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Published: September 11th 2006
Rog waiting at the Hauptbahnhof
Eagerly waiting at the train station for our train to Paris.Ok before I tell you all about our amazing trip to Paris and Berlin I need to tell you why we went there. On the 30th of August it was my birthday… and in typical Roger style, my husband decided to surprise me and take me somewhere. I was not told when or where I was being taken, I was just told to be ready! So nearly a week had passed and I was getting more and more anxious, wanting this surprise to come.
It was Tuesday the 5th of September and the day went on as normal until 5:55pm. Roger had just arrived home from work and asked me to read his report. Now that didn’t seem unusual as he is working on an actual report for work at the moment. But the report he handed me was titled: ‘Secret Trip Information’. So I opened it and quickly scanned the first page which had a blow by blow list of the activities we would be doing for the next four days. The one thing I forgot to read was the date and times, which Rog pointed out to me: Tuesday the 5th of September at 11:30pm, which meant we were
leaving that night and I had to pack my bags quick smart.
So I raced upstairs and packed my clothes et cetera… and excitedly waited for the clock to roll over to 11:30pm. Between 7:00pm and 11:20pm I cooked dinner and such - but that’s not what you’re here to read, so I’ll get onto the fun stuff: the TRIP!
So at 11:20pm we left home and walked to the tram stop to go to the Hauptbahnhof. Our train was scheduled to leave Bremen at 11:50 and we got to the train station at 11:30. We waited on the platform for our train to pull up to the platform and we walked along finding our carriage number. Eventually finding carriage 118 we boarded the train to find our seats. We were expecting to be sitting in a normal carriage with rows of seats filling the carriage, but instead we were in a small compartment with six seats, three on each side facing each other. When we first got there, there was another lady and man in there and once we put our luggage up on the racks and sat down we discovered that this was going to be
Watching Belgium race by
Danni in the windows reflection looking out at the Belgian country side. one long train ride. We had a 9 hour journey ahead of us and sitting up wasn’t on our agenda. So the train slowly pulled away from the station and we were joined by another young lady, making our cabin 5 people full. We sat there for about 15 minutes before the lady and gentleman decided to migrate to an empty cabin and we were left just the three of us. This was much better and we got comfortable for the night. The young lady had 3 seats to her self and Rog and I shared the other three seats. We tried every which way of trying to sleep comfortably, and before long Rog was on the floor in the middle and I had 3 seats to myself to stretch out on. We managed to sleep quite well and we were awoken by the sun peering in the window at 6:30am.
From then on we were awake and enjoying the scenery outside. We passed through Belgium, where we saw Brussels and the Belgian country side. For some reason our train was delayed by an hour and we eventually got to Paris Nord station at 10:15am. It felt great to finally
A Belgian sunrise
This is what we woke up to on the Wednesday morning stretch our legs and step onto French soil (well the platform).
We got our bearings and found our way to our hotel where we checked in shortly after 10:30. With our bags all secure and the key to our room we went on our first adventure in Paris. Our destination: the Louvre. Since I am some what of an art fan, going to the Louvre is near the top of my list of things I must do in my lifetime. And finally having the opportunity to go and see it, I was over the moon.
We had our map and started walking through the small streets of Paris to get there as quick as possible. Which after a few minutes we decided wasn’t a good idea. It was a combination of poorly labelled streets, crazy traffic and weird French men that convinced us to stick to the main streets. The weird French man you’re asking? Well we were walking down a street trying to find out way and this man started talking to us in French - as they do. We stoped, being polite and attempted the only French phrase we knew: ‘vous parlez anglais?’ and he continued
Finally in Paris
Our first impression of Paris: the train station. to babble on and on. We then thought stuff it, English it is… so we tried repeatedly to tell him that we don’t understand. He was getting madder and madder and we stared to walk off. This didn’t help our case as he started following us and yelling whatever it was he was saying. We turned around and tried again to tell him we don’t understand and he just didn’t want to budge. He slapped his hands in fury and we walked off leaving him to yell all by himself.
And that was our first French person encounter… needless to say, we weren’t shocked - we had been told that people such as that man are all too common in France.
So we continued on our way in search of the Louvre getting more lost with each street we turned down. We finally stopped at a set of traffic lights to redetermine our bearings when a lovely lady who was waiting at the intersection on her bike asked us (in English) if we needed any help. We agreed in relief and she explained to us how we should get to the Louvre. She was extremely nice, missing a set
Paris Nord train station
This is the interior of the train station where we arrived. of lights to help us out, and that quickly changed out view of French people.
So following her directions we walked and quickly came across the Louvre, our first view of the building was ‘wow’, and we had only seen one of the small sides. We walked around the corner of it to find an entrance, leading us to a courtyard within the Louvre. We then walked through another side of the courtyard to be greeted with that famous view of the Louvre Pyramid. It was an awesome sight. We were so lucky to have a perfect day of 30° and the sun hitting the building was just spectacular.
