Keeping it Montreuil…Paris#4

First thing this morning after a couple of coffee pick me ups I headed east to Montreuil which is outside of the Paris circle and therefore not considered a district but a commune,which sounds all a bit left field but I doubt it is…anyway it’s fairly large having a population of about 100,000 and the reason I went was because they seem to produce an over abundance of footballers including Sacha Boey ( Bayern Munich) Nerdi Mukiele ( Bayer Leverkusen) Olivier Dacourt,Diouf ( not that one) Gueye ( not that one either) & Mbappe( definitely not that one) and also one muthaflipping magical maverick muthaflipper who is our left back,left wing back or just play where the hell you like Mr Rayan Ait Nouri or RAN to his mates.I just wanted to see where he was born and it looks like any other run of the mill hard as fucking nails place that comes under the St Denis banner…

Think I got right royally ripped off by the receptionist in the hotel today.As I was leaving he asked if I could change a quid he’d got in his change for a Euro and I was happy to do so.It was only later I sussed he’d done me up like a kipper and owes me 20p.Might not sound much but that’s 20% dammit.I feel betrayed…

Thought I’d do the tourist thing and walk the Champs Elysees from Concord to Arc de Triomphe.Now at the height of summer when the foliage is in full bloom and locals are showing out in all their chic finery it’s probably something to behold but on a cold damp winters day when the only colour on view is red snotty noses not so much…in saying that it was a good hike and the Arc de Triomphe is still impressive.It’s easy to see why a certain dictator had such a hard on for it…it’s a shame they have a public underpass to it cos’  seeing people trying to dodge the traffic to get there would be a laugh… 

Actually had my ticket inspected getting off at one stop earlier.Luckily it passed scrutiny.Apart the original hassle with it things have been fine and I have got fair use out of it.Starting to find my way around the system with ease now.Like everything the more you use it the more like second nature it becomes…getting off at Gambetta just now and they had the dreaded chuggers outside.They’re just as annoying as their London counterparts with same tactics.The attractive women target the men and the attractive men target the women.They also employ the false bouncy like demeanour which is supposed to be charming but comes across as deeply annoying and creepy… 

On the road where I am ( Rue de Pyrenees) down towards the metro station there are maybe eight or nine food shop flogging a variety of goods and there’s nothing particularly unusual about that in a busy area like this but what stands out is how much care is taken to make everything look as inviting & tasty as possible.They all look incredibly fantastic and if you saw the pictures in a magazine you’d probably think everything had been photoshopped.I’m not a foodie by any stretch but these displays are a pleasure to see especially on a typical mundane street…

Anyhoo peeps time for another drink so see you all later…laters.