Bateaux Vedettes and the Conciergerie

On a very hot day, I took the Metro to Pont Neuf to take a Bateaux Vedettes du Pont Neuf on a one-hour round-trip on the Seine as far west as the Eiffel Tower and as far east as the Ile Saint-Louis.
There was a long queue for La Chappelle so I went next door to the Conciergerie which is one of the few remaining vestiges of the medieval Palais de Justice plus Paris's oldest prison. The route went through the Great Hall into the area where Marie Antoinette's cell was plus the courtyard used by herself and other female prisoners.
I took the Metro from Chatelet back to Front Populaire and had dinner at the same restaurant as last night. The owner told me that there were five rates of VAT including 20% on alcoholic drinks, and 5.5% and 7% on restaurant food.
There were beggars on the Metro trains plus the occasional accordion players. Some passengers almost missed getting off at their stations because they were glued to their mobile phones.
The French don't always stand back to allow passengers to exit Metro trains and hotel and other lifts.
There seemed to be more bees and/or wasps in Paris compared to London, maybe due to the hotter weather. There were also lots of beards and moustaches.Weiterlesen