Jedward!!

[Janelise]

Hi Evan

can't watch the video - still no broadband - but great that you do all this stuff! Enjoy Paris, try to get up the tower at Notre Dame if you can - the guides tend to do fair impressions of Quasimodo! But, I warn you, the circular staircase does not do wonders for the leg muscles so I hope yours are over the dancing by then.

Er - on the French, "manquer" is a rather strange verb, even for French, and I ain't gonna explain it here! What you should have said was "Vous me manquerez" and that doesn't mean "You will miss me" at all - as I said, it's a weird verb

I'll stop there, as I am no teacher.

Jane

[Jenny Howden, Australia]

Originally Posted by Evan Ryan

I'm going to love you all and leave you for a few days, as I'm heading for Paris in a few hours for a couple of days.
Evan.

Ev - I'm jealous as all get out - have a good time

[Agata]

Haha Evan, you really can dancer

[Leogem]

Evan,

Hope you do make it to Blenheim. You will certainly cheer all the ladies thats for sure.

Paris is a beautiful city have fun and stay safe.
Best Wishes.
Tina

[Evan Ryan]

Originally Posted by Janelise

Hi Evan

can't watch the video - still no broadband - but great that you do all this stuff! Enjoy Paris, try to get up the tower at Notre Dame if you can - the guides tend to do fair impressions of Quasimodo! But, I warn you, the circular staircase does not do wonders for the leg muscles so I hope yours are over the dancing by then.

Er - on the French, "manquer" is a rather strange verb, even for French, and I ain't gonna explain it here! What you should have said was "Vous me manquerez" and that doesn't mean "You will miss me" at all - as I said, it's a weird verb

I'll stop there, as I am no teacher.

Jane

Dia Duit Jane,

Thanks for the heads up, did not get to the top of Notre Dame, just to the base and mass in it yesterday morning. I did however go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, which was astounding. As was the Eiffel tower. I enjoyed the city, especially the Lourve & the wonderful architecture. The Sacre Cour just was breathtaking, it really was.

On the way to Eurodisney, we passed through a station called 'Val de Fontenay' which really interested me.... though it probably has next to nothing to do with the origin of Mdme HTF's prefix.

One thing which did surprise me was the amount of homeless people and beggars that were about the place. You would have to feel sorry for them, but how many of them are genuine!

Have decided to consult my French teacher when I want to use French on this forum again, as I'm under constant scrutiny!!! Though, I mustn't be as bad as you make me seem, I did get an honour in the language only 8 months ago, one of the handful in my year to do so.

I've attached a photo of myself up the Arc de Triomphe yesterday morning, it was such an experience, as I am petrified of heights!!!!!!

Slán,
Evan

[Sins]

Delighted you had such a good trip.
The blue beret is brilliant,something for the Cavalli cavaliers to play fetch with this evening
Sins

[Janelise]

Hi Evan

I'm really glad you had a good time and you did pretty well to cram in all that sightseeing! I love Sacre Coeur, but admit I now use the funicular as it's a lot less work than all those steps. Just behind, well, a street or two away, is the ONLY Parisian vineyard, but that's only worth a "snob value" visist Wow - how long did you get to spend in the Louvre and did you see "the" painting? So small in real life.

Don't worry about your French - as if you would I'd been living here for several years before my teacher corrected me in the use of "manquer".

Here's an expression "il me casse les pieds". First time I heard it I took it literally.......... what do you think it means???

The homeless and beggars are, in the main, from Eastern Europe . There was, not too long ago, a documentary on French television that showed while some were genuinley homeless, there were also quite a few who found begging a fairly lucrative way to spend a day, especially in tourist areas. Sadly there is no way to distinguish the genuine from the fakes. I found the same thing last time I was in London; quite a shock and something that seems to have sprung up over the last decade.

What was the weather like??? Our Swedish friends have just been over for a big trotting race meeting on the outskirts of Paris. They loved the horses, the food, the people, but it SNOWED and they think of France, like last time they visited us one October, as being warm and sunny. Your hat kinda inficates NOT warm and the sky was cloudy!

Jane

[Evan Ryan]

Hi Jane,

I really did have a wonderful time. It was go, go, go for the few days, but well worth it. I have spent lots of today in bed recovering as we didn't arrive home til four am and of course I went off talking to my dogs....

It really is a beautiful city in some areas. I guess like any city it has its bad areas, and we used the metro a couple of times, which I really did find an experience.

We were doing some shopping on the Champs-Élysées yesterday morning too, when my friend was pickpocketed, it's just incredible the way it was carried out, these people are pheonominal.

Spent about five hours in the Lourve (think I will have to go back) and got to see herself. Quite small, but a real marvel. I love art and so was in heaven there, and got plenty of photographs. I loved the decorative ceilings, I was in total awe.

I found the begging quite odd. Some women, (looked Romanian?), would come up and say do you speak english? I of course would always say yes, as I wanted to see the postcards they would show you, and they were almost always the same. Another one I found quite good was people getting on trains, handing out cards that went something like 'I is from mainland Europe. I arrived here with my 6 kids three months ago, my wife is dead, I have no way of making living and my 6 month old baby is sick, please give generously and thank you'....he would then go around with a cup for money and collect the cards..., one of them put the cup right under my face, and I just said to him, 'I do not believe in scams'. He didn't need to wait any further, as he was off to the next carriage.

The weather was nice the first day, which was Thursday and the sun was out in the afternoon, when we were down by the Moulin Rouge and the Red Light District.....!!!!!! Friday it was okay in the morning and in the afternoon the sun came out, Saturday was wet & Sunday was a bit wet in the morning, but cleared up alright come 2pm.

I have returned home with a french cold, and so feel a tad miserable, but at least it waited til the last day to arrive and not ruin my holiday!!

Photos attached Jane of me up Sacre Cour and a friend and I beside the Mona Lisa, I'm the hatless one.

Evan

Glad you had such a terrific time, Evan ...

Did you know there is now a theory that the Mona Lisa is in fact Leonardo himself? Someone's plotted the facial measurements ...

[Jenny Howden, Australia]

Originally Posted by Sheena

Glad you had such a terrific time, Evan ...

Did you know there is now a theory that the Mona Lisa is in fact Leonardo himself? Someone's plotted the facial measurements ...

I also read that somewhere too, Sheena - and that there was another theory that it is a mirror image of his face