under a parisian sky

another set of photos that are incredibly special to me:

when i spend so much time travelling around this world by myself, it becomes really really special when i'm given the opportunity to see the world with my mates.

and well, i don't need to say anything more about the fact that this time it just happened to be in Paris.
Anyone who has met me in the last fifteen minutes (or so) knows exactly what i feel for this amazing city, a city that i sincerely hope i'll be able to call home, sometime in the future, even if only for one year.

i learnt a valuable lesson on this trip, a lesson that most likely doesn't need to be taught the majority of the travelling population, cos it's just common sense, really: never put all your cash and bankcards in one wallet, and never put that wallet into an open-top satchel in a basket on the front of your Velib bicycle that you hired for €1 per hour...cos when the open-top satchel tips over and the wallet falls out onto the road as you cycle along, and you don't notice it fall, well, i guess it means that you're left with no cash, and no access to funds.

so, even one talented travel writer once said:
"the worse thing that can happen whilst on holidays is for everything to go smoothly"
i'm still infinitely grateful to my mates who were able to financially carry me for the rest of my time in Paris.
gosh, no money, how embarrassing!

i'm proud of the fact that my lack of cash didn't stop us having a sensational time, even if it meant that maybe we didn't go into as many galleries as we would've done if i'd had the cash to pay my way in

also, a massive thanks to petey and Mr. & Mrs. Dickin for letting us stay at their apartment during our time in Paris. while i'll happily crash in a backpacker's hostel, having a killer top-floor apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower to stay in makes the holiday even more amazing!


our adventures in Paris:
with a few hours to kill before you meet up with the friends, stroll along the left bank, and be reminded every two seconds of why this city continues to throttle you with its awesomeness (that's a real word, i looked it up) . find a very famous second-hand bookstore called "Shakespeare And Co." and spend a good hour or so looking through the books -- consider staying even longer for the poetry reading in five minutes, until you witness that the guy who will be doing the poetry reading is in possession of an incredibly grating American accent -- now don't get me wrong, i love me some Americana just as much as the next guy, but i didn't come to Paris to listen to some Yank waxing lyrical about his unrequited love...i'm sure his poetry was probably beautiful though, and should his work ever be published, i'll be the first to buy it . walk from there up to Montmartre to see La Basilique du Sacré-Cœur -- "Basilica of the Sacred Heart", and to pretend i'm in the film Amélie . encounter a Nigerian man selling Parisian souvenirs...when he hears that i'm not interested in buying anything, he starts making a bracelet made out of thread, and looping it around my wrist:
Nigeria: "do you love Paris?"
mitch: "of course! i adore it here."
Nigeria: "then upon this bracelet, i put a blessing for your mother, without whom you'd never have the good fortune of visiting this wonderful city."
mitch: "oh, that's a beautiful blessing! thank you, my mother's an incredible woman.
Nigeria: "that'll be €20, thanks."

meet up with tommy bunting who's been living here in Paris for a while now, and it's a bottle of Rosé before heading to a restaurant called Le Curieux Spaghetti to visit Tom's old work mates and to dig into a big bowl of, well, spaghetti (bet you didn't see that coming) . the next day, tom takes me on his grand tour of Paris on the aforementioned bicycles . tour was interrupted by a quick stop in at the local police station to report lost wallet just in case there happened to have been a saint in the vicinity of my lost wallet, and perhaps they'd felt like handing it in . while tom goes to a job interview, i occupy my time in the picturesque Place des Vosges and when i see that everyone around me is painting, i feel left out, so i too start painting...my nails . from there it's time to go meet Petey and Troy who will have arrived from Sydney . spend the night in Pete's parent's apartment catching up and filling in the gaps about whats been happening in all of our lives in our respective corners of the globe...more Rosé is consumed, and unfortunately Tom's grand plan of cooking us all some snails is not so well-received (we appreciate the effort though Tommy ) . decide that we might as well make the most of our time in Paris, so we quickly get ready and head into Le Marais for some drinks, and decide there's not better place to start than Le Curieux Spaghetti . head home after a few hours, deciding we'll need a relatively early night, what with such a big day ahead of us . next day, start the day early, with a basic plan of action in mind, looking for what Troy calls "Wow moments", and i was happy cos i knew if someone was looking for Wow moments, you wouldn't have to go very far in Paris to find them (we did actually start counting the Wow moments, i think the first one may have been from the top of Les Galeries Lafayette and it's panoramic view over the rooftops of Paris -- but soon after, the Wow moments were happening too often and we all lost count ) . be sincerely impressed by a busker in the courtyard of Centre Pompidou as he managed to paint an awesome picture of Che Guevara, whilst not only standing behind the easel, but blind-folded as well! . the next few days are spent doing much the same thing, walking around trying to do our very best to soak up all that Paris has to offer, ticking off Wow moments left right and centre, and sipping down bucket-sized venti soy no whip no foam extra hot no water chai lattes from Starbucks with an extra sprinkle of cinnamon and vanilla sugar on top, merci!!!

i could've walked around his city with these mates for decades, and while we only had a relatively short time, not one minute went to waste

here are the photos:


when it came time for me to start preparing to head back to the airport for my return flight to Dubai, i left my backpack and my camera with the boys while they had a drink in a bar in town and raced back to Pete's apartment to grab the rest of my gear.
now loaded up with all my gear, i say a hurried goodbye to the boys and race back to the train station.
sitting on that train, i may have felt lower than i had in a long time: not only did i have to leave one of my favourite cities, but i had to leave my mates as well, knowing that while my travels were coming to an end, theirs were only just beginning.

still on the train, i take out my camera to kill some time, and to look back over the amazing time i'd just had with my buds, and this is what i found:
you guys break my heart

thanks for an incredible time that i couldn't ever forget, no matter how badly the alzheimer's sets in.




stay tuned, next week: OSAKA, JAPAN!!!


let the good times roll!!