Gay Paris,7th February-day 1
Manchester Airport is lovely, easy to navigate,the check in procedures are easy and there are plenty of places to relax. So I enjoyed myself chilling out before the flight. The flight was problem free, and when I got to Charles De Gualle who should be stood beside me but Mike,in the next queue!!!So far so good.
Having checked in we then caught the TGV to Paris,which took us through the awful concrete suburbs to the Gare De Nord.We then walked for about 20 minutes to our hotel,passing the Headquarters of the CNT(Anarcho-Syndicalist Union) on the Rue D'Auvergne.
I was expecting that there would be something wrong with the street on which the Hotel was situated(it was in fact quiet,with a small cafe and a shop at one end)-or the Hotel,which was dirt cheap (40 Euros per night).The Hotel was actually very nice and the staff friendly. The only comical moment came when we asked to take the lift to the FIRST floor-it was the smallest lift I have ever been in and me and Mike could only just fit inside. God help their stouter guests.
Mike and I decided to have a quick walk up to the Sacre Coeur,through the Pigalle and Montmartre,to get our bearings. The streets in this area are quite steep,narrow and picturesque.We walked in a sprightly fashion up two long flights of steps (Mike told me he had been taking exercises,which is just as well otherwise I would probably have had to push him). The Sacre Coeur is a magnificent structure externally,but despite its awesome size I found the interior uninvolving and cold.
Anyway Mike and myself then did the easy bit-walking downhill, finally reaching the Boulevard de Clichy after a refueling stop at an excellent Italian Restaurant in Montmartre.Boulevard De Clichy is festooned with Sex shops and cinemas from one end to the other,and as Mike and I set off down the street I was approached by a nice young lady who held a card under my nose with the word SEX on it.I politely refused.We reached La Loco, the club on the Boulevard De Clichy where the gig was to take place the following evening, and then wandered back towards our hotel past what I initially thought were nice cosy bars, until I noticed women wearing bugger all in them.
We stopped in a bar with a few extremely drunken locals and a very old dog.One guy (who was wearing a beret) was almost falling off his stool. Of course he came over to talk to us. Now, my French is extremely limited and Mikes' is non-existent-we explained that we were English, so he shook hands with us and went back to his stool. Five minutes later,he came over for another chat and shook hands with us again.Who says Parisians aren't friendly?? A little later, an old prostitute came in and sat on at the far end of the bar.
We got back to the hotel without any more handshaking or being mithered for sex.
Manchester Airport is lovely, easy to navigate,the check in procedures are easy and there are plenty of places to relax. So I enjoyed myself chilling out before the flight. The flight was problem free, and when I got to Charles De Gualle who should be stood beside me but Mike,in the next queue!!!So far so good.
Having checked in we then caught the TGV to Paris,which took us through the awful concrete suburbs to the Gare De Nord.We then walked for about 20 minutes to our hotel,passing the Headquarters of the CNT(Anarcho-Syndicalist Union) on the Rue D'Auvergne.
I was expecting that there would be something wrong with the street on which the Hotel was situated(it was in fact quiet,with a small cafe and a shop at one end)-or the Hotel,which was dirt cheap (40 Euros per night).The Hotel was actually very nice and the staff friendly. The only comical moment came when we asked to take the lift to the FIRST floor-it was the smallest lift I have ever been in and me and Mike could only just fit inside. God help their stouter guests.
Mike and I decided to have a quick walk up to the Sacre Coeur,through the Pigalle and Montmartre,to get our bearings. The streets in this area are quite steep,narrow and picturesque.We walked in a sprightly fashion up two long flights of steps (Mike told me he had been taking exercises,which is just as well otherwise I would probably have had to push him). The Sacre Coeur is a magnificent structure externally,but despite its awesome size I found the interior uninvolving and cold.
Anyway Mike and myself then did the easy bit-walking downhill, finally reaching the Boulevard de Clichy after a refueling stop at an excellent Italian Restaurant in Montmartre.Boulevard De Clichy is festooned with Sex shops and cinemas from one end to the other,and as Mike and I set off down the street I was approached by a nice young lady who held a card under my nose with the word SEX on it.I politely refused.We reached La Loco, the club on the Boulevard De Clichy where the gig was to take place the following evening, and then wandered back towards our hotel past what I initially thought were nice cosy bars, until I noticed women wearing bugger all in them.
We stopped in a bar with a few extremely drunken locals and a very old dog.One guy (who was wearing a beret) was almost falling off his stool. Of course he came over to talk to us. Now, my French is extremely limited and Mikes' is non-existent-we explained that we were English, so he shook hands with us and went back to his stool. Five minutes later,he came over for another chat and shook hands with us again.Who says Parisians aren't friendly?? A little later, an old prostitute came in and sat on at the far end of the bar.
We got back to the hotel without any more handshaking or being mithered for sex.