30th October Paris

 ** Good morning. Today I have tickets for the Musée Marmottan Monet, and given it's location, I plan to also visit the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph. As you can see from Google Maps the three locations are not that far from each other.

** Will show the Monet museum images further down. Just wanted to comment on the change in scenery from the parts of Paris I have seen and stayed in. The roads in this area, where the museum is located, are very wide, and almost reminds me of Bulawayo, and the quality of the buildings stand out. No two buildings are sharing common walls. Here there are large gaps between the buildings. 

I have now moved 3 blocks down and although the buildings still look more grandure than the ones I'm used to, gone are the gaps and the wide streets. 

I have finally seen, albeit at a distance, tall office buildings in Paris. Somehow I have never seen them before.

Almost got run over by a motor bike demonstration. African gentlemen protesting against something, with a police guard, very noisy, looks like they are having fun.

** Finally reached the Arch de Triumph. And guess what. One must buy tickets to visit it. Fortunately I've been there done that some years back but just the thought of having to pay just to walk under the arch, it's almost as sacrilege as asking visitors to the Western Wall to buy a ticket first. The Emperor would have had a heart attack if he ever imagined that his memorial to freedom now comes at a financial cost of a few Euros per person 

** A series of exciting events today. Who says my life is boring.

For only the second time in the past 15 weeks I have been the failed target of pick pockets. The other day Mel & I were going to the D'Orsay when a young chap with a jacket covering his left arm came over and stood uncomfortably close to me. As the train moved off I could feel fingers trying to locate whatever in my jacket or trousers. I just turned around and stared him down. he moved away very quickly. I said to Mel that either he was a pick pocket or he really liked me and it was not my money he was feeling for. 😲😜🤓😏 

And today two older members of the French community tried to play tag with me as I stepped onto the train on my way to the Monet museum. I realised what was happening immediately and let out a loud yell and they both, very quickly, left the train before the doors closed.

A few years ago I was in my front garden when a car stopped and an Italian chap jumped out and asked for directions to the airport, which I gave him. One thing led to another and he was so excited that I could help him that he offered me a Louis Vuitton leather jacket, just because he liked me. Then, just because he really liked me he offered me the whole suitcase but all I had to do was to give him $250 because, and afterall, he was giving me Louis Vuitton designer clothes. I had seen through the twit the moment he opened his mouth. He five off in one hell of a mood. So why am I writing about this?  A funny thing happened on my way to the forum, or should I say the Arch de Triumph. A small Fiat pulled up and a guy in a fiat stopped to ask me directions. I think you might know the rest.  It looks like the con is totally portable and works in many languages and across many countries. 😲😜😱

I decided to walk from the Arc de Triumph to the Eiffel Tower. I sort of over-rode my Google maps and zig-zaged towards my destination. As I wandered I tended to do what I do best, and that is try to find small details, and I found one outside of a house in the form of a plaque concerning a Person poet from the 11th century. In order to get a photo of the plaque I had to step over some tape that appeared to be cordening off an area outside of a building. As I took the photo I heard a quick beep from a car, but as I was on the pavement I did not take too much notice. All of a sudden I noticed a large policeman getting out of a large police van filled with many more large policemen, and he was coming over to talk to me. 

Various thoughts crossed my mind as he walked towards me - maybe they were lost and wanted me to give them directions, maybe Melody had won the Europe lotto and as she was no longer in France they had to track me down to pass on the good news, maybe I was being awarded a Legion d'honor for praising France and Napoleon in my blog. These thoughts were all very valid except that when he started to mildly interrogate me about why I was outside the house and what I was doing I realised that all my maybes were very very wrong. Apparently I had crossed into Iran when I stepped over the tape so I very quickly crossed back over. They let me off because they realised I was really just taking a photo of a plaque. and here it is.

I am going to try and track down the poem this chap wrote. It's only 60,000 lines relating to early Iranian/Persian history.

** One site I came across, located just over the River Seine, is a place I somehow or another have never been to before. The Trocadero gardens are certainly beautiful, even with the hordes of tourists (I'm not part of the hordes, of course).

** I finally made it to the Eiffel Tower and like the Arc de Triumph before, you now have to buy tickets just to wander around the base. It's not my country or my culture but I am so pleased that I've been here before when public monuments were still public and free.

** Images from my stroll today

*" The Marmottan Monet Museum. Most of the paintings are not his but there are paintings by other impressionists as well as earlier works by various artists