A Mini Jaunt…Paris ( last day)

Final day in Paris before heading home tomorrow.Bit of a strange one as I’m inbetween changing hotels and therefore sitting in a cafe with my bags before I can check in as I hate to be that punter that gets to the hotel long time before the staff have had time to change the room over after the previous occupant…I am also a few stops away on the metro with a change  so that allows some messing about time too…

Think I messed up my “going abroad” stuff on my phone bank app.Decided to get some cash out of the ATM earlier.I have enough to last me until tomorrow but wanted a bit more just Incase and also whatever Euros I come back with starts me off on my next trip,however it came up as my card has been lost or stolen so I tried again and it flashed up as card not valid in this machine.Not wanting to have the thing grabbed from my sweaty mits I have decided to ride it as I don’t want the added complications involved…trouble is on the bank app I use it’s impossible to cite the current day as a starting point as it has to be from the next day at the earliest.Can’t complain as it’s another level of security,which is fair enough…

Got checked in,the landlord was just in front on me as I entered and greeted me with “ ah Ondrak” which will do me…third time here in a year but it’s still nice to be remembered.He has the grizzled appearance of the already weather beaten actor William Holden and there’s definitely a language barrier but that’s fine we seem to understand each other.He laughed as he pointed me to a first floor room knowing that the lift is still kaput…

Not gonna be moving out of the area for the rest of the day.There’s a decent couple of bars so that’s my fill until getting the Eurostar back to London tomorrow morning…I did notice two universal truths this morning having coffee outside a cafe.;Everyone,no matter their nationality,hates their life as they trudge to work on a monday morning and little kids will always chase pigeons…not earth shattering insights but truth’s nevertheless…

Even though I have only been away a week it seems far longer.Maybe it’s to do with the amount of train travelling I’ve done.Not sure I would heartily recommend the Paris to Berlin trip by train,not until DB sort out their end of it anyway.The French bit was fine but once it got to Cologne there were mess ups galore.It might be an idea to split it up with a stay over in Cologne,which is a fine city anyway so no great hardship.S’pose it depends how time constrained you are…would definitely recommend May Day in Berlin though,it’s an experience and then some…

Anyway I’m probably not coming back to Paris until next year sometime.This is my third visit in a few months so I’m a bit Parised out.My next trip is for the month of July and I’ll be going to the Netherlands via Eurostar which I have not done before then on through northern Germany,back to the Netherlands & back to UK.I know I’m putting more trust in German railways than they deserve but I’m a Brit so need an excuse to have a moan occasionally…

Now all I have to do is find a working WiFi signal and post this.Laters all…

A Mini Jaunt…Paris.

Line 3 on the Paris metro has pretty old trains that have pull handles to open and the trains are still moving,albeit slowly,as you step off and even at my advanced age it’s a pretty cool thing to do.Granted it’s not disembarking a Routemaster bus at 20mph face down into a hedge cool but even so and today I opened it right by the exit and was gone before the train stopped.Sorted,or indeed,sortie…

We had an exciting hail storm earlier.Been many a year since I was in one.As I got off the metro at Republique the dark clouds were gathering.I was going to take a pic with something about it being black over Jaques’s mothers but couldn’t be arsed,no sooner had I sat down outside a bar opposite the square the heaven’s opened,and boy did they open.Even all the bar & kitchen staff came out to have a look and film it…at one point I thought the canopy would collapse but luckily it held firm.It was a great spectacle…

I have noticed that many bars have a “Happy Hour” sign outside.I presume there’s a French version but they prefer the English.Much as we use French to denote class & sophistication they use the English “Happy Hour” to get punters in to get pissed as quickly & cheaply as possible…many old Wulfrunians will recall Club Lafayette in Wolverhampton.It was many things but sophisticated wasn’t one of them.There was one episode of Flea Bag where one sister had a hideously disastrous haircut and was besides herself with grief until the other sister exclaimed “It’s French!” to placate her…anyway I have devoured my third Cafe Americain of the morning and I’m ready to French it up with the best of them…

