Paris

Bonjour Paris!

Day 14 (part 2): Brussels to Paris

Well, that was a long travel day. After the four hours sitting in the Brussels Midi station and getting on our train, things looked fine, with the most interesting piece being checking the weather report for Paris and seeing thunderstorm warnings. Well, we’re from Seattle and brought lightweight raincoats, so we didn’t think much of it, and ended up missing all of the rain anyway.

We got to the first train station on the outskirts of Paris, and transferred to one of the local B-line trains to go into the city — almost missed it, but just squeaked in the doors with the help of a man on the train. We chatted with him until he got off, and then we rode a few more stops to where we had to switch to our next in-city C-line train. And waited…

…and waited…

…and eventually figured out (along with everyone around us) that the storm had downed some trees on a track somewhere and the C trains were entirely disrupted. So we decided to go up to street level and see what we could figure out, hoping it wouldn’t have to be on foot, since we were about an hour’s walk away from our hotel. We got up to the street level, and were immediately distracted with a gorgeous view of Notre Dame at dusk. Once we got over that, we walked a little ways up the street until we found a bus stop and taxi stand. At that point, it was after 9 p.m. we were tired, and it was time to admit that sometimes, a taxi is worth it. Fifteen minutes later we were at the hotel.

Shot from inside a cab, brake lights of nearby cars on a busy nighttime road can be seen through a windshield as the cabbie reaches over to scroll through sports scores on the screen of his dash-mounted cell phone. — Yes, that’s our cabbie scrolling through sports scores on his phone with one hand as he drives us through busy Paris traffic to our hotel. Welcome to Paris?

The hotel is very cute, all built around an inner courtyard, with an elevator we had to take one at a time, tiny walkways, and a tiny room, and it’s great. We’re here, the beds are comfy, and that’s it for the day.

GPS track log map of our journey from Brussels to Paris. — Our Interrail journey from Brussels to Paris.

GPS track log map of our local train and cab rides from the outskirts of Paris to our hotel just off the Champ de Mars. — From the southern end up to the left turn just at the ‘a’ in ‘Paris’ was the train, the final leg was by cab.

Day 15: Paris

Big day for exploring Paris and seeing all sorts of pretty things!

We started by getting up nice and early in the morning and walking from our hotel to the Louvre (just over two miles, which is entirely doable after a night’s sleep and when you’re not carrying backpacks). Made it to the Louvre with about half an hour before our 9 a.m. entrance time (when the museum opens), stood in line at the entrance closest to the Mona Lisa…and then right at nine, a museum staff person came up to tell everyone who was lined up there that that entrance wouldn’t actually open until 10, and to follow them. Of course, by this time there was already a huge line at the main entrance, so we were a little concerned that we’d just get dumped into the end of that line, but instead, we all got marched over to the group entrance and let in there. No biggie, as it turned out.

Once in, we beelined for the Mona Lisa…along with nearly everyone else. This really is one of those things you do to be able to say “I’ve seen the Mona Lisa in person”, not to actually, you know, stand there, look at it, and see the painting. The scrum wasn’t as bad as trying to see the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, and we were able to get to the front and get our 15 seconds of photo and selfie time in, so we called it a success and went off to investigate these rumors that the Louvre has one or two things worth seeing other than the headliner. We then had a very pleasant few hours wandering the museum and finding all sorts of things to gawk at.

Wide-angle shot of a crowd of people standing behind a barrier, many with phones out to take photos, with the Mona Lisa alone in a dedicated alcove on a black wall. — Yes, it’s a bit crazy, but I can now say that I’ve seen the Mona Lisa in person. Some people will be very impressed, others will understand that it’s about the experience, not the art.

When lunchtime rolled around we grabbed a bite at the Louvre’s cafe (it was close, quick, and convenient), went out and wandered the grounds for a little bit, and then went across the street to the Musée d’Orsay for the afternoon. What they say (whomever “they” are and wherever they say it) is true: you go to the Louvre to say you’ve been to the Louvre, you go to the Orsay to be able to see the art. Another incredible collection, but not (quite) as crowded (save for the Van Gogh rooms on the top floor, but having just been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, we were okay with skimming those rooms), and much easier to be able to find something you like and be able to hang out and really appreciate it.

