Well I am coming to the end of my second full day in Paris. I arrived here on Wednesday evening. Thursday I headed out early and had a pain au chocolate and cafe au lait at an open air cafe type place - not the best and won't do that again but it was close and I was hungry and dying for a coffee. I got a three day pass for the metro - four day ones weren't available so will get a day pass for Sunday. Off I went - I like the Paris metro - not as much as London and way more than New York which is the most horrific one I've ever been on...confusing and dirty. Anyway first stop was St. Michel where I walked around the area a bit until a walking tour started at St Michel square at 11 a.m. However the group was huge and I could not hear the guide plus people were talking. I thought 'screw this' and took off on my own. I walked along the Seine and then crossed over to the Jardin des Tuileries and on to Concord Square where there is a permanent ferris wheel. It also marks the spot where many were beheaded including Marie Antoinette. I then walked down the Champs Elysees where the Xmas market was still in full swing - I walked by but did not look too closely - I think I have overdosed on Christmas markets! I stopped and had a nutella (a chocolate/hazelnut spread for those who are unfortunate enough not to know) crepe and ended up wearing most of it on my face and my jacket. Sigh....thank goodness I had some moist wipes with me. Then I wandered on and saw the new Marks and Spencers so flew in. I walked by and saw the Prawn and Mayonnaise sandwiches but said no Laurie you can have one on Monday. I tell you though if there hadn't been a line up for the till I might have grabbed one. Sick I know....I walked down to get photos of the Arch de Triumphe. Then I got the metro over to the Eiffel Tower. Did not go up as the line was way too long but took enough pictures. I was walking over to the park behind it and realized I had been pulling my small camera out of my pocket and oops no metro pass....I had meant to put it back in my wallet as a pocket is a silly place to put a tiny ticket when you are reaching in all the time. Well can you believe there it was laying on the ground. Thank goodness or that would have been 21 Euro down the drain. I then walked over to Rue Cler which is a street with all sorts of open air shops like a market - I stayed in a hotel on that street in 1999. Back on the metro and back to this area where I had a quiche in a boulangerie. It was okay - guess I had my hopes up too high....back here as I was really tired from not much sleep the night before. Sadie came in and slept on my sofa while I did my internet thing. I wore ear plugs and took a herbal sleeping remedy so the elephants upstairs did not keep me awake. I don't know what they do up there but it's loud. This apartment has charming wooden floors but they are old and they creak and basically no sound proofing.
Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap. Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath. Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake. The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts. We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish! Guess he wanted to join the tour. Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered. Okay it wasn
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