J'adore Paris!

16.05.11

The adventure begins.....

First hurdle over; I have successfully arrived in Paris, and used my superlative (ahem) French skills to navigate my way from Beauvais airport to the centre of town, and from the centre of town to Montparnasse, where my hostel is. No mean feat, especially with a raging hangover from the night before, and a general feeling of nervousness churning in the pit of my stomach...

Ditched my rucksack in my room and decided to bite the bullet and head to the Common area and attempt conversation/socialising. Much easier than expected, especially considereing that most other people there were already well-oiled with some vinegar-esque bottles of 2 euro red wine. Not one to miss out the vino action, I head round to the "supermarche" (aforementioned superlative French skills again) and buy 2 bottles. Well, it's so cheap it's be rude not to. Right?

Back at the hostel, I get chatting to a few American's, a Saudi and a Colombian (Mike, Philip, Logan Hassan and Santiago, respectively). Encouraged by copious amounts of wine and the desire to explore Paris by night, we decide to head for the Eiffel Tower (bottles in hand, obviously).

En route, I am struck by the fact that I am the only female in our group, and that I have known these boys for merely a few hours. Though, those that know me would probably be more concerned about the welfare of the boys than me....

After about 20 minutes of walking, we get a tad sidetracked, when I spot a group of people sitting on a patch of grass near the Tower and convince the others that we should join them. Turns out to be a great idea, and we spend the next few hours sitting with a fairly sizeable group of Moroccan, French and Sudanese guys who are playing guitar and didgeridoo, drinking whisky and sharing joints. (NB - 14 boys and Charlotte....)

Naturally, plenty of singing, talking, drinking and smoking ensues, and me Logan and Mike scraped together a few Euros each to buy a little bit of Moroccan Black from a cheery Sudanese man. Price-wise, perhaps not the cheapest, but hey - that's Paris for you!

Eventually we decide to head back to the hostel, probably about 3 or 4am. Strangely though, we get sidetracked yet again, and end up joining in a game of basketball (really, a late night game in a court in the centre of Paris!) for probably 30 minutes or so. As you do. By this point, we are well finished our drink, and are just about to discover the meaning of the expression "blind drunk".....

After walking (stumbling) for at least and hour without even the slightest inclination of where (or who) we are, and the total inability to read the crumpled map that's stuffed in the bottom of my handbag, we admit defeat and hail a cab. By this point, it's just me, Logan, Mike and Santiago left; the others having become casualties earlier on.

After a totally dead-sleep, where (needless-to-say) I wake up fully clothed wondering where I am, I force myself out in the bright Parisienne morning, to take in some sights and some culture, accompanied by some very dark sunglassed and an unquenchable thirst.

Despite a shaky start, I head for The Louvre. The queues are ridiculously long, but with a valid ID confirming that I'm under 26, I get in for free, it's most defintely worth the wait. The art and exhibits inside are undeniably beautiful, but would realistically require a few days to appreciate fully. And because it's such a huge tourist attraction, I often feel as though I am fighting crowds justto catch a glimpse of the art on show. Crowds and hangovers do not make an attractive partnership, so after a few minutes of "me time" in the toilets, I decide it's time to get some air.

Who knows what tonight will bring? But I have a feeling that, at this rate, I will be conducing a cirrhosis/binge-drinking tour of Europe.....