The Paris metro Line 1 goes straight from Paris-Lyon station to the tower. On the subway, I saw in the same car as mine, a certain species I have not encountered for close to a month: the homo sapien feminine Singapura. From the way the two of them dress and speak, I was sure they were two of our Singapore girls (not the SIA variety). How I miss them.
By the time I reach the tower, the sky was still too bright for the light.
But at least Hyundai was sponsor a outdoor live screening of the Euro 2012 matches. As the game went on, day turned to dusk and dusk to night. Spain left it late to score the solitary goal of the match on 2 minutes before full time to beat Croatia.
I could hear someone saying excitedly: 開了 開了 （It's ON! It's ON!） The tower was lighted up.
Since this is my last night here in Paris, I decide against heading back too early. Next stop, the Lourve.
On the way to the Lourve, a bunch of soldier came on with their full "number 4" uniform.
By the subway exit, a busker were juggling some illuminated balls, how appropriate for the city of lights.
The museum was closed for the day, but the glass pyramid designed I.M Pei (he is, not me) was lighted up.
There were still a sizaeble crowd milling around. A group of Africans were peddling some illuminating rotor. The kind you can wind up, and it would fly up with lights flashing. The Eiffel tower can be since from the museum, and it was sending a beam of light straight into the sky. With no tripod, I have to place the base of my camera flushed on a lamppost. One woman was trying to do the same thing:
She: "It's too dark, I can't get a thing even with a flashlight!"
Her husband (I assume): "Why don't you do what that guy is doing, use the lamppost."
Anyway, my attempt wasn't very successful. To give you an idea, this was the effect I was trying to achieve.
By the time I went back to the Lyon station, all the shops went closed for the day. One kebab restaurant was closing for the day, only a grocer was still open. It was run by a few Indians.Anyway, this look like a safe part of the city, so I decided to keep on walking before returning to the hotel.
A roadsign shows that I was not that far from the Bastille metro station, so I set that as the destination. On the way, I could see some homeless guys bedding down for the night, one of them even pitch a tent by the carpark. Whatever happened to Liberty, Fraternity and Equality?
The original Bastille prison is no longer there. On the site is an Opera house (which occupied what used to be the Bastille Railway Station), amongst other buildings. A July Column stands on a traffic circle right outside the Opera Bastille. This commemerate the 1830 revolution, not the 'original' French Revolution. The French had a lot of revolutions. The Egyptians are playing catchup these days.
The storming of the Bastille prison got the French revolution rolling. King Louis XVI was bankrupting the country and his wife Marie Antoinette was said to have retorted, when told her citizens were starving from want of bread, "let them eat cake."
To get a feel of how infuriating these words are to the people, imagine after complaining about crowded and infrequent MRT trains, CEO Saw tell you to "let them take cab."
Well, the people of Paris was really pissed with their king, what they did next, you can get an idea of from what Bane did at the Blackgate prison in The Dark Knight Rises. The prison was stormed and its prisoners released. The people set up a revolutionary tribunal, and heads really did row (literally), staring with the rich and powerful. It wasn't death by exile, rather it was death by the guillotine.
CEO Saw's head also did rolled, figuratively, and was then headhunted over to Auric Pacific, the company that own the Deli France bakery franchise.
France recently had their election. Over that weekend, so did the Greeks. Fortunately, for me at least, the Greeks were able to form a parliament which was in favour of stay on in the Eurozone.
So, if I do make it to Greece, my Euro would still be legal tender.
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