Sorry the Paris section was so boring, but we've come to the end. I think the problem is that, I have lots of photos so it's long, and I love the place so I find it hard to be funny/sarcastic, and I don't have my diary yet, so I've forgotten most of the details that may make an interesting story. But I thought I'd leave you with this interesting story, accompanied by pics of Somchai in the role of Marie Antoinette. She was bored silly at Versailles, and had a fake village built at back (by at back I mean behind the main palace, walk 2 miles past two more small palaces used for when the king was with his mistress, then keep going until you arrive at this rural wonderland. The whole place is fake, but she loved to come out here and dress up like a shepherd, and she had her own flock of sheep, who were dipped in perfume daily to hide the sheep smell. the place is really pretty in its own right, but the mental picture of the queen dressed up like little bo peep shepherding her fragrant sheep is a keeper.

This is me and about a half million other visitors at Versailles, which as you all know was the home of Louis XIV and his ill-fated descendants. It's stunningly large, stunningly decorated, and stunningly crowded. It was also snowing. You take a short train ride to the town, then walk past a throng of incongruous Africans selling postcards and wooden carvings, then you're in the giant courtyard pictured, which is really just filled with people lining up and tour buses disgorging more people into the queue. And once inside, it's bumper to bumper. I'd have to say it's the most crowded tourist spot in Paris, beating even the Louvre. Surprisingly, Sainte Chapelle, my favorite church in Paris that seems to be made entirely of stained glass, was the only place where I was defeated by the crowds. We went by each day since it's close to our hotel, but no luck, there was always too daunting of a line.

Like everyone, also spent a day in Montmartre, an historically seedy part of Paris made famous most recently by the movie Moulin Rouge. It's very quaint and atmospheric, as you wind your way up the hill toward the holy grail, the church of Sacre Couer, an enormous blindingly white church that towers over the area. It's quite captivating from afar, although pretty sterile inside and worth the walk only for the views of the city below. The area immediately around the church is also blighted by silly tourist kitsch as well, so the real joy of the place is the quiet streets below. The pic at right is of a vineyard, the only vineyard in Paris (and possibly the world's only urban vineyard, or at least I can't think of any).

Obligatory culture spots include the Louvre, at right. You can just see the famous IM Pei pyramid entrance through the throngs of people waiting to get in. Keep in mind that this photo predates the Da Vinci code by about a decade, so I would imagine the entire forecourt has caved in by now under the weight of the crowds. It is a fabulous museum, though, probably the most grandly displayed collection in the world, and it really only loses its dignity at the Mona Lisa. If that's the only reason you're going to the Louvre, don't bother as it's behind ugly plastic barriers and surrounded by phone camera snapping tourists. But otherwise the museum is a great place to wander for a few hours. There are of course lots more museums in Paris, and we saw them all. The musee d'Orsay is in the old train station and focuses on Impressionist works, and is well worth a visit. At the other extreme, there are lots of small single focus museums, like the Rodin museum with a great collection of Rodin sculpture, most of which is outdoors. To the left is the interior of the Paris Opera, a beautiful space but unfortunately there were no performances while we were there.

Just a couple more photos of the elegant Right Bank. Specifically, the Place Vendome at left and the gardens of the Palais Royal at right. There are lots of these sorts of squares and gardens all over the city, and the grand architecture, combined with the gardens manicured to within an inch of their lives are a defining memory of the city. That, and the food, which was a real relevation, especially to Somchai. He fell in love with white asparagus and foie gras there, but also of the theatre of a great French restaurant. He also started to like (but will never love) cheese, most memorably and an intimate little restaurant with a groaning cheese cart. The waiter was showing another table the cheese selection and had stepped away for a minute, and Somchai grabbed a big hunk of blue cheese off the cart and was about to carry it to the waiter to tell him it had gone bad!

Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, just what the internet needs is more pics of these very rarely photographed Paris icons. I have no unique insights to add here, except that the circle around the Arc de Triomphe is as crazy as depicted in that Chevy Chase movie where they go to Europe (European Vacation), and the Jules Verne restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower is fantastic food in addition to good views. As an added bonus, it has its own elevator, so you don't have to stand in the huge lines.

