DAY 7 - 17.6.2006

We started from where we left: traffic. We came to Paris late on the friday night and suprisingly there was a rush hour. We didn´t know that so many people come to Paris on weekend nights to party. The roads were full, not very badly but quite stuck. We left our car in the safest place we found. Safe in this situation meant a small street with small bars along it. We were already betting when the car gets stolen or broken in.

After leaving our car on it´s own, we headed to the city centre. I had been in Paris 1.5 years ago and from that trip I had a good map which made our search of centre easier. We didn´t take a metro, so we walked. We walked till Rue de Rivoli and looked some lighted sights. We were hoping of catching the flash lights of Eiffel tower and luckily they still showed it at 1am. After that we walked along Champs Elysee. It was weird how lively the place was because of the friday. When we got back to our car we were happy to see that it was still there. Thank you, God:)

In the morning we decided not to pay the parking ticket. Actually it was impossible to do with cash. It reguired some card so we were hopeless. We went to the city centre again with a metro to see all the sights in daylight. First we went to Eiffel tower and at it´s park we ate a breakfast. I went to get some baguettes and croissants from this little shop. My french skills were soon discovered as I greeted this french woman and she started laughing:) As I ordered my breakfast she always corrected me when I said some english word. After a little struggle and humiliation I managed to get our breakfast.

We used this river boat to see France from the river´s point of view. It was nice and after you bought a ticket you could use the same boat all day. So we used that to get to different places like Notre Dame which was on the opposite side than Eiffel. Arttu went to the uppest level of Eiffel tower, but I went only two the second stage where you can go by climbing the stairs and it cost only 3 euros. I had seen the top of Eiffel tower last time I was there.

This Japanese woman, called Setsuko, had contacted us because she wanted to share the ride to San Sebastian or Bordeaux. So at eight we met her at Notre Dame. After meeting her, we continued to our car and left Paris.