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Paris beside the Seine
Standing on a bridge with Notra Dame in the background.London to Paris
After a week of hot, hot temperatures we headed off to Paris. We managed to get ourselves to Victoria Station, however it took us quite a long time to find where we were meant to change our tickets over to electronic ones. We rushed about looking for the right place as we were told that you could not be late! However plenty of time in the end and time for a coffee. We were catching the Euro Star to Paris. A journey that would take just over 2 hours. Most of the jouney is underground and on the French side it was very misty so there wasn't a lot to see.
Our hotel is paris was quite old and quaint. All the dishes were monogramed just like they were when I was at school. The key was large with a tassel on it. The people there was very friendly and spoke English which was handy. We spent the afternoon walking along the banks of the river Rhone. We also took our first trip on the underground. It's very simple to use, not nearly as complicated as the London underground. A three day pass meant that we could
use it as much as we wanted. The trains themselves are old and very noisy. The first time we used it we didn't know how to get in to the carriage. A young girl gave us a pitiful look and opened the door. There is very little waiting time as they come about every 5 minutes. The cues to go to the top of Notre Dame stretched for miles. Like London there were thousands of holiday makers about, so there were long lines for everything. Everyone bikes in Paris and there are designated cycle lanes. There are also hundreds of bikes for hire. Lots of the locals just rent them out each day to bike to work. One thing that struck us is that the French are a nation of smokers. The place is littered with cigarette butts and everyone is smoking. Even in restaurants, waiting for trains, even though they are not suppose to. They drive little cars, and lots of intersections have no markings so it looks like a bit of a free for all. Watching the traffic go around the Arch of Triumph is very scary. In amongst the cars are lots of people on bikes. Helmets
Paris beside the Seine
The paris Opera House. One of my favourite buildings. are not warn here either. Apparently on this particular roundabout you are not covered by insurance.
Day 2 Paris
Armed with our train ticket and plenty of confidence we headed off into the heart of Paris. We had decided to do and on/off bus tour around the city. Its valid for a whole day and you can get off and on as many times as you like and link in with any of the 4 main tourist routes they travel. This was a great idea as you get a commentary at the same time.
Paris is just filled with the most magnificent buildings you can imagine. They just love their greek and roman mythology with statues of every shape and form everywhere. They love gold. I guess in the time of the Louis is was probably real gold.
The Paris Opera House was a stunner, the stone work had just been cleaned and restored. It just glowed. My other favourite building were the Louvre. They are just huge and I guess it would take at least 6 months to see everything in the many buildings. All the buildings are line with statues, all completely individual, no one the same. And
the trees! The Parisians love to have everything very neat. All their trees are trimmed in rectangle shapes. There is not a leaf out of place. An excellent example of this was when walking through the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace each tree was trimmed, even if they were in a group. Trimmed trees and statues.
That night we went to the Eiffel Tower. It is the most amazing sight at night as it is all lit up. Unfortunately I think every teenager in Paris comes out to hang out at the tower!
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