A large diorama model of the Paris Opera, cut down the middle to show the layout and construction of the building’s sections, including the stage and its above- and below-stage mechanics, the theater with its seats and balconies, and the entrance and lobby with its grand staircase. — The Orsay has this incredible model of the Paris Opera; if we)d had more time, I could have spent a lot of it just staring at this (and hoping to spot the Phantom…).

Once we were all art-ed out for the day, we crossed back over the Seine to the Jardin des Tuileries, and then proceeded to walk the entirety of the Avenue de Champs-Élisée, all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Once there, my wife found a bench to rest on while I climbed the 280 steps to the terrace at the top for some gorgeous views of Paris. When I made it back down to ground level, we walked from the Arc back to our hotel.

Selfie of me taken atop the Arc de Triomphe, with Paris behind me, the Eiffel Tower very visible towards the right side of the photo. — At the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Orsay-to-Arc-to-hotel leg of the day’s walk was about 4.7 miles. All together, my watch tells me today ended up with 23,705 steps and 10.58 miles — a record for this trip so far! (We’re not really trying to set these records, we just want to see All The Things, and then whine when we get back to the hotel about walking too much and swear we’re going to take it easier the next day. Then the next day comes along….)

GPS track log of our walk from our hotel to the Louvre. — That was a lot of walking, but it was well worth every step.

GPS track log map of our walk across the Seine from the Louvre to the Orsay. — That was a lot of walking, but it was well worth every step.

Day 16: Versailles

Today’s adventure was an excursion out to Versailles. We got up really early, had a quick in-room breakfast, and headed out. Hopped on a local train, rode ten stops, and a short walk later were at the gates. We had the earliest entry tickets we could get (9:30 a.m.), and had made sure to get there nice and early, so we had time to start our day with a short walk through the gardens. Being able to do this first thing in the morning was really neat — hardly anyone else was there (a few visitors early for their entrance time like us, and locals out for their morning run…y’know, like you do, when you live close enough), so we had the entire space nearly to ourselves. We did that for about half an hour, then went back up to stand in line for our entrance.

With an ornate fountain in the foreground and the water of the Grand Canal in the distance, the gardens of Versailles are seen early in the morning under a grey sky, with just one lone figure walking towards the fountain. — It bugs me to no end that this fountain is just *slightly* off center from the rest of the gardens.

Once in, we kind of skimmed through the first half of the palace (lots of pretty paintings, but having just done a number of museums, we were okay with doing a quick breeze through while keeping an eye out for any we really wanted to stop at) so that we could get to the Hall of Mirrors before it got too crowded. While not empty when we got there (there were 9 a.m. entry people before us), it wasn’t super crowded, and so that was where we really slowed down to take things in, and enjoyed moseying our way through the rest of the palace.

Selfie of my wife and I in the Versailles Hall of Mirrors, a long, ornately decorated and gilded room with painted ceilings, large windows on one side, and large mirrors on the other. — What I admire the most about Louis XIV is his understated and subtle design sensibilities.

From there we went back out to the gardens, which while much busier, had the advantages of having the fountains running (which hadn’t been turned on yet earlier) and more dramatic skies (instead of the morning’s flat grey). We went down along the main walk towards the Grand Canal, then headed off toward the Grand Trianon. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to go in or just wander the outside, but it turns out our tickets were good for that too, so we got to wander through the inside of that smaller palace as well.

Panoramic shot of the Grand Trianon, a long, single-story marble building with a columned central walkway connecting two windowed wings, under a sky of dark grey clouds. — Those skies were really staring to look ominous….

After the Grand Trianon we went out and explored the Trianon’s gardens and fountains for a bit. This was a nice treat as well, as fewer people make the trek out to the Trianons, so it was a much quieter stroll than in the main gardens.

Eventually we could see the skies getting even more dramatic, so we decided that it was time to head back (not an easy decision when we realized we’d missed Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon, but there’s only so much time…). We got back to the main gardens just in time for a heavy rain storm to start, which lasted our entire walk back up the gardens, out of Versailles, and the few blocks down the street to the Paris Metro station where we got on our train. We were absolutely soaked, but still having a good time. We got back into town and to our hotel, hung our clothes up to dry, and crashed out for an afternoon nap.

