10 July 2010
Montmarte, I think?
In the early evening I wandered out, not knowing where I was going. I have already decided Paris is quite small, and perhaps I need not have bothered buying the train pass, still it was only $25 for the 5 days to go anywhere anytime.
I found myself near the church at Montmarte, I am pretty sure thats what it is, its up a big hill anyway, and I presume thats the Mont part. I was pretty excited to see the dudes tying strings around peoples fingers and then demanding 20 Euros. They didnt pick on me but I told 2 young girls as I walked by 'dont do it, its a scam!' and they quickly pulled their finger out and ran off. And the guys got angry with me both times, but whatare they going to do? Theres like 2000 people there and they are trying to scam money out of tourists.
You can read about this scam on the internet. Once you are tied to the guy by your finger he demands money for the friendship ring hes tied on you, and when you complain 5 or so other guys come over to tell you to pay. There were literally 20 or more guys about with multicolored string in their hands.
You can see the view from the church below, going into the church was free and it was very impressive on the inside, and didnt fall down when I entered, but there were lots of signs saying no photos, in english even.
After this I found myself in the red light district which is nearby. It was only 8pm and I doubt any of the 'shows' had started, but still guys were trying to convince me to go in, this is also a scam, these places tell you that its 10 euros to get in, then give you a drink, and the bill comes for the drink at 800 euros (for one drink). One guy actually grabbed me, and I turned and pushed him hard and he backed off immediately, again these guys are risking serious trouble if they get caught id imagine.
But its weird, that these scams seem to be so well known, so obvious, yet they still exist. Why dont the French authorities stop it?
The view of the church from part way up the hill
Looking back down over Paris from the top of the hill.
My attempt at framing the view artistically.
The church close up.
More view, enjoy the view, this is your last chance for the view.
Some sort of French goth gathering, the smell was overpowering.
The moulin rouge stage show version of the Australian movie of the same name about some ballroom dancers that ride a bus through the desert during world war 2.
My dinner, yes Vietnamese food. Beef testicles in soup (really, I think thats true!). I decided to have a healthy dinner as I see many cakes in my future.
I take supermarket pictures wherever I go. I like supermarkets. This isnt a full sized one just a central city sized one. They have Pepsi Max though.