Thursday, August 14, 2008

Paris

Prepare yourselves, my friends.

Prepare to be jealous.

Our friend Nick Birch, who operates his gondola on the Avon River in Stratford, England (that's Shakespeare country), has just sent me a link to a "little job" he did in Paris.

His colleague, Richard Winkler, a Frenchman who keeps a gondola on the Seine was asked to do a job for a French dating agency on the river, but they wanted two gondolas, so Nick brought his over from the UK.

Nick tells me that the whole thing was "great fun" but they had to do it early (8am to 9:30am) because the tourist boats start operating at 10am and the river authorities didn't want them on the water at the same time.

About the boats, Nick remarked:
"
Just as well, as they put out huge wakes which are reflected off the stone quays and produce horrible confused water - just like the Bacino di San Marco!"

As for the route, Nick said:
"
We rowed from close to the Bastille, downstream past Ilse St Louis and Ile de la Cite, with a stop next to the Louvre to drop off one group of passengers, and to pick up another. We then continued down to the quayside near to Place de la Concorde, where they had erected a mock palazzo-style cafe, serving coffee, pastries and gelati."

Richard Winkler keeps a gondola and a sandolo at Sevres, on the western edge of Paris. He rows in the Vogalonga every year, and he met Nick Birch there.

Are you ready for the link?

Here it is:

http://www.veniseaparis.fr/match/

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