Departure to Paris - Friday May 12th 2023

The Eiffel Tower in all its glory!

When I arrived at Rotterdam Centraal around 13:30, Stanislav had already messaged me to say he was delayed and stuck in Brussels. The journey too me through Anterwerpen and finally we got stuck in Brussels too as Stanislav's trains as still on the platform. We had to wait until his train had gone for the last stretch of the journey towards Paris.

Tour Montparnasse

I treated myself to a wine from Bordeaux which I picked up in the bar. Finally I arrived in Paris, the station was totally crowded. Stanislav was waiting patiently for me. First, I got the idea of taking a taxi, as the queues for the metro tickets were crazy. The taxi queue was even crazier, so we returned to the queue for the metro tickets. The touch-screen menu didn't like my fingers so Stanislav had to do it for me. We got two tickets for 3 zones across Paris. First stop was Montparnasse where I admired the skyscraper.

My New Bottle Opener

We eventually found the hotel after a bit of a walk, it was conveniently close to the supermarket. I had trouble finding a tire-bouchon when I realised I was mixing French and Italian in one sentence. Eventually after several rounds I did find a very nice bottle opener for just 2 euros.

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During some excellent red wine

Back in our hotel room I had some amazing French cheese, bread and wine - my idea of a Happy Meal! Also, the French crisps were simply amazing too. The evening was closing in, so we headed towards Châtelet in Le Marais, the Gay area.

A glass decorated with the glowing armband

The first bar was called "Le Labo" which was extremely crowded but had nice glowing bracelets. The security guy eventually led us to a free table outside. We basically finished our drinks and went to another bar.

Bar La Boîte

Next, we tried to go to a bar called "El Hombre" but it was closed, so we found another place called "La Boîte" it was very pleasant with a great atmosphere. I had a chilled red wine and Stanislav had mineral water.

Metro station Châtelet

We had some some attention from some guys, including some Moroccan guys, one called Sophiane who took my hand. We paid up and to the two metros home including the driverless metro.

In a word: En Retard

#Paris #Gaylife #Paris #France #Thalys