We walked around to the front of the pyramid entrance and lined up for the security check. Having our bags approved we ventured down the escalators to the main foyer of the gallery. It was an overwhelming sight… the place was massive and people were everywhere and the anticipation of such a place was awesome. I had finally made it to the Louvre: ‘the Gallery of Galleries’. With such large crowds building we thought it best to go and visit Monna early so it wouldn’t be to busy. So
we headed towards the Denon Wing of the gallery to see the Italian Master’s piece of work. Photography was allowed in the gallery in many sections but this section was under strict supervision and no photography was allowed, although people still managed to capture a shot or two. So we looked around at the art on our journey towards da Vinci’s Portrait of Lisa Gheradini del Giocondo, or better known as Monna Lisa. There was a thick crowd gathered around the portrait and a security guard on either side of her. Not to mention a few security cameras and a laser beam or two. So we stood and awed at the painting for some time, itching to take a photo of her, but we decided to obey the rules and keep the camera in our pocket.
After we had had enough of the crowds cramming in to see Monna, we left the party and went on to view the other art in the gallery. The Louvre just so you know has in its possession approx 35,000 pieces of art, yes folks thirty five thousand! Obviously not all of them are on display at any one time; they are shown
Musee Du Louvre
The sign at the entrance of the gallery. on a rotating basis.
So from the Monna Lisa we went on to view all the different art periods and styles; we saw Egyptian antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, French paintings, Italian paintings, Flemish paintings, Dutch paintings, German paintings, Spanish paintings, Graphic arts, Sculptures, Objects d’art, African, Asian, Oceania and American arts. We walked around all three levels of the three wings and saw many beautiful pieces. And after viewing all that we were exhausted.
We enjoyed intermission outside in the gallery gardens at about 3pm before going back inside to continue our adventures. We sat in the shade enjoying our salami sandwiches with the Louvre in the background. After we were somewhat rested we continued on our way to see as much as possible before leaving.
Eventually our poor legs couldn’t take much more and it was now about 8:00pm. We had walked through and seen three quarters of the gallery, with the last few sections only getting a quick scan as we were absolutely exhausted. Having seen enough art for one day we ventured back outside to the beautiful dusk evening and the crowds enjoying the peaceful surrounds of the Louvre gardens.
We
Danni in line at the Louvre
Danni was just over the moon to finally be standing in front of the finest art gallery in Europe. took some photos of the building exterior with the sun hitting the pyramids glass and making picture perfect shots. Although we were exhausted from all the walking we had done, I didn’t want to leave, for I knew that this was a once in a life time opportunity and I wouldn’t be back here for quite some time. So I just wanted to stay there and enjoy the atmosphere, but obviously I couldn’t sit there all night, we had so much of Paris yet to explore.
So we said farewell to the Louvre and continued our journey… our next destination: Notre Dame.
We walked along the River Seine towards the church indulging in all the sights of Paris. We finally got there just before dark and sat looking at its beauty for some time to let our legs rest once again. Again we got some beautiful photos and continued on our way. We were heading for the main streets of Paris in search of some dinner when we were distracted by some young guys roller blading up a handmade ramp and over a high jump pole. These guys were impressive and keep our attention for some time. Then with
Looking outside at the Louvre entrance
This is the view from one of the many corridors in the gallery that looks out onto the pyramid entrance of the Louvre. food being our focus we continued on. We walked and walked and walked past restaurant after restaurant. The atmosphere that night was great, partly due to France playing Italy in the euro cup, a rematch of the world cup final. Passing Greek restaurants we saw plates being dropped on the ground (in celebration of a French goal), past Italian restaurants we heard cheers and chants, and past any other restaurant with French fans we heard the ecstatic cheers of the supporters.
We continued on our way in the direction of the Eiffel tower, finding a restaurant we decided to eat at. We sat outside enjoying the weather and ordered our meals. With our meals arriving and a man who on first viewing looked some what drunk giving us a rather artistic and enthusiastic re-enactment of New York, New York we sat and ate. The meal was ok and we decided to ventured back to the hotel at approx 11:00pm. Giving up on our plan to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, Due to the distance and our lack of energy. So with full bellies and sore feet we headed back to the hotel, planning to get up
Looking outside at the Louvre gardens
This is another view of the Louvre exterior. You can see in the background the building that is also the Louvre (it is actually a massive u building) with a main road and roundabout in the middle. And in the bottom corner is the start of the gallery gardens. before the crack of dawn to see the Eiffel Tower during sunrise.
The weather that evening was lovely, perfect for romantic moonlit Parisian walks, unfortunately upon returning to our Hotel we were not greeted with a temperate climate. It was a bit hot and sticky, but with the window open it was not too bad.
With such a busy day and so much walking we had a good night sleep.
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