Paris was a delight from the get go after the drama that I went through to get there from Zurich, I was really looking forward to being at my accomodation that I had arranged via Airbnb. I was tired and none too fresh after 17hrs in transit. After a shower and a change of clothes, I was refreshed and off to the Eiffel Tower to try to use my admission ticket that was booked for entry at 3.00pm, it was now 4.00pm. Thankfully due to all the chaos caused by the terrorist attack in Brussels and my explaination about the termoil at the Zurich airport, the attendant happily let me in dispelling all the rumours that I had heard about the french being very unhelpful and aloof. At the Sommet of the Eiffel Tower, the view was amazing. It is definitely the way to see Paris. I stayed up on the Sommet for over three hours waiting to see the change in the city between day and night, it was so worth the wait, the photo's I have posted don't really do it justice, but I hope it can give you a small appreciation for how beautiful it really was, it was worth the near case of frostbite I developed while I waited. It was cold up there man, the temperature was at about 5 degrees celcius and the wind chill factor made the eyes and the nose water. I had my newly purchased Parisian scarf ( bought it at a store in the metro station for 9 euro on the way to the tower, what a good call it turned out to be) wrapped around my face and ears, looking like a refugee from the Ukraine, fashion and dignity did not enter into the equation, it was bloody cold up there man.

Once I had my fill of the sights of Paris from the tower, I headed back to my digs for a good nights rest in a warm bed. Word of advise for anyone thinking of travelling to any European landmarks in the future, be ready for the street sellers, they are literally everywhere, the trick is to just keep walking and don't make eye contact or you may end up having to buy something just to get rid of them, they can be persistent in some places, particularly Pisa, but that's another story.

The following day I was off to the Kuekenhof Flower Fields outside of Amsterdam which unfortunately were not in full bloom because it was still a little early in the season, but they were very beautiful none the less. I went from Paris to Amsterdam by train and then got on a coach tour that took us to the flower fields. The weather was overcast and cold, but it did not stop thousands of others like me from enjoying the flower fields. Upon entering the flower fields you are greeted by a giant music machine which used giant cardboard music sheets to make the music, it worked like a big player piano, I liked it so much I bought a cd of the music it played to remember my day at the fields.

For my return to Paris, I booked a fist class ticket, it was a little treat to myself after a day of walking. I was so glad I booked a first class seat for the train ride home until a drunken and obnoxious passenger started to make it very uncomfortable for all the other passengers in the carriage. It does not matter what country you come from, when you are drunk and loud, you are obnoxious and offensive, but what amazed me was that the attendant who came around with a refreshment trolley served him more alcohol, at home in Oz, that would not happen and he would be refused service and threatened with expulsion from the train, not in France. One of his friends was trying to keep him subdued, but he was full of p''' and wind. He abused one of the conductors for asking him to keep it down and threw money on the table in front of him as if to buy him off or to compensate for his horrible behaviour, whatever he was doing, it was a belittling gesture to the conductor who was visibly shaken by the confrontation, poor guy was just doing his job and he had to deal with this idiot. Eventually a rather large senior conductor came along and spoke some stern, but placating words to let the guy know his bad behaviour was not going to tolerated and this seemed to calm him for a time, but then one of his friends started to be a goose and act up as well, at this point the one poor guy who had been trying to keep a lid on the rude guy, got the loudmouth, and the new troublemaker to go with him to the club car where amazingly they were allowed to consume more alcohol. This sad little episode goes to show that trying to educate people about sensible drinking is never going to have any real effect while the people who sell the alcohol in the first place don't get on board. The one saving grace about the whole horrible little episode was that I could not understand a word he was saying.

Anyway, enough of the public service annoucement, this is supposed to be a travel blog. Once I got back to Paris, I took a metro train to the Champs-Elysees Avenue and took a walk along this most famed cobble-stoned street, it was nice to do, but nothing super spectacular, I had expected it to be lit up a little more for some reason, the one thing that I did find funny was that at one end of the avenue you had the Arc de Triomphe, lit up in all it's glory and at the other you had the Paris wheel flashing with gaudy neon lights, from the sublime to the ridicuous in one street. After seeing that clash of culture, it was time to head home and get some sleep to get up early to catch the Eurotrain to London to check in to the hotel where I would join up with the tour I was taking around Europe. I had two nights in London before the tour started, so naturally I headed to the West End to catch a show, I needed to go and see something with plenty of energy and as I had not pre-booked anything, I was leaving the choice of show up to the availibilty and price of tickets at the discount ticket booths in Leicster Square, as it happened there were pretty good seats at a good price to go and see Stomp at the Ambassador Theatre which suited me just fine because it was on my shortlist. It was a great show that got your blood pumping and made you laugh on many occasions, if you did not tap your toes or dance in your seat during the performance, you must have been asleep, I was thouroughly entertained. I hope thatn the broadway play I go to see will be as entertaining.

Hope this instalment and the photo's give you more insight into the things I have seen and done. Next instalment will be about the day trip in the English countryside to Stonehenge, Bath and William Shakespeare's birthplace. Toodle pip for now.