Bonjour
“Paris is always a good idea.”
With all deference to Audrey Hepburn, we weren’t so sure Paris was a good idea.
Firstly, it wasn’t part of our original plan and we were going to have to plan a lot and squeeze in a bunch of stuff in a short timeframe.
Secondly, a visit to Paris is anything but cheap.
Lastly, we speak no French, so that made traveling more intimidating. Plus, as Harry from Dumb and Dumber rather succinctly put it, “I don't know Lloyd, the French are assholes.”
Yet once the idea of a few days in Paris started to take root, family members who had visited before—my mom and brother—really encouraged us to go for it.
“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even—the French air clears up the brain and does good—a world of good.”
One thing that we knew would be easy was getting from London to Paris. Eurostar trains whisk you non-stop between London and Paris at speeds up to 186 mph (300 kph).
As mentioned in the previous post, we stayed at the St Pancras Renaissance hotel because you can literally walk between the hotel and the train station without going outside. Nice!
In London you complete both UK and French border controls, so once the train arrives in Paris, you simply leave the train and go on your merry way.
Here we are (blue dot) having just come out of the tunnel from 130 feet under the English Channel and into the open air of France.
Our 7:00 train departed London right on time, and we arrived in Paris Gare du Nord at 10:20, a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes later (Paris is ahead of London by one hour).
Paris has a vast subway network that consists of Metro lines (numbered lines) and suburban light rail, known as RER (lettered lines). From the Eurostar station we navigated our way to the RER platform that took us to the station near our hotel.
I’m not going to lie, it was not as straightforward as the London Underground; it left us scratching our heads more than a few times, but we managed.
Was I singing “riding on the Metro” as we rode along? You bet your rad ‘80’s butt I was!
I was on a Paris train, I emerged in London rain
And you were waiting there, swimming through apologies…I remember a night we walked along the Seine
Riding on the Metro-The Metro, Song by Berlin
What a trip seeing these old music videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UXtort76gY
The Gare de Lyon station is right next to our hotel, thus the name of our hotel: Courtyard by Marriott Paris Gare de Lyon.
The hotel is near the where the 2nd & 11th Arrondissements meet on the Right Bank, and the 5th & 13th Arrondissements meet on the Left Bank. It ended up being a perfect location.
We requested a room on a high floor with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and it was an absolutely amazing moment to walk into our room and see the Eiffel Tower for the first time!
After dropping off our stuff in our room, it was back on the Metro for brunch.
We were thrilled to learn of Land & Monkey, the first all plant based boulangerie (bakery) in Paris. If you didn’t know better, the appearance, flakiness, and taste of the pain au chocolat would give you no hint that it was anything other than a traditional French pastry. The baguette was equally amazing.
Île de la Cité
After filling our bellies, it was time to do some walking and seeing the sites. What better place to start than where the city of Paris first began.
“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.”
Île de la Cité (City Island) is an island in the river Seine in the heart of Paris.
Traces of a Neolithic settlement (c. 4500 BC) have been found nearby, and a larger settlement was established on the island (c. 300 BC)—which is to say that modern day Paris grew up around this small island. It was likely an important crossing point of the Seine, the intersection of land and water trade routes.
Today the island is most notably the home of the medieval Catholic cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris).
Of course back in 2019 a fire broke out under the eaves of the cathedral’s roof, engulfing the spire and most of the roof.
Thankfully, the main structure including the bell towers and rose windows were saved, and nobody was injured. The Catholic relics housed in the cathedral and priceless works of art were rescued and brought to safety.
I can still remember four years ago, feeling so sad seeing the first images of the fire on the news.
Thankfully, the iconic West Façade still looks pristine.
On the Petit Pont bridge over the Left Bank of the River Seine.
Behind is the Pont au Double bridge. The bridge name refers to the "double" denier (penny) toll was once charged to cross the bridge.
Shakespeare and Company
If you love books (and who doesn’t?) and visit Paris, stopping at Shakespeare and Company book sellers is akin to a pilgrimage.
Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookshop in the heart of Paris, on the banks of the Seine, opposite Notre-Dame.
Since opening in 1951, it’s been a meeting place for anglophone writers and readers, becoming a Left Bank literary institution.
The bookshop was founded by American George Whitman at 37 rue de la Bûcherie—Kilometer Zero, the point at which all French roads begin.
Above, the stairs leading to the upstairs reading loft.
“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.
-Hafiz of Shiraz
When the store first opened, it was called Le Mistral. George changed it to the present name in April 1964—on the four-hundredth anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth—in honor of a bookseller he admired, Sylvia Beach, who’d founded the original Shakespeare and Company in 1919. Her store at 12 rue de l’Odéon was a gathering place for the great expat writers of the time—Joyce, Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald, Eliot, Pound—as well as for leading French writers. (Remember the 2011 film Midnight in Paris?)
And having a tote bag from Shakespeare and Company is something of a minor status symbol.
“There should be a name for the syndrome that occurs when you’re in Paris and you already miss it.”
Musée d'Orsay
Next we visited the Musée d'Orsay with its major 19th- & 20th-century European art collections housed in a monumental, former railway station.
Which way do the hands of a clock turn?
Clockwise, of course.
Not if you’re inside the clock.
The Musée d’Orsay is said to have the largest collection of impressionist masterpieces in the world, to include: Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Gaugin, and Van Gogh.
Just a few pictures of us…
Water Lillies by Claude Monet
Poppies by Claude Monet
Woman with a Parasol by Claude Monet
Starry Night Over The Rhône by Vincent Van Gogh
Truthfully, the museum was absolutely packed to the gills with people. It was hard to keep reminding ourselves to appreciate the experience, in spite of sharing the space with so many others.
Back onto the Metro and look what Amanda found—a 10 euro cent coin. There was a time when I think Keith would have objected to visiting France, but apparently he’s changed his mind.
Thursday night (Aug 31) dinner at Végét'Halles was amazing. And it needed to be because our time slot on the Eiffel Tower wasn’t until late that night.
A very romantic sunset from the Pont Neuf bridge.
Eiffel Tower
The City of Love!
Despite the lateness of the night, the garden plaza was full of people…and almost as many rats—straight out of Ratatouille! Ah Paris, the City of Rats.
Time to head up.
The Arc de Triomphe as seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
After a loooong day with a lot of walking, we were knackered, but it was worth it to see the view from the top at night and share the moment with my absolute favorite person in the world—I love you Amanda!
“We’ll always have Paris.”
The journey to the top and back was so packed with people that by the time we were walking away from the Eiffel Tower, it was after midnight and the Metro had stopped for the night. We had to catch this taxi back to our hotel!
Finally back in our room, and the Eiffel Tower still there in all her glory—beautiful! Day 1 complete.
“You’ll have to fall in love at least once in your life, or Paris has failed to rub off on you.”
