Day 5

Paris. This was a day concerned with life and death. In London, the tubes have a strange smell - a mixture of rubber and grease from the trains. In Paris, the tubes or 'Metro' as it is known here, smells as most of Paris does: of urine. The stench really is omnipresent. After staff sergeant Kerry had blown a gasket as we battled to meet the itinerary schedule that she had so painstakingly compiled, we headed off into the city centre and Sacre Ceur,a church atop a hilltop that overlooks Paris, easily the most splendid Church in all of Europe. It is the second time we have been there and it never fails to move. There are arguably more beautiful churches and cathedrals, but few that move one so deeply to worship. The presence of God is almost tangible and it is not like you are just awed by how lovely it is, but almost feel obliged to kneel in the presence of the Divine.

We then went to the Arc De Triomphe down the Champs De Elysee - the coolest road, bustling with people from all over the world and hardly a Frenchman in sight! In the Cartier windows, bracelets selling for around 26000 Euros - just outside of our budgets. When strolling down the Champs, you feel almost as though you are somebody famous at the centre of the world and would not be surprised if the paparazzi 'spotted' and descended upon you, camera's flashing. Attached is a picture of Russ at the Arc De Triomphe. From the Arc, we went to a restaurant called Ribe, literally around the corner - 50m from the Eiffel Tower. It boasts sophisticated french cuisine: Richard and Kerry had the smoked salmon on biscotti with cream and chives, frites and mayonnaise with dijon. Carmen and I had 2 cheeseburgers. :-) Yes, gascon looked down his nose at the two of us as if we were gastronomically ignorant Americans. The burgers were good, so who cares!

From Ribe we caught 2 trains that we later discovered enabled us to cover a linear distance of exactly 200 metres if we had walked, to an ice cream place you absolutely have to visit when next you are in Paris: Amorino. At 5.50 euros for a Grand cornetto (cone) it was worth 10 times that. Absolutely indescribable icecream. Worth a trip to Europe if you see and do nothing else!

Then we started back, looking for the bus that would take us back to camp, having had a lovely day. Something was sure to go awry? Well slightly... We caught the correct train but emerged from the Metro at the correct station with nothing in sight that looked even vaguely familiar. We crossed a park and an elderly couple from our campsite who had lost their way and were a bit bewildered,recognised us and attached themselves to us. By complete fluke,we recognised our bus stop - a bus pulling up as we watched. The only problem is that similar to the circle that surrounds the Arc, we were separated from our bus by 6 lanes of traffic. No road markings or lines and no pedestrian crossings in sight. We would have to return underground and make our way through the underground network to the opposite side. Well the old folks were having none of this. We watched in disbelief as they eased through the narrow gap in the fence of the park, and stepped into the traffic, the old man in his hat and his wife simply gesturing with their hands up and down in short movements telling the traffic to slow down. Miraculously they reached the other side and calmly boarded the bus. Well, if two old people could do it... Richard said 'let's go' and so we did. Carmen, Kerry and him bolted through the fence and crossed the road. I tried, but alas it was not to be. My trousers had caught on the fence and I tried in vain frantically to free myself,but was caught in such a way that I had to reverse to get clear and by the time I had escaped, I was the only one left facing 6 lanes of rapidly moving traffic and 3 people shouting impatiently at me to hurry up and come over. It was stupid and I don't know why I did it, but I stepped into the melee of vehicles and just dodged and ran like somebody with R3 million worth of cheap credit card medical insurance. A guy on a scooter and a white Uno apparently almost ran me down I was told, but I remember nothing. We boarded the bus just in time. We knew we were on the right bus, because they are numbered, but weren't sure where to get off and couldn't remember the name of our campsite. While we discussed this, unbeknownst to us, a French woman who lived nearby the campsite overheard us and at a seemingly random stop announced we should get off with her and she would show us the way to the campsite. So we did. With half a foot out the bus door, I remembered the old people and shouted at the old couple to follow us, startling the entire bus (the French are a quiet people). The old man looked up and said: 'Yes bye', but I shouted somewhat uselessly as he couldn't speak English, 'No, you have to come with us! This is the stop.
'Yes, bye!' he repeated even louder, really happy I had especially come to him to say goodbye.
The others had jumped ship already and I was not going to be left behind for a second time, so I hopped off, the old man still smiling and waving enthusiastically goodbye to the friendly young people. We have not seen him or his wife again.

Goodnite.