Je voudrais manger... Welcome to Paris, where ordering a cup of coffee and sandwich can take longer than consuming your meal. And then waiting for the bill, generally means tripping the waiter to get his attention, and when that doesn't work, edging somewhat ominously toward the exit is your next tactic.
I am having major food problems. The vegetarian thing does not work so well here, and if you combine that with allergies/intolerance to milk, eggs and cheese, you've really got problems. So I've allowed some tuna into my diet this last week, which is fine, but really I'm running on super-low batteries, and if I eat eggs or cheese one more time, no one will want to look at my face. Mostly I'm surviving on coffee and fruit. Predictably, my energy levels are crap.
I had dinner out with some work-mates last night, and learned a LOT about French culture. I also realized that most French toilettes are decorated with nicer accoutrements than any home I've ever had a hand in. Dinner took over 3 hours, and although I had only the smallest portion of my dinner, I left feeling overfull.
Yesterday a small gang of us visited Notre Dame, walked down the Seine, visited Le Place de Concorde, saw one of Cleopatra's Needles, spent quite a long time in an incredible church built around Napoleon's you've-never-seen-anything-like-this-before Tomb, and generally exhausted ourselves with another walking tour around Paris. It was delightful. We had intended to go see Monet's Water Lilies, however we were just too exhausted to go on.
I have posted some pictures here: http://vondarnell.spaces.live.com/
I'll eventually post them here too, but blogger takes an age to upload each picture, and I didn't have bags of free time last night.
Today, I am revisiting the Louvre- this time to the lower floors, and this time with my camera in tow. Tonight I hope to rejoin my mates, and take a night time boat tour down the Seine, past an illuminated Eiffel Tower. Hopefully tonight that works out, since these days with their heavy walking and museum touring are pretty exhausting.
Here is a teaser:
