By Chilly Manchot, our travel correspondent
With a French phrasebook in my flipper, I arrived in Paris, the city of lights, the city of fashion. I arrived during the day, so it was hard to see any of the lights, so I decided to go and look at some fashion. I hopped on le metro (that’s French for the underground train network in Paris) and went to Boulevard Haussman, where my guide book told me there were many big department stores, including the famous Galeries Lafayette (that’s French for Lafayette Gallery). Sadly not one of them had a penguin department, but I managed to find a few bits and pieces that were suitable anyway. With my new beret on my head (and my faithful wooly hat tucked into my back pack) I hopped back on the metro and went to the Eiffel Tower.
After some confusion (the signs were to Le Tour Eiffel, not the Eiffel Tower!) I got there. I paid for a lift to take me to the top of the tower, where I had a good view of the whole city. Initially I had decided to ski down the outside of the tower, but it looked a bit steep, so I decided against it.
Next it was lunchtime. I had a lovely un Coke et une baguettet (that’s French for a Coke and a baguette) at a little cafe near Le Gare Du Nord. (Not sure what that is – maybe Norman’s fireguard?) Following that I was feeling a little full, so I needed to attend to a call of nature. Paris has an entire building devoted to this, called the Loovre, so I went there. It was quite hard to find the actual bathrooms, but I am pleased to say that the corridors have excellent decoration.
To round off my day trip I took a refreshing swim in the river. Some of the locals told me I was inseine, but I enjoyed it.