A busy first day

10 April 2007

Our first full day in Paris and, not surprisingly, we probably overdid things a bit. Admittedly we slept in, or at least by our terms it was a sleep-in since we didn't get up until 8.00 in the morning.

The day started with some learning experiences. Since the washing machine in the flat doesn't want to work, we went to the local Laverie Automatique where we spent a bit of time fathoming out the system. In the end we worked out that the payment is done through a central board for all the machines rather than on the individual machine, that there were four different load size machines and that we needed certain coinage to get things going. Nonetheless, with that inner glow that only comes with successfully navigating a French system, we moved on.

The cheapest ways to use the Metro and the Bus system are with either a weekly or monthly pass called a "Carte Orange" or with a "carnet" of tickets. The "Carte Orange" is not the easiest thing in the world to get, requiring a picture and enough French to get through to the Metro bureaucracy. We have been told that these cards are intended for Paris residents but since we are in a flat and living in Paris we choose to believe we qualify. We may try to get one for next week. The next best way is to get a "carnet" or ten tickets at once. This works out to just over a Euro per ticket and a ticket is good for one ride. In the Metro you can go from any station to any other or travel backwards and forwards all day as long as you don't leave the Metro. This allows changing of trains to get to wherever you want. On the Bus, however, a ticket is good for one ride; no transfers, no time allowance, just one ride. If you need to take two buses to get where you want, it takes two tickets.

This week we have opted for the carnet. You used to be able to get them at a booth, and in some stations that may still be the case, but when we went to get ours we had to use the machine. I don't think we've ever seen anything like these machines. Some take bills and credit cards, some take only credit cards and change. Not surprisingly the instructions are in French and it took us quite a while to nut out exactly how to use these mechanical monsters. In the end, right, justice and the Australian way of life prevailed and we got our carnet, heading off to the newly re-opened Orangerie.

We arrived only to find that like many museums in Paris, the Orangerie was closed on Tuesday! A walk through the Tuillerie Gardens to the Louvre was a pleasant way to spend the remainder of the morning and although the Louvre was closed (after all it is Tuesday) we went into the shopping area in the Louvre complex and had lunch. After lunch we walked up the Avenue d'Opera and took in the sights and sounds. Unfortunately, all of the really expensive shops along the Avenue are open (They stay open on Tuesday) and Virginia and I spent a lot of time pulling one another out of the shops.
One thing we saw that really amused us was the way in which Parisians park their cars. At times they are so close together that the car behind and the car in front of a particular vehicle are actually in physical contact with the hemmed in car. The way in which a car gets out is to be bounced out. People push, pull and bounce the hemmed in car until it comes out sideways! It then drives off. Another interesting way of parking which we also saw in London was the SMART cars. These little cars are no longer than the average car is wide so they pull nose-in to the curb and park there while all the other cars are parallel to the curb.

In the afternoon we spent some time in an internet cafe writing up our blog and then went down to the shopping area in Montmartre to get food for dinner. The vegetables here are beautiful and we also bought some flowers to brighten up the flat.