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| On the street looking for Beethoven's house |
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| Bonn |
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| Bonn |
I started off unable to find the Rhine. That was embarrassing as it is rather large. I also walked back and forth down a cobbled street in Bonn (pulling my luggage) trying to find Beethoven's house. Then I failed to find a bakery. In Bonn this is almost as embarrassing as not finding the Rhine. When I got to the station I couldn't find anyone to ask whether my ticket was valid on any train or not. The first train to pull in was very sleek. It was going to take about 10 minutes to zoom across the Koln. I didn't get on. The next train looked as if it had been built in about 1850. I got on. It stopped everywhere. The German women hiking group got on and started chatting with me very loudly. I didn't understand them. They told me to get off at the wrong stop. I didn't.
In Koln I did find the Rhine. It's very large. I tried to find a park bench, but couldn't and so sat on a wall watching the boats go past. I then looked for a nice restaurant for lunch and failed. I ended up back at the station and ate at Curry Wurst Express.
The train back to Paris was great (apart from the rather long delay in Brussels when it broke down). I did find my hotel without a problem. Sha had asked me to buy her a particular present from Paris. I therefore did some googling to find out where to go. It turned out that I needed to go to Gare Montpanasse and the shop was about the close. I leapt on the Metro and travelled across Paris, jumped out and ... found that I'd come to the wrong place. There are two shops. One in Montpanasse that doesn't stock what Sha wanted and one very close to the Gare Du Nord. Unfortunately, I couldn't get back in time :( Sorry Sha.
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| Bonn |
Instead of being jammed in the metro again I decided to walk back. That was a bit crazy. I got lost, but ate in a place called Hippopotamus. Google says that walk is 8km, but I think that my route was not the most direct. I walked past the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Sorbonne, past Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville, across to the Centre Pomipdou (twice as I seemed to have gone around in a circle at that point), stopped in a smelly cheese shop ... oh, I also bought a postcard for Eddy, but I can't find a stamp. I was told to go to a tabac. So I went into one that seemed very French (just like in Amelie). They didn't have international stamps. So, another thing that I couldn't get. Then I walked through the African area. That was interesting. Lots of African guys having their hair cut. Finally, I'm back at the hotel.
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| Arrival into Koln |
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| The scary Koln cathedral |
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| Finally, I found the Rhine |
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| Koln |
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| For Sha ... you can get Asian food in Europe! |
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| Or you can eat German food! |
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| Doesn't really need a caption -- got to Paris! |
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| Hotel de Ville |
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| My hotel! |
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| The view from my window! |
2 comments:
Seems not a lucky day, not bad in the end though. Thank you for efforts for my gift. Enjoy your day in Paris! :)
Don't worry, Sha. He obviously enjoyed himself thoroughly.
Good photos, George, and next time you're in Bonn, take a street map with you. The Rhine isn't actually very far from the Market Square and Rathaus. The house where Beethoven actually lived (closer to the Rhine than the "Beethovenhaus") was bombed out of existence. His birthplace is a very interesting museum, but he only lived there for a few months, as a baby. Can you imagine a baby Beethoven?
BTW, aren't there any shops open in Paris on a Sunday?
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