I was away with work, and then stayed on for a few days to enjoy the city. Not too much to talk of about the first week, but there are a couple of things to highlight. Bastille Day was something pretty special. I went for a long run in the afternoon, saw a lot of the sites - Place du Bastille, Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the banks of the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, and I ran down the Champs Elysee all decked out with the Tricolor. It was pretty incredible, and one of the most beautiful runs I've ever done.
Then the evening came, and with it the fireworks. I think they might have been the first actually launching off Eiffel for several years, and the atmosphere was pretty special. Afterwards we went for a few drinks and maybe the most expensive three drink round I've seen. About 70Euros for three beers... Only other thing I need to share is the social. Dinner cruise on the Seine. Thank you, I will do that. Beautiful food, and great sights.
I didn't have much time afterwards to enjoy myself, but I did get a few cool things done. I met some very cool people in my hostel; Elizabeth, Dasha, and the American guys. The Louvre is possibly bigger than they say, and I was impressed I managed to get through about 2/3rds of it in half a day. However I much preferred the Musee D'Orsay. The art they have there is much more of the style I like; Renoir, Monet, Manet and Van Gogh. I hate to imagine the insurance costs for that. Versaille is just lovely, and the fountains were incredible. Notre Dame, Sacre Couer and Saint Chapelle are beautiful. The view from the top of the Arc, with the spidersweb of roads emerging from it is pretty impressive, but it all scales compared to the view from the Eiffel Tower. It is about as recognisable a landmark as anywhere in the world, and there's a reason people flock to it. Same as the Colisseum in Rome, people flock to it and you can't help it.
You try, but you can't.
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