Savannah and Peter arrive safely

A bit late but Savannah and Peter arrived safely at about noon today. Flight was about an hour late and the taxi from the airport was hung up in traffic so they were a couple hours later than I expected them but everything worked out ok.

I prepared a classic Parisienne lunch for them ... cheese, baguette, Pate, yogurt and of course croissant. A nice bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse and a wide selection of drinks and all is good. Come to think of it we didn't finish the wine so excuse me while I go pour myself a glass ....

After lunch we went for a lazy walk down to the Tour Eiffel which is about a half hour away. The picture above is from the balcony of my apartment and you can see the Tower in the background. Savannah was impressed with her Uncle Dennis.

They came in from Edmonton so are on an eight hour time delay and it took almost 24 hours door to door to get here so I cut it short and took the subway back to my apartment to let them get some rest. They are past out as I write this blog. 

Heading out shopping now ... picnic at the Champs de Mars tonight .... under the stars.

Life is good ... enjoy

Auto Guru in Europe.

Street People

One of the things that never changes in Paris is the number of buskers in the street trying to lure a view Euro out of your pocket. I ignore the beggars who are everywhere ... primarily gypsies and they will rob you blind if you let them. I have no sympathy for them at all and they are all over the place. There are also scam artists like the ones I mentioned in an earlier blog that pretend to pick up a gold ring and give it to you then ask for Euro. Of course it is polished brass and worthless so anything you give them is pure profit. I've been approached four times with this scam. The first I just ignored, the next two I threw the ring into the Seine and the last I put it in my pocket and walked away.

I also find that there are too many entertainers of different stripes but at least they are doing something to earn their Euro. The pennies ( 1, 5, 10 and 50 cent pieces ) that you get in your change are a pain in the butt so I try to keep them in a separate pocket and will throw a few in the hat if the person is any good. Most are NOT but some actually have some talent and I like to take pictures so I'll take care of them with a few pence here and there.

The other one's that I don't GET are those that get dressed up in some historical outfit and stand motionless in front of the museum or church. If you throw something in their hat they make a funny sound. Strange but quite popular with the tourists. There are pictures of two of them below.

Following are some of the one's I've run across to date and I've only got pictures for less than half of the one's out there so you can see that they wall paper Paris.

Life is good ... enjoy

Auto Guru in Europe