Musee de Paris

Today's lesson: don't sign the damn petition!!!!

Forget Musee de Louvre or Musee d'Orsay, I roamed the streets of Musee de Paris today. Beautiful artwork to appreciate without the exorbitant price tag of a museum ticket in high season.

After a chatty morning with my Airbnb host, I headed out with one objective: make it to church at 4:30pm. Oh and to take some photos. So make that two objectives. 

I started to walk. And I didn't stop walking except to grab a photo or a bite to eat. The sun had come out by 1pm, just as I had reached the Louvre :) The atmosphere around there was incredible! And for all the warning I'd had about pickpockets and scams, I definitely felt safer than I had expected. Having said that, I was wearing my money belt and had a secure backpack, so I did not feel vulnerable as all.

The one scam that is very very common, however, is the 'petition' scam. I had read about it on a blog a few weeks ago. Here's my experience with it so far:

A young woman holding a clipboard approaches you and asks "Excuse me, you speak Engleesh?" to which point I just shake my head and keep walking. I watch as an elderly couple were approached, and were invited to sign their petition for God know what. Having sign the damned thing, the woman started demanding money off them to support the 'cause' they've just signed their life to. It's nasty. And in the space of 5 minutes at Gare du Nord yesterday, I approached around ten times. Today, in the Tuileries Gardens, it was just as many times but far less frequent.

I head to the theatre where Hillsong Paris meets in the afternoon and I see a crowd of people lining up. I'm thinking 'great, this is the place!' and proceed to line up. When I get to front of the line I realise that these people are lining up for a Cabaret, not church! I check with a theatre attendant that this is not Hillsong, to which she confirms. I ask for directions to the place I'm meant to be and show her the address from the Hillsong website, and guess what! I'm in the right place! But she's never heard of a church that meets there! So if anybody working for Hillsong Paris reads this, please update your website. Apparently the theatre you use for church doesn't even know you exist!

Theatre and Thunder

So the past couple of days have actually been really quiet. The most interesting news between getting lost in the rain and doing my uni assignment is actually my West End experiences. I saw two West End musicals this week, Once and Wicked. They were both incredibly different in style and structure, but both were equally exquisite. Once was nothing at all like I had expected - the actors were, in fact, the musicians. They played all the accompaniment for themselves on-stage. And it wasn't just basic instrumentation like guitar and piano either. Each actor played an assortment of instruments including cello, banjo, mandolin, ukelele and cajon. If you are a fan of Mumford & Sons or The Lumineers, then this musical is a must-see. The opening song, Leave, was so mesmerising that it is still resonating in my soul three days later.

Wicked was equally amazing, but on different levels. The sheer scale and fantasy of the production was matched with the incredibly high calibre of talent. I've seen the production in Sydney before and struggle to compare the pair, but having been 5 years since Sydney, I think this production rates better.

I actually began writing this post on the train. The train to Paris! And I can only thank God for getting me to the station on time. The train departed at 06:18, but the earliest Tube I could catch was 5:46 from Camden. I arrived at Kings Cross at 06:01 and although I never resorted to running to St Pancras, the thought definitely crossed my mind more than once.

After three hours on the train and a slight time-zone shift, I arrived in Paris! I think it sounds more exciting than the reality of it though. I've been locked up in my apartment (thanks Airbnb) due to the rain. When it cleared up, i went for a little wander, which is what you'll see below. Unfortunately after only an hour or so, the rain returned heavier than before. But I don't mind. I got my panini. I got my croissant. I got my macaron. Is there really anything else I need to do here?

But honestly, don't expect me to be doing much more. I had already intended not to do Louvre or Eiffel Tower (I'll save it for next time). But I'm hoping to make to it to the afternoon Hillsong service tomorrow, weather permitting.

