Day 2 - The Longest Night and Strangest Day

Day 2 – The Longest Night and Strangest Day
Part 2
I found my allotted coach on the EuroStar train, boarded and went to my seat. I had been unable to book a particular seat, having had one allocated automatically. I sat in seat 51, and looked sideways. You guessed it, no windows either side. Don’t ever let me book you a seat online. I’m jinxed.
But things turned around after that. After we got underway, I lurched my way from coach #2 to coach #6 to buy some refreshments. I watched the scenery whiz by at 160kmh, as I sipped a vin rouge for medicinal purposes. The lurching got worse on the way back to my seat, but I sipped another. Conversations started, and I discovered a mother and daughter from Perth were also making their way to a hotel not far from the Eiffel Tower. We agreed to share a cab, which proved to be one of the cleverest things I ever did. Having arrived at Gare du Nord, we all fronted the chaotic taxi ranks. Utter bedlam!! So many horns: so few brain cells. But we lucked out. Our driver was very accommodating, and spoke enough English to pass on some valuable snippets of advice. His dulcet tones somehow distracted us from the traffic nightmare. What is it with other countries, and their driving habits? My jocks were starting to show the wear already, after the non-stop journey.....they didn’t need this extra strain. Anyway, we made it in three pieces, the ladies went their way, and I arrived at the Novotel Paris Tour Eiffel. That is also a slight misnomer, since the object itself is some 2kms down the road. But, what the hey?
Having checked in, I decided to use my second wind to explore. It was very warm, and humid. I’m sure my general body condition was becoming more and more unpleasant to others. I wandered the streets, and eventually found myself dwarfed by the tower. So many souvenir vendors: not enough superlatives. I wasn’t able to climb it today, the lifts being stopped for the day. I strolled again, and found a little bar. I quenched my thirst with a handful of Carlsbergs, and threw a few bits of Francais into the requests for refill. On the way back to the hotel, I found a little restaurant, Turkish, I think....middle-eastern, anyway, and supped on spicy sausage and pommes frittes. In my state of tiredness, it was nothing short of superb. And then, in the darkness again, I headed for the hotel, but the Carlsbergs must have affected the inner compass and I got lost and ended up back at the tower. That couple of kilometres to get back to the hotel late at night were torturous. I peeled my stale clobber off, showered and hit the sack for the first time in 48 hours. Lights out!!