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“First impressions of Paris: "wow"!” |
It was a very early morning start, and after checking out of one hotel, I went to the hotel next door for our pre-departure meeting. Then as a group we headed to Waterloo station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. We went in taxis, packed as full as possible with our luggage, made it easily through customs and then sat on the train for the two and a half hour journey to the capitol. We arrived at Gare du Nord station, where our tour leader warned us about the need to be very careful with our bags, then boarded the Kumuka "Bus of Love" to head to the hotel. Thankyou to everyone who prepared me before leaving to expect less than spacious accommodation in the UK and Europe! First impressions of Paris: "wow", "it's huge", "fantastic architecture", "there's a lot of rubbish in the street", "not more steps!"
After negotiating the Paris metro system, and putting my French language skills to the test, we made it to the Louvre to visit Mona Lisa and I met a really nice guy from Boston, who was about as lost in the gallery as me! There was a lot to see, and it really needed more than one afternoon, but it was time to head towards the Eiffel Tower and the restaurant for dinner. Interesting French cuisine...
After dinner, and viewing the Eiffel Tower when it with its sparkling lights (ten minutes to the hour) we had a cruise along the river Seine. Paris is very beautiful at night, and it was good to have a clear view of the bridges from the river. On return to the hotel, I met my "roomie" Annie who had arrived in Paris rather than meeting in London.
The next day was spent doing a bit of shopping along the Champs Elysees, visiting the Arc du Triumph, where the busiest intersection in the world could be well viewed. Apparently there's an accident there every 11 minutes. We also went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, tried chocolate crepes, and went up the Eiffel Tower at night. It was freezing!!! There was also a lot of fog, which made for an interesting view of the city.
previous travel blog entry
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