Rallies and Rings

7 April 2008

Another very cold day. The thermometer in the window announced that it was below zero at 8.00 this morning. We had a few things we needed to do; go to the Singapore Airlines office and the Australian Embassy.

In line with our policy of travelling by bus when possible in order to see more of the city, we set off for our first task. On the way we noticed a poster in the bus telling us that the Carte Orange will be phased out shortly and that in its place we will have to have the Navigo. Damn, just as we got comfortable with the Carte!

The bus took us to within twenty metres of the Singapore Airlines office and after we were buzzed in (a bit like a jewelry shop), we worked out the arrangements to get the seats we wanted for the return trip to Singapore and on to Australia. The woman who helped us was a charming red-haired lass from Ireland; the same young woman who had helped us last year and whether she remembered us or not, she said she did which was rather nice.

Another bus was to take us to the Australian Embassy, but because of the arrival of the Olympic Torch at the Eiffel Tower, the bus was re-routed. We wound up walking through the Champs de Mars toward the Seine. Interestingly there is a new scam this year. In clear view of us a man bent over and appeared to pick up a gold ring. He then approached us to ask if we had perhaps dropped it. We said "no," and were interested to have the same thing done to us on two other occasions, one in a completely different part of the city. Three gold rings in one day - how's your luck?
Of course the walk gave us wonderful opportunities to admire the Eiffel Tower and take pictures. It really is a brilliant example of steel lacework.

We avoided the Eiffel Tower because not only was the torch arriving, there was a very large and rowdy demonstration against the human rights abuses in China. We read that the same thing happened in London yesterday. We finally got to the Australian Embassy where we were buzzed through one of those double entry systems similar to the ones we had experienced both at Singapore Airlines, the Shoa Memorial and every bank we went into. Virginia has seen this level of security every since the IRA troubles in the '70s, but it is well beyond anything we experience regularly in Australia. It is especially surprising in banks since many do not have cash except through the automatic teller machines.

The Australian Embassy was very welcoming; not surprisingly since we seemed to be the only people other than employees in the huge complex. We are not complaining, however, since we were able to get warm, use the toilets and read Australian newspapers. My one complaint was that their library seemed to be composed of business books and cheap second-hand works. I was most upset to discover they did not have the Historical Records of Australia. Canberra please note this deficiency! On the other hand there was a very good photographic exhibition (Max Dupain) and some nice Aboriginal art. We also thought that the lack of information on visiting Australia was unfortunate. There was plenty on studying in Australia but we didn't see any promotional material aimed at the tourist trade.