2011.06.24 – London (UK) – Paris (FR)
This morning we were looking forward to our EuroStar train ride under the English Channel to Paris. As our reservation was for 11:45am, we had breakfast again in our room and packed our bags before taking a taxi to St Pancras International train station. It took a few minutes to waive down a taxi but we got there in plenty of time. The ride on the EuroStar was a very disappointing experience for the hefty price tag as the seating was very basic with no electric outlet or WiFi and offered very limited space for luggage, etc. Upon our arrival at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, we encountered our first trip setback. After queuing for almost one hour at the reservation counter for Eurail pass holders, we learned that the train between Paris and Nice was apparently full for the selected day. Hence, we could not travel to Nice by train. After considering our options, we finally opted to reserve train seats for our next itinerary destination – Milan. We would therefore forgo Nice and head directly to Milan on June 28th. With our train tickets in hand, we took a taxi to our reserved hotel – the Novotel Porte de Montreuil. The hotel room was quite big but the neighbourhood was a bit run down. We headed out, using the metro system, to explore Paris’ city center. As we came out of a metro station near the Eiffel tower, we were simply mesmerized by our first glimpse of the tower. We took several photos as we were very excited by the towering sight. We took note for the first time of the long queues of folks waiting to take elevators up the tower. We had our first supper at a nearby cafe where we had a full bottle of wine with our meal. Jenny had promised to learn to drink like the Parisians! It was very breathtaking to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at nigh.
2011.06.25 – Paris (FR)
After waking up, we picked up some croissants at a nearby Carrefour supermarket and coffee from McDonald’s. After our hotel room breakfast, we started our day by visiting the Place de la Bastille. We then walked to the Pantheon for a lengthy visit. The highlight of our visit was a walk up to its dome through a series of circular staircases. The view from up there was spectacular. Back on the streets, we stumbled on gay pride parade. We later took a stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg. We continued our long walk until we felt very hungry and stopped at a Chinese restaurant. Jenny was a bit upset that the tea was charged as an extra. We took the Metro from Renne boulevard to the Eiffel tower area to see whether the queues of folks were any shorter. No luck! We opted to take a small cruise on the Seine. We stopped at the Notre-Dame Cathedral and had a walk around the building. Unfortunately, it was closed. We had some ice cream along the way before taking the boat back to the Eiffel Tower. The queues were still long and it was now quite late. We took the metro back to our hotel neighbourhood. We bought some take-out pizza which we enjoyed to eat back in our hotel room.
2011.06.26 – Paris (FR)
There were few place opened on Sunday where we could buy coffee or croissants but we finally found a bar a few blocks away that was opened. After our hotel room breakfast, we headed out with the metro to the famous Le Louvre Museum. The line-up outside the pyramid was very discouraging but it moved very quickly as the security inspection was the bottleneck. We used the automated ticket machine to quickly get access to the museum. The place was huge and Jessica had warned us that we would best focus on the key displays if we wanted to complete our visit in half a day. Making our way in the various galleries, we glanced at painting as Jessica tried to tell us about some of them. After having a coffee at one of the museum’s snack bar, we were finally ready to view the famous La Joconde (Mono Lisa) and some of the other museum highlighted art displays. We had to leave the museum a bit prematurely as we heard an announcement to evacuate the museum. We slowly complied with the request after finding an exit. It appeared the evacuation was not overly serious as people continued to make their way into the museum. We walked through the Tuileries garden and all along the expansive iconic Champs-Élysées boulevard up to the Arc de Triomphe. We stopped a few times along the way to rest and have water and ice cream as the sun was quite strong. We decided to head back to our hotel for a good rest. Later in the evening, we managed to purchase some take-out pizza after a fairly lengthy search.
2011.06.27 – Paris (FR)
Today, we had agreed to wake up early to beat the crowd at the Eiffel Tower. We had some take-out coffee and croissants in our room before leaving. After the long metro ride, we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Although the line-ups had already started to form, it was probably the shortest one we had seen. After 45 minutes of waiting, we finally made our way to the top of the tower. It provided a very impressive view of the city. Back on the ground, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. We bought tickets to go up this monument by climbing some 286 steps. At the top, there was very little shade and the sun was very strong. We headed back to our hotel neighbourhood after this visit. We stopped at the Carrefour supermarket for fruits, cheese and water. In the evening, we went out in our neighbourhood to explore the restaurant selection and stopped at a Chinese restaurant.
