Our first destination of the day, after checking out of the hotel, was to stop back at Dana's flat to drop off our excess luggage. The walk went quickly, and we managed to make it to St. Pancras station afterward well before our departure. We got our tickets from the machine and after a quick hop through security, we were on our train and bound for France!
London Underground, aka the TUBE
Streets of London
St Pancras Station
British Coke and French Coke
Gare du Nord in Paris!
It only took a little over two hours for the trip, and I slept away a good bit of it. Of course, jet lag was starting to get to me, but additionally, we didn't get to the hotel until quite late last night and I only got five or so hours of sleep. Either way, a nap did me well, and we were immediately off!
...But not so fast. We disembarked from the train and Dana had to use the bathroom. No problem, right? Well, when we got to the toilets, they apparently charge €0.70 to use them, and we didn't have any of the currency. So, after walking around aimlessly for a bit and eventually stumbling across a money changer, we managed to finally get money for the bathroom. Crisis averted!
After that business was taken care of, we managed to purchase two Paris Visite passes for zones 1-5 for the next three days. The passes are valid on virtually any form of transit within the greater Paris area, including the light rail service that goes to the Orly airport and our hotel. It boiled down to a little less than €15 (~$20) per day for unlimited travel, and considering a one way trip to or from our hotel is a bit more than €10, it's completely worth it.
Our first stop was intended to be Trocadero to get a good view of the Eiffel Tower, but after a couple wrong turns on the trains, we ended up emerging at the Champ de Mars station. After rounding a couple corners wondering where the Eiffel Tower was, we were treated to this, suddenly:
Pretty cool! The rainy day made it look a bit like a post card, and it's always a bit surreal to see something as iconic as the Eiffel Tower (probably the most recognizable symbol in all of Europe). We meandered about a little and took some pictures, gawking up at the huge tower straight off the television before we decided to move on. We'll be back, Eiffel Tower, hopefully on a clearer day!
Next, we took the local metro to the Charles de Gaulle stop and it happened again. We emerged from the station to find the Arc de Triomphe looming over us, and my reaction was fairly similar to seeing the Eiffel Tower: it was just sitting there, in the middle of the urban spread!
Arc de Triomphe
Champs-Élysées, one of the most expensive strips of real estate in the world
Dinner consisted of boeuf bourguignon for Dana (it was excellent and I was quite jealous) and a Paris ham sandwich for me, made with awesome bread. It was in the Champ-Elysees area, so it was fairly expensive, but probably pretty normal for Paris in general. After we finished with dinner, our penultimate mission was to find a bakery Dana wanted to visit known as Ladurée. They are apparently famous the world over for confectionery treats known as macarons. They come in a rainbow of colors and flavors, and we purchased eight of the small ones for €12: lemon, raspberry, chocolate, "special" Columbian chocolate, coffee, vanilla, rose petal, and vanilla grapefruit. They're really great so far, even if they were a bit pricey.
Anyway, the way back to the hotel wasn't too difficult to tease out. Our passes cover the light rail line, known as the Orlyval, that takes us back to the airport. From there, we just take a shuttle back to the hotel and we're back home. The hotel room is fairly strange-looking in general, though not in a bad way by any means.
Macarons!
Hotel room for two days!
From top to bottom - Euro, Pounds, US Dollar, Yen
It's nearing 2:30am, so it's about time for sleep. Tomorrow's plans include breakfast, the Louvre, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Modern Art Museum, with lots of stops in between. Wish us luck!
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