After two hotels in three nights it was worth setting up camp for a few days.
There was a five day gap between the Russia and Wales games, so before we hit Lens on the 16th we made the three and half hour train journey to Paris from Montpellier, and began our three night accommodation in a nice hostel.
Before leaving Monpellier we had our second flag picture. In a park, we ask an old man to take the picture and he put his thumb across, but its was the best one out of the three he took. Never mind! Here it is.
The train was delayed for two hours due to strikes – which was something to be wary of in the lead up to the tournament. The others slept for most of the journey on the train, unfortunately I cant do such a thing, so I spent my time on the iPad playing football manager. It certainly passed the time.
Upon arrive we walked to our hostel, it was mid-afternoon and to put it bluntly, I didn’t enjoy my first impressions of Paris. I witnessed a young boy running down the road his mother chasing him, nearly getting run over from an oncoming car. Luckily, tragedy avoided. But it almost felt that we were walking through a ghetto. Just people hanging about on a Monday afternoon, smoking, certain people drinking on corners. As I dragged my case through, I didn’t feel particularly comfortable.
We reached the hostel and checked in, paid our outstanding fees and put the stuff in our room – which we had to ourselves. Then we headed to a nearby bar for a beer and burger round the corner in the Clichy region.
Now – Paris prices. Yikes! £8 a pint. I’m going let you that sink in for a second…
Disgusting right?
Okay there is no such thing a cheap pint in France, but Marseille and Montpellier both had what I regarded as ‘London prices’, but you’re looking at just under £7 a beer.
It wasn’t soon until we converted to wine which turns our cheaper.
We did have a bit of moment in a bar where a drunk man who spoke little English came over and spoke to us, he was passed the point of “Mate, you’ve drank enough – we are not serving you anymore” but he seemed like a regular who was friendly with the manager. He kept trying to give us drink and I even made the excuse of going to the toilet to avoid more awkward moments, like you know, putting his face up in my personal space.
He eventually moved to the next table and started stealing their food.
A bad start in Paris for yours truly. Still the night was young.
We did some sightseeing, saw the Paris Eye (if thats what its called) and saw a few monuments under the night sky. The weather was considerably colder than the sunny south. It was like you’re were in a different country compared to earlier in the day. Finished the night with a few more bars before taking an Uber cab back to the hostel. More on them later in the series.
