

At this point I should mention my encounter with Sabir on day one (the first full day in Paris) he followed us and insisted I took his number. It was all a little flattering and a little terrifying but it was fun. Not to be outdone, Katie had an admirer stop her in the pub which we all laughed about as he wasn't exactly what you'd call young or good looking.

As the night wore on and we'd all had out fair share of alcohol we started a drinking game. I'm not going to reveal what we did that night as what happened in Paris stays in Paris but lets just say we had a hoot.

Also, playing with baguettes and croissants had become a 'thing' while we were there and it just so happened that Andrew was playing with a hollowed out end of a baguette (complete with a strand of lettuce sticking out of its 'mouth') when one of the waiters walked past. Both his and the waiters reaction was priceless! To say we were in fits of giggles was an understatement. Quoting Scary Movie with croissants on his fingers became Will's thing and I'm sure the staff at the Est hotel thought we were all a little strange!

The staff brought us two lots of complimentary shots, I've no idea what they were but they went down regardless. We were all at various stages of drunk but it was such a great last night. Certainly one to remember (I do have some video footage of it too) and we were all very happy and probably quite loud when we got back to the hotel. It was great getting to know Katie and Andrew better during this trip I hope I've made two new friends :)

The next morning we were packed and showered and ready to leave for ten in the morning the trip home was long and exhausting but all in all I had an amazing time and would have happily stayed longer. I saw so many fun and wonderful things and laughed more than I have since we were last out filming. I've also walked more than I have in a really long time but all in all it was a great trip. One last thing, next time can we please fly?