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3rd July 2012 – Basel to Paris
When we left Basel, the rain was constant – although not cold – low 20s.
The train trip was another good one. We passed through little French villages, forests and farmlands. For the duration of the trip, the weather varied from overcast to foggy to rain, to broken cloud – basically all variations.
While waiting to board the train in Basel, we heard a loud crash/bang, and a minute or so later smoke started coming up from a service tunnel under the platform we were waiting on. Two workers on a small truck emerged from the smoke filled tunnel and let us know that a small truck had rolled over – they sure didn’t want to go back down there! The smoked cleared in a few minutes and there was no disruption to train services, and we left on time.
There was no border check between Switzerland and France – but when we crossed from Italy to Switzerland, we actually had to change trains and go through a cursory customs check where some individuals were singled out and passports checked.
We don’t know the speed
Moira and Gail
Outside Notre Dame of the train, but felt that in some stretches, we must have been doing perhaps 200 kph..
All the rivers and creeks we’ve seen since entering Switzerland and now France have been flowing quickly at their peak (?) levels. The Rhine at Basel was very full and flowing incredibly quickly.
The country side is unbelievably green and lush – it makes Australia look to be in drought even when it is not.
The hotel we’re staying at in Paris is small and the room is tiny but reasonably comfortable. It’s in an ideal location in the centre of Paris in the Marais District.
Wednesday, 4th July, 2012 – Paris, France. Wednesday morning, we wandered around, heading towards Notre Dame Cathedran - about a 20 minute direct walk from our hotel. After exploring for a while, we had lunch and then headed to the Cathedral to meet Moira and Dennis (from Melbourne). We had a look around the magnificent place before joining a tour. After about 30 minutes, we decided we couldn’t hear much of what was being said as the guide was explaining the history of the external
Mona Lisa
Louvre Museum, Paris parts of the building.
We walked back to where Moira & Dennis were staying (a few streets from us), purchasing some food for dinner on the way to their place, where we spent a pleasant evening.
Thursday, 5th July 2012 – Paris, France We went for a 2 hour tour in a Citroen 2CV car (built in the 1950s). We toured all the major sites. The tour turned into 2 ¾ hours as we got caught in traffic on the Champs-Elysees where they were preparing for Bastille Day on the 14
th.
In the evening we had dinner with Moira and Dennis again – but this time at a local restaurant.
Friday 6th July 2012 – Paris France SHOPPING DAY !!!!
All the shops in Paris are having sales!
First stop: Chanel – their biggest store in the world. This shop, founded in 1915, is next door to the former townhouse of Coco Chanel. Despite spending a couple of hours browsing and trying shoes on, Gail didn’t manage to find anything suitable or the right size. Total expenditure: $0.00
Then it was off to Gallery LaFayette – a superstore containing the worlds leading designers. After about 30 minutes here, Steve took off and left Gail to it for the next 4 hours!
Again, Gail didn’t have any success finding what she wanted, and got back to the hotel – exhausted - about 6:00 pm.
Saturday 7th July 2012 – Paris France Today we were at the Louvre Museum’s Lions Gate entrance by 08:30. This entrance is less popular than the main entrance, and we were told that this would enable us to get to spend some time at the Mona Lisa painting before the crowd made their way through the museum to the painting. However, we didn’t count on the cashier being late, and then she was apparently a trainee who adjusted everything within reach, and a couple of things she had to get up to adjust. About 20 minutes after opening time, we finally paid for our tickets and were able to get into the museum – certainly not the first at the Mona Lisa! The painting wasn’t all that impressive – it was quite small and some distance from
the separation rope. It was covered in clear glass or Perspex which caused a lot of reflections.
The displays of art and antiquities are unbelievable. The photos Steve took (no flash allowed) in no way show how exquisite some of the exhibits are.
The afternoon was spent exploring more of Paris – until our feet gave out!
Sunday 8th July 2012 – Paris France A reasonably quiet day. We visited the Memorial of the Shoah – the Jewish memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It was quite well done, but all the displays were in French, even so, one could get the gist of what was being said. We did purchase a couple of English language books that tell some of the stories. It was then some more exploring in the Jewish Quarter – fascinating.
Restaurants abound in Paris – never seen so many in such a small space! All tastes are catered for in places varying from small cafes to larger restaurants. Side-walk eating is everywhere – main streets, back streets and alleys.
Since we arrived in Paris, the weather has been pretty
Steve & Gail
On our Citroen 2CV Tour - at the Eiffel Tower, Paris average – cool and in the low 20s. There’s been some intermittent rain each afternoon, and some short thunderstorms.
We leave Paris tomorrow morning and head south to Beaune in the Burgundy Region of France where we will be staying for 3 nights. Then on to Dijon Ville for another couple of nights.
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Ursula Brown
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WOW just loving yr bloggs I am pea green with envy but David and I are hoping to do this soon so I can wait, glad yr having such a wonderful time!!!!!!!