Another view of the Seine, this time from the walkway along the Seine. The bridge is the Pont Neuf, which is one of about ten bridges connecting the Left and Right banks. In summer, this walkway is covered in sand and converted into a beach, but when we were there it was about 40 degrees too cold for that. You should also take the boat tour along the Seine, which is the most touristy thing I think I've ever said. But it does give you a good perspective on the city that you wouldn't see from walking. One amazing thing, though, is at night, the boats are equipped with high powered spotlights, which they proceed to shine into all the buildings lining the river, most of which are residential. Any rudeness people attribute to the Parisians should be forgiven after what they're subjected to every night by the tour boats. By the way, the whole rude French thing is a myth, they are among the most polite people we've ever come across.

I remember the weather was really cold, in fact snowing a couple of times despite it being April. So we went shopping the first day to buy some winter clothes. In general, much as I love Paris, it does have crap weather, about as bad as London, but somehow only London gets tagged with that reputation. This is Somchai on a bridge across the Seine in front of the Ile St. Louis, which is my favorite part of Paris despite the tourist hordes. It's a small island in the middle of the river (Notre Dame Cathedral is on the other island) and is lined with elegant buildings. The main street is quite busy with tourists and some shops, but the rest of the island is quite peaceful. They also have Berthillon ice cream, which I think accounts for its popularity with tourists. It is quite good, and there's nothing like walking around with a camera and an ice cream cone in Paris to blend in with the locals.

I can't remember why, but we flew separately and met at the Paris airport. I had flown Lufthansa, usually a boringly efficient airline with grumpy flight attendants, but this time they were also inefficient and I missed my connecting flight in Frankfurt. Somchai flew direct from Bangkok to Paris on Thai Airways, with their "first class" configuration of four seats across and some vaguely diagonal reclining position, good food and no movies. But also flying in first was the former Prime Minister, and one of the top Thai Airways executives who flew with the PM to make sure everything was ok sat next to Somchai, so he was able to complain to them the whole time. Not sure it did any good, but it couldn't hurt. The Paris airport is one of the stranger airports around (I'm talking about Charles de Gaulle, not Orly). I think it was supposed to be very Jetsons space age when it opened, lots of tubes carrying peoplemovers darting about and coloured lights buzzing about, but it just looks funny now, definitely in need of an updating.

We stayed at the Hotel de Crillon, pictured above. (by the way, the picture in the first post was of Notre Dame, which I figured was obvious, but for the sake of completeness thought I'd add the non-sequitir here.) As you can see, it's very grand, and wonderfully located on a grand plaza between the Champs Elysees and the Louvre. The hotel used to be a palace but was converted long ago. It's dripping with ostentatious wealth, which is a good thing. The reception areas, and in particular the famed restaurant, are stunning. We arrived early and our room wasn't quite ready, but the very friendly staff escorted us to the dining room for a continental breakfast. There, after flying overnight in our jeans and t shirts, we proceeded to whisper to each other in a cavernous, sparkling room that couldn't be more intimidating. Again, the staff didn't bat an eye despite our clashing so violently with the setting. We hadn't yet acquired the habit of traveling without a budget, so we unfortunately plumped for the cheapest room, about $500 a night I think, which was too bad. It was plush and high ceilinged, but on the small side and a crappy view. But despite that it's a great hotel. I've stayed at most of the other grand dames (Bristol, George V, Ritz, Meurice) but the Crillon remains my favorite. In fact we're planning on returning this year, and will definitely upgrade the room.

6. Paris April '98

Our first trip to Europe together took us to Paris where we spent ten days. I used to live in London and went to Paris frequently for work, and my sister and I had visited it and fell in love (with it, not each other). Europe is full of cities with amazing architecture, but I think Paris is the only place where you can walk for miles and see nothing but beauty all around. So that's what we did, despite Somchai's occassional complaining. I was determined to show him every church, palace, museum and neighbourhood in the city, and this is where my nasty holiday habit of making detailed schedules came from. I started to do these schedules because meals became very important parts of our trip, and if we'd go to famous places for lunch you'd need to book well in advance, which means you have to program your day around that booking. I meant the schedules more as a guide for when to book things, but I admit they look pretty intimidating in their detail.