Western Europe was officially upon me, along with the inevitable price hike that comes with being in Europe in the summertime. Living like a king and basking in the affordability of Latin America was over, made evident by my first pint purchase in Montmarte: $16:50 AUD.
This was my fourth time in Paris—a city that regularly makes the cut for “most overrated cities in Europe” lists – and apparently “most expensive pints in Europe” too. The resume includes a family winter trip, a boozy 2 day whirlwind on a Contiki as a 20 year old, a romantic trip with an ex girlfriend and now here again for the Olympics. What a place.
After checking in to our modest abode for the next 3 nights I was able to squeeze in a nap before waiting for Matt to arrive from Bristol. It was Matts first time in Paris so of course first on the agenda for the afternoon was a trip to the Eiffel Tower. Being the olympics, there were lots of road blocks, fences and pop up buildings to navigate but we eventually made it. It looked the same as the last 3 times I recall seeing it. We wandered around the area before heading to Montmartre, where we were met with the infamous $16.50 pints. In Paris’ defense, it was a nice rooftop bar with a view of the Eiffel Tower, so we nursed our one pint each before seeking out more affordable dives.
The next day we went to various olympics ‘team house’ pop ups that are scattered around Paris before making our way to a couple of bars near the ‘La Defence’ Arena where we had tickets to two female quarter final waterpolo games. Alcohol is not allowed in any olympics venues so we parked up at a pub 2 hours before the scheduled game and made sure we were extra hydrated to compensate for the lack of drinking whilst at the venue. With the confidence of 2 men that had downed 7 pints in 2 hours, we asked the pub if we could borrow a vacant Australian flag that was hanging up at the pub, and on the premise we would return it after the games, off we went into the arena, flag in hand. The first quarter final saw Australia defeat Greece, much to our excitement. The ‘Stingers’ would go on to take silver, losing to Spain in the gold medal match. With the main event finished, we didn’t watch too much of the second quarter final, our quench for thirst outweighing our capacity to endure a USA match. A really fun event in a packed out arena with great views, consider me a water polo fan now.
With slightly weary heads we dragged ourselves out of bed for the next tourist stop on the ‘first timers guide to Paris’ with a trip to the Arc De Triumph. It also looked the same as the last 3 times I recall seeing it. We then made our way to the Stade de France where next door to the stadium is a ‘fan zone’ with food trucks, bars and big screens of all the olympic action. A couple enjoyable hours here and it was time to enter the stadium for another alcohol-less Olympic fixture, this time, the athletics. We saw many events here the highlight watching two Australians medal, a bronze in the discus and gold in the women’s pole vault from a Perth native!
3 nights in Paris may have cost as much as a month in Latin America but it was worth it. Being a keen sportsfan, it was nice to tick the Olympics off my ‘sporting bucketlist’. I think my relationship with overpriced pints and croissants in Paris is destined to cease now… a least for a little while 🙂
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bgvjHVf3qqzia9vr7