6 July 2019
Not quite bed time yet
Exploring Paris - Photos of the fired damaged Notre Dame cathedral
A rare third update!
Now I have actually taken photos of something that is not an airport.
I am tired and when I finish typing this I can go to bed. It is almost 10pm Paris time.
So lets get on with it.
Getting to the main part of Paris from the stabby part of Paris where my hotel is takes 2 trains, but each only goes one stop. The problem is they are not air conditioned. Lots of people carry a little battery powered fan. This is what is referred to as culture. When something is old and crap, call it culture, make strange noises, people will be impressed.
As you can see I walked around and looked at touristy things.... then had a really long conversation in Chinese at the Chongqing noodle bar, because thats what you do in Paris.
Enough text, lets just do the pics and call an end to this day that went for 3 days.
Here is a Paris RER station. They are different from a metro station, the trains are bigger, some are double decker trains like Sydney. They are still dark and smelly like the metro stations. I will ride a metro at some point to do a comparison, last time I was here it was still possible to open the doors on the metro manually, while the train was moving.
I think I went here last time, but its been done up since then. Something something Les Halles. Whatever its called its the main train station by the Seine, which is a river you know. It is a large still dated looking place despite the makeover.
I forgot the girl soccer world cup is on here. Tomorrow is the final. There is a fan area set up next to Les Halles with hardly any people in it. Girl soccer is not popular.
All of Paris looks like this. Every street the exact same.
People get giddy about the font on these signs. Its kind of like comic sans but with a double strikethrough.
Now we will take a tour of the burnt down Notre Dame. Bike tours are everywhere and a nuisance. Electric scooters are even more everywhere and even more of a nuisance. From this angle it does not look too burned down.
Here is the postcard shot people enjoy taking.
I really had to struggle to find a shot that showed any sign of burnt down. I think this burning down is overblown. Just string a few ropes and hang a tarp, no need for a trillion dollar rebuild.
Lots of people are enjoying hanging out on the concrete in the hot sun. This is a museum, maybe the modern art museum, I forget. It does not get dark here until 10:30pm. It also gets dark really slowly.
As mentioned above, Chongqing noodles for dinner, in Paris. The Chinese girl could not understand English, but she could understand my crappy Chinese. She told me I should work as a tour guide in Paris because I cant speak French but can pretend to speak Chinese. I am not sure what her logic is behind the suggestion? The noodles were delicious, and solved a problem - all the other places had no seating, or if they did it was 2 chairs at a little table in the sun, side by side, with a 20 euro seating fee to eat cheese and pate. I am not a fan of French cuisine.
Now its time to test the flaring resistance and highlight recovery ability of my new camera. Not bad.
Another typical slightly narrower Paris street, with outdoor seating and everyone smoking and coughing.
I am here for work, so here are some bins! ENJOY.