Friday, August 27, 2010

Thursday August 26, continued...

This post is a day late due to Internet availability.



We never made it to Mc Donald’s. We decided to explore the mall and found a really nice bakery and had breakfast there.



Geneva hotel




We then drove by the water fountain in Lake Geneva. It sprays water 140 meters in the air and the weight of the water going up is 7 tons.



As we were driving out of Geneva, we saw the flower clock the Swiss are so proud of. Our view was blocked by a work truck and many pedestrians so we do not have a good picture.

We then headed to Paris on another "A" road. That means we can drive really FAST! We averaged 90 MPH all the way to Paris.

Entering France.


The French countryside is very beautiful.



Last time to fuel up in France.




When we headed into Paris, I thought it would be fun to drive by the Arc De Triumph and down the Champs DE Essie. What I did not expect was the traffic circle around it that is 20 cars wide and no established lanes.....we were terrified! Scooters were flying by from everywhere and were fearless as they weaved through cars. Unbelievable! We were very afraid!










I was counting on the BMW navigation system to lead us to our rental agent address to pick up our keys to the apartment. When we got there, it tried to lead us down the wrong way on a one-way street. And remember, the traffic here is relentless......It took us around 1 hour going around the block trying to find the place. We finally found the place to turn after we say another car go through what looked like a pedestrian walkway. We parked onto the sidewalk like everybody else. After a sigh of relief, we now had to go to the apartment...

After the trouble finding the rental place, I thought we should buy the mobile phones now since there was a very good chance we would get lost or separated. I left everyone in the car and walked to a phone shop. I had to pay 40 Euros for the phone and 15 Euros for service. And once again, the Internet service was $100.00 for a month. I decided to wait until Scotland to buy another Internet modem with Internet service.

We found the apartmentwithout much trouble. I had looked it up on Google maps and it looked like a nice quiet street. Boy was I wrong. As it turns out, the single lane street we were on is a nighttime hot spot for clubs and bars.... There were hundreds of people roaming the streets all night. The apartment did not have air conditioning so we had to leave the window a little open and the noise was really loud.



Needless to say, I did not sleep well.


























I was to take the BMW to the shipping agency today but since we arrived so late I will have to do it Friday morning. I found a local parking facility that looked like it was a 100 year old abandoned repair garage. I was a little worried until I parked next to a Bentley.




There were too many eating choices and we could not agree on one. So, Cam and Al got Subway sandwiches and took them back to the apartment. Audra and I dined on our street.....at a Cuban restaurant.



We explored the neighborhood.






I have to take the BMW to the airport tomorrow and then we will explore Paris!


Update

Just an FYI that we are Ok in Paris. I'm working on the last couple of days of posts..what an adventure.