Leaving the hotel yesterday morning the receptionist stopped me saying he had to realign my door pass,not something I had heard before but there you go,who am I to argue? Got back in later in the evening and did the five flight very rickety ascent of the stairs,got to the top without too many breaks and,you’re probably well ahead of me here,my card didn’t work so back down to see the ( different) receptionist.He tappy tapped,didn’t bother offering up an explanation and said “ go check,if it doesn’t work come back down” my thoughts were “ if it doesn’t work then fuck it, I’m kipping on the floor outside my room” as you gathered all was fine but I had felt like I’d climbed The Eiger twice…anyway tonight is my last trial by winding staircase…

Currently in The Bombardier next to The Pantheon having a nice lager.I was in here in February and it’s a decent place.They have the Old Firm game on & luckily it’s bereft of crazed O/F fans so far…left the Bombardier nine hours later having chatted with Some Leeds,Southampton and Mags fans at various stages of the day,got a free pint from the barmaid( ditto last time I was here) and got embroiled in a quiz night with a couple of locals where my contribution to “who started the rebellion?” Was “Robespierre “ only to be told it was a question about Star Wars.I did give them the name Franglais though without name checking Private Eye…

Goodnight all…

A Mini Jaunt…Paris(again!)

Yep here again …the journey was pretty good all in all especially the French leg on the TVG.Very comfortable and very on time(Quelle Suprise as the Germans don’t say)got a taxi from Gare du Nord to Saint Lazaire,it’s not far as the driver told me,he was reluctant to accept the fare but I explained I was’nt strolling around town with my bags at 10-30pm so he made sure I racked up a plus ten Euro ride.I knew it was going to happen so c’est la vie an’ all that…

Once inside the hotel signing in and they produced a 507 key card I frantically looked around for a lift but no dice…a long long hike up five flights of winding steep steps.If you’ve ever seen the film “In Bruges” you’ll understand my trepidation…

It’s a once a day thing with a rest at every floor! I have also set up base camps at levels 2 & 4…got my dates wrong too in yesterday’s blog,I’m here an extra day so not back in London until the 6th.Just in time to miss the Arsenal fans get beaten by PSG…

Had the situation everyone dreads earlier today.Public toilet at Saint Lazaire station,close the door,no paper…arrgghh.Luckily I am always equipped with my trusty Co-op packet of tissues and of course once done & dusted informed the assistant.I don’t know why the previous occupant hadn’t done so.Pure ignorance or malevolence or probably both…

Managed to get radio 5 on the train moving through to Paris but unfortunately they didn’t have the commentary from the game,just very sparse updates.Apparently we could or should have got something from the game…the subject of Wolves player of the season is interesting.No doubt Cunha will win it,probably deserved but also a doomed attempt by Wolves fans in an effort to get him to stay.He’s determined to go but the lad’s very much the Premier League’s Chinese panda,conditions have to be just right for him to flourish.My thoughts are the proposed move to a toxic Man Utd dressing room will mess him up…

There are other candidates of course Gomes & Andre in midfield have both been excellent but it’s hard to think of them as single entities.They’re our Morecambe & Wise or possibly more accurately our Burke & Hare…a purely left field choice for me would be our magnificent centre back Emmanuel Agbadou.Before his arrival our defence was as leaky as White House war plans.But now it’s locked down like the KGB on high security (sort of) Anyway Agbadou gets my vote simply because teams can’t just lob hopeful balls into our box anymore and score easily…

French barman calling 

All the people sitting outside in the blazing sun idiots . I suggest he could lower the canopy “Non” laughs…see,just like us.

Laters peeps…

A Mini Jaunt…Berlin to Paris.

