In a nutshell, we came up with a few ideas which addressed some of these things but not everything - and I have to thank Sasha a lot for being very understanding and willing to potentially forgo going to Paris in order to try and address the other points. However, we did come up with one idea which did address all of these things - Mum & Dad were spending a bit of time with Denise & David in the UK, and on the Saturday of that long weekend they were all going to Liverpool together (after being in Birmingham for a Cricket game which was Denise's birthday present) where they were spending part of the day with Uncle Wayne and Sally. Denise & David were heading back to Edinburgh that afternoon, while Mum & Dad were staying with Wayne & Sally for a night or two. So if Sasha and I came to Liverpool, we could see Mum & Dad, Denise & David as well as Wayne and Sally - we could all have a family lunch together before Denise & David headed back to Edinburgh, and Sasha and I would then go on to Paris. We put this idea, and another one to Mum & Dad but they came back and said that they would prefer this option if it wasn't too difficult. For us, it wasn't difficult at all - flying to Liverpool the night before, and then on to Paris Saturday evening was straight forward and actually would cost the same for both flights combined as it would to fly from Berlin to Paris direct! Wayne & Sally would let us stay at their place on the Friday night, Mum would organise with Sally regarding the big family Lunch and one last detail - Sasha and I visiting would be kept secret from Denise & David, in order to make it a surprise!
One slight problem in the few days prior to heading off, was Sasha falling ill with an ear infection. She was meant to fly for work to the UK for the day on the Wednesday, and even got all the way to the gate for boarding before she decided her ear was bad enough that maybe she shouldn't fly - and after consulting her colleague, she forwent the flight and the trip, visited the doctors and got some antibiotics that would try and kick it into touch before our trip. She also got some earplugs which would help avoid aggravating the ear with the pressure changes during take-off and landing, and also had a doctors certificate to take the rest of the week off to recouperate. Come Friday, we judged that Sasha was safe enough to fly as planned - so it was all go!
Day 0 - To Liverpool
Day 1 - The Gathering
Day 2 - Getting Stuck into Paris
Day 3 - The Top of Paris
We decided to head to the Arc De Triomphe, so we made our way there, got some photos from the edge of the infamous roundabout it sits in, watch some people nearly get skittled as they tried to run for the island it sits on, before we went to the tunnel that goes under the roundabout and halfway along the tunnel's length we joined the queue to go up it. We stood in the queue for a few minutes, which was not moving at all before Sasha realised she was actually feeling quite sore and tired - did I mind if we abandoned the Arc and headed back to the Hotel room for a nap and rest up? Nope that was fine, so thats what we did via a visit to the Chemist so Sasha could get some pain relief.
Day 4 - Sasha's Birthday
Day 5 - The Last Day in Paris
Not sitting next to each other on the plane was a bit different, and being in a middle seat meant I couldn't do much but as we taxied a very long taxi from the terminal to the runway, I did catch a glimpse of an Air France Concorde plinthed beside the taxiway somewhere along the route for half a second - enough to make it out and realise what it was, but nowhere near enough time to get a good look let alone grab a photo. It wasn't a long flight and it passed fairly quickly so it didn't matter too much, and we landed in Tegel Airport on time. Now back in Berlin, we made our way home - trip over!
Summing Up
So how did I find Paris? Well, its a big city with a very distinct feel - but a large feel, and a busy feel. A bit like London, but lacking some of London's sense of stateliness. I think given more time it would do better to endear me to it, but part of that busyness is clearly large-scale tourism and as such you get the feeling that things in Paris are pricey because they can be and the tourists will pay it anyway. It is a great city - if you were to list the top most iconic cities on the planet, I would go London, New York, and then Paris. But I do find a lot of the "classic" European cities, or at least those in the West, tend to not be quite up to the hype and as a result don't meet expectations - while cities in East Europe tend to blow you away and be more than you expected. This is all about perception of course, and having all sorts of pre-conceived ideas about the Classical European cities and no real pre-conceived ideas about the Eastern European ones. Paris is not in the same category for me as Amsterdam, or Barcelona - Paris is better than them, partly I guess because Paris is about being haughty, pretentious, glamorous and therefore expensive - for which it was in general for all of those things (though not super expensive), but its the over-touristed aspect and the fact that its obvious which drives the feel of the city down. I know I'm not helping - I am a tourist - but if there was some way to keep it from being so blatant, maybe it might help? don't know. But it was great to finally go, and see the Eiffel Tower (London might have Big Ben, but you can't see it from elsewhere in the city - nothing is more imposing and impressive than the Eiffel tower!) as well as see the other iconic aspects of this iconic city. Having Sasha's birthday there was perfect - and sure the day may not have started off so great but it all ended up just fine! I hope the trip lived up to Sasha's expectations too.
Lest it be forgotten how this trip started off - it was great to see my Parents, my Sister for her birthday and to see the rest of the family that I did during our visit to Liverpool. It might have been fleeting, but it was great to have that family time and sense of occasion!
So that is Paris visited, done - the only large city that I can think of that now remains as a "you seriously haven't been to there yet?"-type destination is now Rome. That will get done in time. Will I visit Paris again? during our Extended OE, its possible but only as mostly a transit point as we would be unlikely to go there for the place itself. France in general - our plans should include a bit of southern France before we leave, but it will not be comprehensive. There are still a great many places to go, and of all of those we want to visit while we are still on our OE, time in France rates lower than many of the others. Speaking of which, its high time that we moved onto the next blog post as we're still almost 6 months behind with the adventures...