I'm in the middle of improving the site so it's far easier to add blog posts* but currently adding images is in a state of getting worse before it gets better so there won't be images on this one because it will dissatisfy me to use something bad that I know I could fix but I can't be bothered to fix it right now.
Today started with a 5am Full English on a seemingly very small but also very empty ferry, which I spent half of my time on looking for a working USB socket (there were two USB socket locations on the whole ferry, one of which worked). So that's interesting.
The main thing that struck me about Paris was how incredibly French it is. I don't understand Paris syndrome because I was just overwhelmed by the ridiculous levels of Frenchness. To pick out any specific example would be to misrepresent it because I think its more than the sum of its parts and 50% is just pure vibes. Admittedly I took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and then walked back east along the Seine while eating a pack of Boursin with bits of baguette, so I hardly tried very hard to avoid an artificially enhanced experience of Frenchness.
The part that stands out is seeing the Notre Dame in its being-repaired state. For no discernible reason, I feel something like I had a very small religious epiphany, from how I've heard those described, as I walked past it looking up from the opposite edge of the Seine. Walking that way means you see more and more of the still being repaired parts as you go along, in a manner that I would greatly admire were it intentionally done as artwork. It's not my religion nor my national heritage and I know that its repair hasn't been without controversy; I'm only describing the odd emotional experience I had, not trying to give any opinion.
After that I was soon back at the coach station which is probably the dingiest most unpleasant public transport station I have ever been in, but the bus was on time so I'm not complaining. And now I'm on a bus to Spain, possibly the only native English speaker around for the first time in my life which is very cool. Goodnight.
* changing from raw HTML input to a TinyMCE editor. Sysadmining from a phone over bus WiFi really won't be the CV boost it should be.