Never got my Currywurst mit Pommes but did have a very agreeable double cheeseburger….left the May Day shenanigans as dusk approached,didn’t see any trouble although there was an attempted phone grab outside the bar where I was sitting,luckily it was thwarted but even though I don’t like victim blaming with that amount of people around coupled with large amounts of drink & drugs having your phone sitting on a table is naive…the atmosphere was certainly getting a bit towards the belligerent side when I left…

Well I am on the train to Cologne then hopefully to Paris from there.I have allowed plenty of time between trains so if there is a mad delay I will be able to absorb it…I will be missing the Man City v Wolves game though as I’ll ( hopefully) be racing towards Paris at the time,ah well I could miss and absolute humping or a (yet another) surprise win v Citeh of which we have had a few over the years…

Grabbed an early coffee at WittenbergPlatz U-Bahn and the young lady who runs the kiosk has put a sign up stating that she sells coffee & associated items,she does not have any transport information at all and will not give out any…as I was the only customer we had a bit of a laugh about it and she gave me an extra little biscuit with my coffee so I’m definitely on her side…

If you take away all the dicking about with DB and the wait time at Cologne between trains the actual running time from Paris to Berlin is about 7hr-30 which is pretty impressive considering it’s over 1,000 km…

I have a bit of a weird situation when I get to Paris in that over the three nights I’m staying there I’m in two hotels…obviously when I originally booked this trip Paris was just a stay over stop before going to Berlin and then back to London a week later,but things changed however,I  couldn’t book up the hotel I was staying in on Sunday night so had to book another.Sunday I will be checking out then arsing around with my bags for half the day before checking in again…

As expected we are running late,just over half hour at the moment.I have learned to give yourself some wriggle room when you need to make a connection with DB.A couple of days either side should do it…

Got to Cologne albeit half hour late,after a smoke & a bite to eat figured as I have a two hour wait I’d check out my train via the information desk.It’s running ok and he even gave me the platform so I can sit up here away from the madding crowd downstairs.Hopefully get in to Paris about 10pm local time.I sort of know where my hotel is situatited.Pretty much next to Saint Lazare train station.It’s just a case of getting from Gare du Nord to there.And now we wait…

Cologne station is pretty amazing.One side is the magnificent cathedral and on the other the equally magnificent Hohenzollern bridge,then there’s some sort of futuristic concert hall next door coupled with the river Rhine a few yards away oh and the platforms rattle & shake when a train is moving through it,granted they tend to be pretty heavy but it’s still disconcerting…

Laters peeps…

A Mini Jaunt…Berlin.

My last full day here until July has got off to an interesting start…on the U-Bahn and guards decided to cop as many ticketless tourists as possible between Unter den Linden & Alexanderplatz There was a distinct kerfuffle in the carriage as the guards took no prisoners,or maybe they did as a few were escorted off the train to be further questioned on the platform.Luckily I had just updated mine on the platform whilst pondering the implications of eating a chicken AND egg sarnie…

Plenty of Polizei stationed around the platz no doubt in readiness of the festivities later on.May Day has a bit of a reputation for running battles between Polizei & protesters although maybe not at 11am.I counted at least a dozen vans parked up all with their blue & white lights flashing,which seems to be an unnecessary show of bravado/intimidation…

Didn’t see any evidence of any Hexenacht celebrations last night.I suppose when every second person in Berlin is a goth it’s difficult to work out who is cosplaying…

It looks like the whole world and his wife descends on Kreuzberg on May Day.The Polizei have blocked off Wiener Straße ( so my bus definitely isn’t allowed) not sure any of my bars are going to be open as I’m at the other end at the moment.Yet to have a drink…I’m guessing many are heading down to the park down the end.There’s a distinct smell of barbecue & skunk in the air…at least the U-Bahn is still running at the moment.All seems peaceful so far but most of us have been in enough large crowds to know how quickly that can change…having just wrote that a fleet of 12 Polizei vans with lights & sirens have gone past…

Good news,Bar 11 is open and not too rammed.They’re doing a nice side hustle of Pimms like drinks for under €5 in plastic glasses so most are buying then walking them to the park.Good strategy…apart from the staff and the ladies queuing for the bogs I’m the only punter inside.I have been outside enough today so I’m happy and they are playing The Rev Al Green so alles gut…only just noticed they’re charging €1 for use of the bogs.I presume there’s a lot of people coming in who’re just strolling past and need to pee.Don’t know yet if that applies to me as I’m a regular,insomuch as Hally’s Comet is a regular visitor,with my child like bladder it could prove an expensive sesh…didn’t get charged when I went.I’m a fucking local!

