Day 5 - Rental Returns and a walkabout -- UPDATED!
Well, we slept in this morning until about 11ish. Well, we were only up until about 4:30 so its not like we had an excuse right? Anyway, we used the washing machine again before we went out for food and then Bill and I set off to return the car. Let me say this publically -- France, you need better street signs on your major (N and A) roads. Period. There was no sign marking where to turn and we drove for 20 minutes in the wrong direction on the A12 before we got a place to turn around. Of course, we passed through a toll-booth, at 7.30 euro. And when we turned around, another 7.30 euro. 40 minutes wasted and almost 15 euro. Thanks....
Don't know how I forgot this the first time, but yes, we did drive around the Arc De Triomphe and we survived to tell about it. Rednecks would pay money to watch the way people fight to drive around that thing. It's about 8 lanes (if there were any lanes marked) of total chaos - you just hang on and go for it. Bill's death-grip on the steering wheel has left a permanent impression I'm afraid.....lol Anyway, check the pictures!
Anyway, after getting back we took the clothes to the dryer and after Bill and Mike headed in their direction, Wilbur and I took off on a walkabout. We passed UNESCO in a couple of different locations and eventually ended up near the Eiffel Tower. Stopped for a proper Cafe Creme (Will discovered Hot Chocolate) and a rest some local cafe. After about 45 minutes of people watching, we wandered over to the Eiffel Tower for a few photos and straight into a interesting bit of police work.
If you've ever been to Paris (or any major city) there are Gypsies/North Africans/etc....peddling some sort of stuff on the street corner. Illegally I might add. So of course, being prudent (read: cheap) we went to haggle with them. After offering them as close to zero as we could and walking away, we finally bought a few trinkets. About 5 minutes later, they started scattering like flies. The cops were there chasing them off. I snapped a few pictures of the chaos and then went on about our business. About 5 minutes later, we were crossing the bridge onto the Trocadero we saw them scattering again. Except this time, the cops snagged one of them. Right in front of us. Got photos of them cuffing and stuffing him. lol....
After the sun finally went down, we got some AMAZING photos of the river and the tower lit up. Found some guy selling crepes on the side of the road. Nutella and Banana....mmmmmmmmmm
