We decided to take a boat trip on the Seine late at Friday night because it's all samey during the day :P And we weren't disappointed. We made it to the last boat and at first when seeing the huge mass of people waiting in the queue I was a bit scared that we might have to sit in the middle of the boat and wouldn't get to take any pics. Surprisingly the boat was soo huge that everyone kinda disappeared - seriously where did they go? and we got to sit on the side of the boat, so an amazing view on the banks :) and on the people chilling and having their late night picnic or parties either on other boats (yaya boat disco) or on the banks. The only minus to it was that we picked the side that wouldn't have a view on the Notre Dame Cathedral so we had to stand up to see that over the boat... But it was amazing and I fully recommend these kind of boat trips late at night. It gives you a totally different view on the city :) + I think there are less people at that time as well...
Now was the perfect time to see the Eiffel Tower up close when it was all lighted up (the boat dropped us off right in front of it). And since it was close to the hour we hurried accross the road/river of it to the steps of Palais de Challiot, luckily not too many people there at midnight so got to see the dazzling/flickering lights of the Eiffel tower without shoving other people out of the way etc. After that unfortunately there was no time to enjoy a romantic walk because we had to rush to catch the metro - the last metro trains go around 20 to 1AM and we had to change to get home. I managed to put a fear of not making it into Mr. Special :D because the metro station is about a 5-10 minute walk away from the tower. + I told him a taxi will cost us fortunes :D Obviously we made it with time to spare.
The next day, we had a nice lay in to avoid the midday's heat and blazing sun and made our way to the Concorde Square followed by a nice picnic in the Tuilleries Gardens (how do you pronounce that?). There are loads of chairs there where you can sit, some around the fountain (all taken :(). All free to move wherever you want to sit :) so we did :) Oh it was nice :)
Next a nice walk to the Grand and Petite Palais, we didn't go in because we didn't know if it the first one was our cup of tea to go and see and the second one had an enormous queue so no thanks :P Then we had planned to visit the sewage museum but I was already too tired (mostly because of the hot weather) and we weren't quite sure where it was so we decided to do it another day and continued on to Champ de Mars to eat the rest of our picnic stuff with a view to THE tower ;) We didn't go in - to the top because queues were horrendous and the tickets on-line were sold out until mid-august already :( I think one day we'll go there later on in the evening and just climb the stairs to the first level - less people and cheaper than takin an elevator ;)
A little happening too: as soon as we sat down 3 girls approached us with a sheet to sign, having previous knowledge that it's a scam we said no and luckily they left us alone and went to harrass another (wealthier-looking) couple right behind us. Mr. Special was very amused and couldn't keep his eyes off them. I prefer to use the ignoring technique so they'd leave me alone. Finally after the girls had leaved the poor couple alone (they didn't get rid of them as easily as we did) the woman started to look for her phone - which was nowhere to be found! Obviously the girls had taken it but they were so clever about it that even Mr. Special didn't see it happening! So the guy ran after the three girls to get the phone back. After a couple of minutes (now seems ages even to me) he came back with the phone in his hand! Phew!!! That was lucky! He had threatened to accompany them to the police and so the smallest girl unveilled the phone. After that I'm even more paranoid with my stuff! Better safe than sorry!
Walking to the metro we saw people playing a version of the Monte game - guess under which cup the ball is. Now when you know what they are it is quite amusing to watch it... though i was a bit afraid of pickpocketers - the perfect time for them - my attention is on the game, but had my bag infront of me both hands on top of it, so nothing to be afraid of :). You can easily spot the accomplices who "win" and "lose" money to trick people into thinking it's a legitimate game and they too have a chance to win. If you use a bit of common sense than what kind of a person travels alone, has 50's in his pocket/purse and gives them away just like that and doesn't leave with a bitter taste in their mouth when losing them, instead sticks around and (the main clue) looks at other people to try and drag them in too! People watching is so fun. On the third or fourth game we stopped to observe for a couple of minutes we actually saw an American couple parting with their money. The husband was keen on playing and the hustler managed to get a 100 euro out of them... the wife was pissed :D Since everyone's eyes (including mine) were on the couple (the wife was reluctant in giving the money) I didn't see if he honestly picked the wrong cup or did the hustler change the position somehow...
A couple of minutes later we saw the first two gangs walking along the street - the "players" and gamemaker all together nicely - obviously a gang. I assume the police was walking down that street.
Ttyl ;)
Jazzz...
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