A fella just walked in with a “Hackney Tiger” shirt on.I had to ask and sure enough he lives not far from me.His missus dragged him away before it became a nostalgia drinking fest…

Ok last thought on today’s May Day shindig.I would estimate Kreuzberg has had maybe a million,probably more,people come in to the area today to party.Young,willing to spend a shit load on beer & drugs and without a doubt will carry on till the last man drops sometime tomorrow.The local economy will no doubt benefit greatly.Not sure the message of solidarity for the global working class is forefront on anyone’s mind but hey ho.It’s a far cry from when we trudged two miles behind a TGWU banner in the pouring rain followed by a few pints of warm mild in a smoky old pub and I’m tempted to say we put in the hard shift to facilitate these shenanigans but in truth that’s just jealousy that I’m an old twat watching young people have a great crack and it is Berlin and if any city has paid their dues over the years it’s this one…oh and if you get upset by copious amounts of flesh on show from every conceivable gender then this event and this city ain’t for you…

Soon I will feel the need for Currywurst mit Pommes and as I have a potentially mad trip to Paris tomorrow I’ll post this now…

A Mini Jaunt…Berlin.

A glorious day in East Germany.Another couple of  days like this and I will go uber Brit and start having a right old moan about it of course…been bitten once on the arm by a mosquito but I have antihistamine cream & also anti mozza spray which will hopefully prevent any more bites with the added bonus of curtailing any temptation to play his songs on Spotify…

Think I will stroll down Wiener Straße in a moment to grab my first beer of this far too short break.It would be rude not to…had to explain to a clearly uninterested receptionist this morning why I was cutting short my stay.Instead of going into details I went into the “something has come up which I can’t avoid and I have to leave on Friday instead of Monday “ hoping my supposed grave situation would possibly get me some kind of refund but no dice…ah well.I knew I wouldn’t get a refund for cancellation to be honest but I tried at least.Had I been able to get money back I probably would have ditched the whole trip but them’s the breaks…

At the moment I’m sitting opposite a dog park with a good few people plus their dogs of course but I’m wondering why there’s a seesaw in there? Are Germans dogs trained to use them or is it just an instinctive drive? What happens if a Dashhund  and Great Dane battle it out? These questions will haunt me…

Earlier on I was asked if I spoke English by a couple who wanted directions.Unfortunately they clearly weren’t native English speakers otherwise I was going to use the German tactics of claiming only to speak a little then astound them with my linguistic dexterity (albeit in yamyamisch) alas I didn’t but I did know where they wanted to go.If you have a beard people think you know stuff and luckily this time I did…

Having a Weißbier outside Bar 11 enjoying the crack of just relaxing on the street…the hotel I stay in has a direct bus route from there to here( my favourite street in Berlin with the sort of bars that are straight up my ally) it wasn’t planned that way but things work out sometimes…there’s an Argentinian punk band on next door to Bar 11, where I’m having a bevvy now,at the Wild at Heart,they’re called “Argies” and I’m tempted to shoot off to the hotel,drop my rucksack off and get back on the sesh with no mention of a certain conflict in 1982…or I could stay the course.We will see…

…and that’s what I did.A very good night.Had a good chat with the boss of Madonna Bar.He said he now checks out the Wolves scores because of me and he also told me Cunha was a disruptive influence at both RB Leipzig & Hertha Berlin which is why they both binned him…then went next door to Wild at Heart,had a lovely chat with the landlady.They both told me that they have been advised not to open today owing to the possibility of May Day riots…

The Argies were pretty good.Sort of early Clash with a Spanish twist,the other band were pretty ropey and did the most lacklustre call & response I have ever witnessed.Both bands had far too many hats on display  as indeed did many of the punters…

Bank holiday today owing to May Day so it’s like a Sunday with knobs on.As long as I can find coffee I’ll be fine… 

Laters…