After a couple hours to rest, we were hungry and ready for dinner, so we headed out and walked down the block to a really cute little Italian place just at the end of the street from our hotel. Had a good dinner there, then walked two more blocks to the Champ de Mars, and stood and watched the Eiffel Tower slowly light up as the sun set, then as it put on its sparkly light show shortly after sundown. We then walked up through the park to near the base of the tower — and as keeps happening on this trip, knowing about something on a theoretical level doesn’t really prepare you at all for the reality of standing underneath this colossal structure. It’s really an incredible thing.

Wide-angle view of the Eiffel Tower as seen from the ground very close to the base, all lit in gold under a deep blue twilight sky, the lens distortion emphasizing the immensity of the structure overhead. — It’s *huge*.

After enjoying the view for a while, we decided that it was time to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.

GPS track log map of our train to and from Versailles. — After having seen Versailles in films and TV shows for years, actually being there was kind of surreal.

GPS,track log map of our wandering around the grounds at Versailles. — After having seen Versailles in films and TV shows for years, actually being there was kind of surreal.

Day 17: Paris

Today we made another attempt at taking things a bit slower, with…mixed results, unsurprisingly. We slept in as late as we could, and had a nice slow morning, with breakfast in the room and no rush to get out and about.

When we did venture out, we started off by getting a bag full of pastries from a local patisserie, and walked up to the Champ de Mars to eat them while sitting in the park in the (figurative, due to the time of day) shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Then we strolled around the park and the base of the tower for a bit before making a brief stop back by the hotel room to make sure we were prepped for our afternoon adventure.

Black and white shot looking up the Eiffel Tower from dead center underneath it, forming a very geometric pattern of lines and angles made by the struts, beams, and girders of the tower’s metalwork. — Enough people want to do this kind of shot that there’s a very convenient plaque on the ground telling you where to stand. Well, I never claim to be original….

Heading out again, we started by crossing over to the other side of the Champ de Mars and finding a cute French restaurant for lunch (we had to get actual French food at least once while we were here, of course). When that was done, it was back to the Eiffel Tower, where up to the top we went! We took the easy way up in the elevators, which is a two-stop process: one elevator up to the second level, and then a second elevator (and then a short flight of stairs) up to the top.

Panoramic view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower, looking northwest towards the Place du Trucadero. — And here I thought the view from the Arc de Triomphe was impressive!

Panoramic view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower, looking Southeast toward the École Militaire. — And here I thought the view from the Arc de Triomphe was impressive!

As can be guessed, the view was incredible. We went all the way around the top, me taking photos and my wife (who is somewhat afraid of heights, but was determined to do this, and handled herself quite well) stayed nearer to the inner wall. After our circuit, we started heading back down again. We took the elevator down from the top to the second level (the only option), but then, having spent our time in line for the elevator sandwiched between one family who didn’t bother to rein in their rambunctious 7-year old at all and another family who were remarkably pushy and kept trying to go around (or through) us even though there was no space to either get around or to get to, we decided to just skip the next elevator and take the stairs down. All 674 of them!

It’s a lot of stairs, but easier to do going down than up, and though it took longer, it was a much more pleasant experience than being crammed into one of those elevators again. About 15 minutes or so later, we were back on the ground (to my wife’s great relief). We took a little time to recuperate, and then headed back to the hotel to get back into a quiet space and away from people…and once there, though we’d considered some other evening jaunts, we decided we were fine with calling it a day. A short venture out to the local grocery for dinner sandwiches, and then we tucked ourselves away for the evening.

GPS track log map of our wandering around the Champ de Mars and surrounding streets. — Having a hotel two blocks off of the Champ de Mars was incredible.

Day 18 (part 1): Paris to…?

It’s another travel day! So, the usual routine: sleep as late as possible (today that meant we got about 11 hours of sleep…we may be getting a bit tired at this point in the trip), pack everything up, and head out. We walked to the closest metro station, took two metro trains, and made it to the Gare du Nord with several hours to kill before our next train. Camped out on the floor, found some lunch, waited, and eventually made our way to the right platform, boarded our train, and are now watching the French countryside roll by on our way to….

The front of the Gare du Nord train station, a stone and glass edifice with many statue figures between windows and along the roofline. — Saying goodbye to Paris.