We we Pari
October 11th, 2006 at 2:00pm
| We got up around 8:30 and had some complimentary breaky in the lovely Bastion Hotel before starting our trip to down to Paris.
Today was the last day of our stylish Chevy (Daewoo) Nabira, so a few mins was spent empting the tip floor the back floor (it started to remind me of my Fujitsu van back home). It will be a happy day as its the last we will see this bucket of crap. its now done 18000 km and needs a few repairs, now needs scrapping. it must have had a hard life before us. marks everywhere in and out. A gearbox like a tractor, airbag light on, windscreen wipers which make the screen worse and an inability to get up even a 6 grade hill. one consolation the radio is working ok again now. It will also be good to see the back off sally our sat nav system she’s been a bit lazy and forgetful the last few days and if I hear her say calculating route one more time ill smash it. nagging woman! |
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| We programmed the sat nav for the last time to take us to Charles de Gaulle airport out side Paris as we had to return the car to the same place we picked it up due to the optional sat nav system. this wasn’t a problem as we didn’t fancy driving in Paris traffic and there is a decent train system from the airport to the hotel. When we finally got into Paris and saw the crazy traffic we were assured we made the correct choose…it’s mad out there. Bikes and small cars going flat out, and if the lights go green they go, they don’ care what’s in their way. its madness. Just crossing the lights you risk your life. |
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| The 4 hr drive from Amsterdam to Paris was fairly easy, but not as nice as Germany’s roads as speeding is discouraged in these parts unlike in Germany. The drive out of Amsterdam was a bit of a pain the speed limit on the motorway changed every few kms from 120 to 100 to 70 to 50. Every time it dropped to 50 their was a huge traffic jam for no reason, all I can say is Amsterdam’s version of Vicroads are more than likely on drugs.
Once out of Amsterdam we made a bit of a fair bit of progress, we hit Antwerp in Belgium around lunch time but because it looked like such a crappy place we continued along the motorway and had lunch at one of the many popular motorway truckstops. |
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| We arrived into Paris around 4ish, the hotel was a few blocks from the station and we had a printout of it from Google earth (jee’s we are organised) so it was easy to find. We had a bit of a refresh and headed into town for a bit of a look around. Did quite a few Kms walking (about 10) from the Louve area along the river across to the Arc de triumph and down the Champs de Elesses, (typical tourist stuff). Paris is amazing at night, the historic sandstone buildings glow and the Eiffel Tower is just amazing with its flashing stroblelights. After taking plenty of pics and heaps of walking we needed a feed and a few beers. we went to the McDonalds due to their free wifi internet in Paris with the intention of doing a few jobs on the laptop while drinking a McBeer (1664) In the end we had a Royal with cheese value meal (you have the choice of coke or beer for the same price) there is also an option of fries or wedges and they are not French fries in France, just fries. After 3 decent sized Kronenbourg 1664 beers we decided to head back to the hotel for a bit of a kip. |
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