After waking even earlier than what we are used too, we took a Black Cab to St. Pancras station for our 0525 Eurostar to Paris, Gare du Nord. The train was full, but the 2 hour 25 minute ride was quick. Perhaps the nap we took helped make the trip fly by. We traveled under the Chunnel, pretty much unaware, other than our ears popping. We pulled in Paris as I woke Sophie, she was insistent that we where not in Paris, but that we where in Budapest. The similarity was actually quite amazing. In fact later in the day we say a building that looked exactly like on in Budapest.Our first stop was to change dollars into euros. After that, we headed to the line for the tickets to the metro. We purchased the Mobilis ticket, which was good for all day in the districts which we were interested in seeing. There were many other options, but this worked best for us.
We hopped on the metro and headed to our first "touristy" stop. Notre Dame.
We walked up to Notre Dame which was amazing. The grandour, the history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris
We took the tour of the inside which just as stunning as the outside. What I found most amazing was that construction on it began in the year 1163. I kept thinking what was it like for the people who first attended this beautiful church. What were their lives like. What was life like in general in that time. Unfortunately we could not contemplate history for to long, our time was very limited. From here we crossed the River Seine back to the mainland. (Notre Dame is actually located on an island in the middle of the Seine.) We hopped on another metro and headed for the Eiffel Tower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower
We exited the metro and walked around the corner and there it was. We had seen bits of it from the metro, it was amazing. As we came around the corner, I had covered Sophie's eyes so she could get the full effect. It worked. She removed her hands and yelled "Oh my gosh" pretty much as loud as she could. Everyone around us got a smile on their face. It was a short 4-5 minute walk from the metro to the Tower. We cut along a side path since the crowds where already growing. We shot about 20 pics or so from that angle and headed for the line to go up the tower. It was a really hard decision to choose which line to stand in, since they were all curving around like a snake. The one we picked was a mere 2.5 hour wait to get to the elevator to take us up. When we first stood in line, the top floor of the tower was not opened, ha, we stood there long enough and the marquis flashed it was finally open. So opted for the top floor. The price was not to bad, if I recall correctly adults were 18Euros and children where 7 Euros. I figured what the heck. We rode the elevator to the first level , walked all around, looked out and looked down. It felt like my stomach was flip-flopping while looking down. It is quite a was up there. All I kept thinking about was how do we get down if there is an emergency, typical mom.
We than stood in line for level 3. That was probably another 45 minute wait. Took the elevator to the top, talk about your stomach rising up, wow. The third level is all glass enclosed, I guess that would make a huge splat from way up there. The view however was amazing. We walked around, looked in all directions and headed back down. By now, we were starving. We had spent about 4 hours total at the Eiffel Tower. That was not really in the schedule, but we made do. Time for some lunch.
By now we were famished and cranky, getting headaches and being snippy. I had in my mind planned a picnic lunch near the Eiffel Tower. Well that idea got shot down to. We decided to head towards La Defense. It is the major business district for the city of Paris. And OMG it is quite a business district. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_D%C3%A9fense
We headed to La Defense via metro, (leaving out the Trocadero which I had wanted to see, amazing view of the Tower.) We arrived at the metro station to La Defense, and low and behold a grocery store right in the underground. We quick got some lunch meat, melon, cheese, tomatoes and french bread (what else would you in France). We took our lunch outside and looked for grassy spot to sit and eat. Well, it is a business district, there are no grassy spots. We opted to join others on the largest set of stairs we saw. It was the best meal we had on probably the whole vacation. We ate to our hearts content, Sophie chased her pigeons, and we took more pictures. It was nice and relaxing. After being on our feet for what seemed like 10 hours, it was nice to just sit for an hour or so.
Well time was wasting so we headed to our next stop, Avenue des Champs Elysees, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es and the Arc de Triomphe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe As we emerged from the metro along the Champs Elysees, the traffic was amazing. I had no idea how that many cars could figure out where they where going. The round-a-bout at Arc de Triomphe has 12 different roads leading to it. I sure could picture that happening here in Venice. They would have to have ambulance station right in the center of it all.
Well my list of things to see in Paris was winding down. All that was left was a little museum known as the Louvre. Well ok, so it is not that little. By now it was about 5:00 pm or so, we had to be at the train station no later than 7:00 to catch our 8:25 train back to London.
I had hopes of being able to see the Mona Lisa and the statue of Venus, but time was running out. We again took the metro to The Louvre. We exited the metro at the shopping center underneath the museum. It was a good call, we got to see the glass pyramid from the bottom looking up. Quite a stunning site, the light was hitting it just right and casting prisms all around it. We looked into a few store and of course Sophie had to have "just one toy"... again. We made our way up and out of the shopping area. To a spectacular site.
We entered the main courtyard to the museum, this is where the giant glass pyramid is located. (I looked for signs marking the Rose Line from the DaVinci code, but could not find it.) It is hard to describe, the pyramid is such a contrast to the museum building that it is some sort of way it actually makes sense. If that could be a possibility. Unfortunately we had arrived there so late, that we did not have time to enter and see the few things that were on my "list." We took lots of pictures in the courtyard, sat and rested our extremely tired bones and just took a little quiet time. Sophie made some new friends who where from the Atlanta area. They managed to find some energy to chase a few more pigeons. From where, I have no idea. I found it hard just to put one foot in front of the other. We bid farewell to the new friends and continued our journey.
As we exited the courtyard, across the street we saw some shops and popped in. They were quite expensive and we decided we really did not need anything, than I realized that other than a few toys for Sophie, we had not even purchased a Parisian souvenir. We opted for a sign of the Eiffel Tour (Fr spelling). It looks great out on the porch.
We headed to the metro and back to Gare du Nord to catch the 8:25 pm Eurostar back to London. Sophie made some Brit and Aussie friends, we tried to nap, not much luck there. When we arrived in London, it had that feeling of arriving home after a long trip. I had accidentally left our transport tickets in our hotel room safe, so we had to spring fare back to the hotel on the metro. We stopped for some Chinese food at a small restaurant near the hotel and took it back to eat there. Not as good as I would have liked. But oh well, after a nice hot shower, we headed to bed to get ready for our last full day in London.
All in all, I am glad that we opted for the day trip to Paris. It was better than what I had expected. You hear stories of how rude the French can be. I did make an attempt to learn a few words in French. That must have worked, once they realized that all I knew where a few words, they spoke english quite well. I was however surprised at the number of gypsys in Paris. They were every where, begging for money. Asking if we spoke english? I answered them in Hungarian saying no, and they left us alone. Otherwise, they would stick a piece of paper in your hand stating they need $$. Well, sorry I need my $$ too. I worked and saved to hard to give it away. If I had to choose the worst part of the Paris trip, it would have to be the crowds. Way to over-crowded. When we pulled into St. Pancras station in London there was an ad sign, stating Edinburgh, Scotland 15 pounds-one way. That might have been a bit more relaxing, maybe next time.