Until then, I'll be enjoying the French air and architecture from my 6th storey window :)

You Only London Once

What an incredible day! Started off with some Crunchy Nut, and that right there is a good sign.
I met up with Imi and James, and spent the day with them. It was such a pleasure traipsing the streets of London with two of my best friends doing some obligatory sightseeing. A few things I can tick off my bucket list from today include playing a piano in St. Pancras International (photo below); walking out of Harrod's empty handed; pretty much the entire Monopoly board; and seeing the giant blue rooster in Trafalgar square (yeah, wasn't too sure about that one...)
I cooked Chicken Fajitas for dinner, which was followed up with a traditional British dessert: Chocolate ;)
Crazy thing about this part of the world is just how late the sun sets. It is exactly 9:26PM and the sun is only setting now. Like, what? I don't even...

Tomorrow I'm seeing the musical Once at the West End and... well that's about all for the moment. No other plans as such. But I'll be sure to keep you posted if anything noteworthy happens.

H

And this building looks like a croissant:

Looking up Ben's pants!!

Camden Beginnings

This is it! I've safely arrived at my first destination: Camden, London. And free Wi-Fi has never felt as good as when you're on the other side of the globe.

I've done a smidgen of international travel before, but never solo! And there's such a big difference to playing follow-the-leader in a group to navigating airports on your own. I'm sure by the end of this adventure I'll be able to recite the standard airport procedure off-by-heart. But until then, a lot of stress, nerves and doubt seem to plague every decision I make.

Finding my airline check-in desk at Melbourne airport was by far the worst experience so far. I flew with Thai Airlines, and their desk was the very last desk in a room about the length of a football stadium. Walking past each and every other airline's desk, counting down how close from the end I was, I cannot even begin to tell you how loud my prayers were! I honestly believed that Thai Airlines wasn't going to be there. Now that I've written it down, it makes me realise how silly the whole situation was. Of course my airline's desk was going to be there, and even if it wasn't, there'd be somebody who could lead to where it was. Am I rambling? Ok, moving on.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to say it, but thank God for in-flight entertainment! It was agonising enough suffering 9-hour and 12-hour flights, but I don't think I would have lived to tell the tale if there was no entertainment.... Unless, maybe it used to be live entertainment... Imagine that! Now that would have been cool. Just having James Vincent McMorrow play for you while you're flying to London. Yeeaah.

I watched Woody Allen's film Midnight in Paris. A friend told me it was a must-see for any person travelling to Paris, and now that I've seen it I must concur. As well as being a great piece of cinematic storytelling, it also identifies some of the key elements of Parisian history and culture, and has since given me a new appreciation for the city.

After surviving 20 hours in the air, 12 hours of idle airport time, and one excruciatingly long hour at UK Border Security, I was in London. I am in London!!!! I was introduced to the Tube very quickly, and boy was I impressed. Is this not man's greatest infrastructural achievement since the Panama Canal?

Ok, scratch that. The London Underground was built BEFORE the Panama Canal. Wikipedia just told me, so it must be true.

No photos, just some travel babble

Listening to: It Ends Tonight - All-American Rejects. Came on shuffle, not even regretting it!

So it turns out my blog actually has readers! Or at least reader.

I got a message from an old friend yesterday saying how much they enjoyed browsing my blog! And it made my day :) So please feel free to contact me anytime if you've got questions or even just to say that you've read my blog. You can contact me through my website, www.henrypaul.com.au, or you can just email me at henrypaulproductions@me.com.

Just under three weeks until I fly off into the Great Unknown. Over the next couple of months I'll be turning into the stereotypical Mr. Travel Blogger as I'll be traipsing through the back alleys of Europe documenting any and every thing. No shame!
And since I seriously cannot wait, I'll be doing some pre-travel blogs leading up to takeoff. Let's begin with an FAQ: Where are you going?

I've created a nifty little map to show you:

Shout out to Travellerspoint for helping with the map.

Here's the rundown:

England: London -
France: Paris - Toulouse - Narbonne -
Spain: Barcelona -
Italy: Venice - Bologna - Bari -
Greece: Corfu -
England again: Windsor - Diss - Suffolk (Latitude Festival here I come!!!). Hoping to sneak off to Stone Henge at some point, as well as Canterbury if I can fit it in.


Until next time,
H