Paris 30.06.15

Blog written on 01.07.15 due to inconsistent internet @ hotel.

Early morning 8 am train from Vlaardingen to Rotterdam central. Said goodbye to Carla & Lou, they are off to the rest of Europe for 3 months.

Caught the 9am thalys fast train to Paris nord from Rotterdam. Carriage 18, the last one. We had to sit behind some know-it-all female Briton by the name of Liz. Pity the Indian couple with young daughter she sat with. She used to go out with an Australian but all Aussies are interested in is surfing and drinking. She works for some obscure newspaper. We got her life story & then she started the kid talking & would not shut up for the rest of the trip. She even managed to get a sandwich out of the Indian couple.

Interesting to see the Belgian countryside zip by at 300 km /hr. Very smooth ride. Almost enjoyable but for Liz.

Arrived in Paris 1130 am & 30 degrees. We were directed to supposed taxis. They seemed to be run by some black guy who looked like Mike Tyson & just as big. Got ripped off for transport to the hotel in Latin quarter. 80€, probably should have been 40€.

Hotel La Demeure, 51 Blvd Saint Marcel. Probably an old apartment terrace in a previous life but rejuvenated and renovated. It had air-conditioning, & that was all we cared about in the heat. The rooms are really small but it had its own bathroom & we were warned that Paris hotels are small.

Mariska & the girls had a great urge to go shopping & we were recommended to Galleries Lafayette which is behind the opera house. Just take the metro, it's really easy, so we were told. Coming out of the hotel & turning the wrong direction & ended up at the wrong station on the wrong line, we took a taxi instead. Tested out my meagre French, tried to impress Mariska as she was so fluent in Dutch & she had to constantly translate for me. But I soon realised everyone had more English than I had French, very embarrassed.

Galleries Lafayette had a sale, we heard the stores in Paris were having sales, overheard from Liz on the Thalys. 40 to 60% sales including on several luxury brands. Unfortunately this brought out the dreaded mainland Chinese. They seemed to be on a purely shopping tour, bussed in & turned loose on Paris. They were noisy, rude, selfish predators who attacked in mobs. They spent thousands per person - I know as this guy got a refund of 600€ in sales tax, meaning he spent 6000€. They just don't realise that no matter how expensive your clothes & handbags are, you don't look attractive with a backpack worn back to front on your chest. That's how you tell a mainland Chinese from the rest of us etiquette abiding Chinese.

Mariska bought enough cosmetics to last a year till we have to come back again. Chanel, Dior, Mac. Had to go back to the hotel to get my passport to claim back the sales tax. This was a good opportunity to learn the metro & it could not be easier. Getting the refund involved another close encounter with the dreaded mainland Chinese again with their chestpacks .

Enough of shopping. We taxied back to the hotel. I was so excited as I recognised Paris landmarks from watching so much Tour de France on TV. The Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysee & Arc de Triomph.

We had dinner in Blvd Saint Marcel in Paris in an Italian restaurant cooked by a Sri Lankan who gave me shots of Grappa. France is so multicultural.