Paris

We are currently in Johannesburg staying in a motel like compound surrounded by concrete walls and electric and barbwire fences. But first a bit about Paris...

We landed in Paris in the morning and had the whole day to play until our 11pm flight. With our backpacks strapped on, we hopped onto the train and headed to down town Paris. Paris is quite walkable. The city was sunny but a bit nippy.

First stop: The Notre Dame Cathedral. Didn't see the hunchback, but gargoyles were reminiscent of the awful disney movie. A grumpy Frenchman made Najam take his Chapeau off. I think we sneaked in the backdoor. Beautiful stained glass, dark gothic atmosphere. Oldest place Susan has been in. Got out of the church and into a cafe for a quick drink of a tiny cup thick, dark, crunchy coffee with three morsels of various desserts. Good stuff.

Next: The Eiffel tower. Overrated. At least Susan thinks so. The lines to get up there by elevator were long. There were no lines for the stairs, but we had backpacks which weren't allowed up there. So we appreciated the tower from the ground floor only. Both here and at the cathedral we were approached several times by women who would first ask "speak English?" and then show a card with a story of their being Bosnians, poor and stuck in Paris.

Finally we walked over to the Grand Arche, but didn't actually cross the road to it. Couldn't figure out how to get there actually. Besides, we were getting hungry. So, another over rated Paris attraction bypassed. Oh well. We ate at a little cafe no too far from the Arche. We had Salmon Crepes and Beef Bourguignon. Salmon consumption should be saved for our little corner of the North West and mom makes way better BB. Beautiful christmas lights visible from the cafe windows. We "people watched" as we ate.

The French like their cigarettes and smoking is still permitted in restaurants. The city was relatively clean except for the butts strewn about. It seems there is a direct correlation between the size of vehicles and the size of people. The US has some rather large vehicles and people to match. The only people of size that we saw in Paris spoke some sort of English. Even their little street crossing light stick figure looked skinny. We saw SUVs rarely and no hummers. Their larger cars were the size of our Honda civic. Maybe they don't eat as many freedom fries here.