My day began at 12:30 am, a whopping two hours after I went to sleep. I was just too worried about getting to our hotel and, frankly, surviving in a country with a complete language barrier. Good times. So basically I just read a travel book and waited until Carrie got up at 2:30.
The car got lost on the way to the house, but thankfully Greg was awake and able to guide it to us safely. We arrived at the train station by 3:10, giving us a good 15 minutes to wait in the cold.
This was our view.
We get into St. Pancras station by around 4:00 am, and of course nothing is open save one little pastry and coffee place. Carrie enjoyed a coffee while I fought for consciousness. We were supposed to arrive 45 minutes before our train arrived, but we picked up our tickets through an automated machine and waited around until security opened up a little before 5:00. So much for getting there really early.
Security was less than that of a domestic flight in the states, and within a few minutes we were stamped as "leaving London." Once we were in Paris, there was nothing to do but go to our hotel.
Here is a view from our waiting area in the station.
We actually managed to even look cute at this early hour.
The trip itself was uneventful, and the train was not even that nice (nicer than the metro, sure, but not exactly luxury travel). The French countryside was pretty, but frankly sleeping seemed like a better idea.
This is the train after we got in.
Navigating this huge station was a bit of a problem, though. First of all, I couldn't find an ATM. This meant that we had no Euros, and also that Carrie couldn't use the restroom. Uh oh.
We bought 3-day passes (perfect), and then run all over the place trying to find the right place in the station. The station and metro ride is actually quite nice (we later learn this is the newest line), and thankfully I was able to located our hotel, despite it being several blocks away from the station. (Google Maps makes things look so close sometimes).
Ok, drop off bags and do some shopping. Carrie was having some trouble with her Pumas, and we decided to look for some shoes to purchase. On the way, we passed a bakery and decided to get a loaf of chocolate-chip-laced bread. OMG! It was incredible. You could taste the heavy cream that must have been used. Things are starting to look up.
Can you say, le awesome.
After finding a shopping district (which included 10 minutes trying to get out of the sprawling Chatalet station), trying several shoes and stores, trying to communicated with a vocabulary of maybe 20 words, Carrie had to settle on some flip flops. At least they helped alievate some of that pain.
So, we thought we'd try walking around a bit.
The first thing we came across was the Hotel de Ville. Pretty cool.
Then I look around, and hey, isn't that Notre Dame? Yup.
We cross the Seine...
The car got lost on the way to the house, but thankfully Greg was awake and able to guide it to us safely. We arrived at the train station by 3:10, giving us a good 15 minutes to wait in the cold.
This was our view.
We get into St. Pancras station by around 4:00 am, and of course nothing is open save one little pastry and coffee place. Carrie enjoyed a coffee while I fought for consciousness. We were supposed to arrive 45 minutes before our train arrived, but we picked up our tickets through an automated machine and waited around until security opened up a little before 5:00. So much for getting there really early.Security was less than that of a domestic flight in the states, and within a few minutes we were stamped as "leaving London." Once we were in Paris, there was nothing to do but go to our hotel.
Here is a view from our waiting area in the station.
We actually managed to even look cute at this early hour.The trip itself was uneventful, and the train was not even that nice (nicer than the metro, sure, but not exactly luxury travel). The French countryside was pretty, but frankly sleeping seemed like a better idea.This is the train after we got in.
Navigating this huge station was a bit of a problem, though. First of all, I couldn't find an ATM. This meant that we had no Euros, and also that Carrie couldn't use the restroom. Uh oh.We bought 3-day passes (perfect), and then run all over the place trying to find the right place in the station. The station and metro ride is actually quite nice (we later learn this is the newest line), and thankfully I was able to located our hotel, despite it being several blocks away from the station. (Google Maps makes things look so close sometimes).
Ok, drop off bags and do some shopping. Carrie was having some trouble with her Pumas, and we decided to look for some shoes to purchase. On the way, we passed a bakery and decided to get a loaf of chocolate-chip-laced bread. OMG! It was incredible. You could taste the heavy cream that must have been used. Things are starting to look up.
Can you say, le awesome.After finding a shopping district (which included 10 minutes trying to get out of the sprawling Chatalet station), trying several shoes and stores, trying to communicated with a vocabulary of maybe 20 words, Carrie had to settle on some flip flops. At least they helped alievate some of that pain.
So, we thought we'd try walking around a bit.
The first thing we came across was the Hotel de Ville. Pretty cool.
Then I look around, and hey, isn't that Notre Dame? Yup.We cross the Seine...
Notre Dame was simply amazing, inside and out. I couldn't get many pictures inside due to the very low light, but frankly I don't think any picture could have done it justice.
Here is the statue of Charlamagne in the courtyard.
This is me standing on the center of Paris, also in the front courtyard.
A side view of Notre Dame.
From the back side.
The Crypts nearby were unfortunately closed, so we wandered around some more. We came across the Palais de Justice. Here is a picture of it on the right, and a church on the left.
We then crossed back over the Seine and toward the Pompidou center, a modern art gallery. The interesting thing about this building is that it is somewhat inside-out. The piping is on the outside, as is the main escalator and some lifts.
Whoops, got ahead of myself. Here's the Seine again.
Here's the Pompidou center as we approach from the south.
There was also a shallow pool on the south end that had moving sculptures within. Cool stuff.
Ok, this is going to have to be part 1 of the post as my blog editing software is freaking out with so many pictures. I'm unfortunately rather tired from a long day of travel today, so that'll have to be it for now. With any luck, I can catch up tomorrow.
Here is the statue of Charlamagne in the courtyard.This is me standing on the center of Paris, also in the front courtyard.A side view of Notre Dame.From the back side.The Crypts nearby were unfortunately closed, so we wandered around some more. We came across the Palais de Justice. Here is a picture of it on the right, and a church on the left.We then crossed back over the Seine and toward the Pompidou center, a modern art gallery. The interesting thing about this building is that it is somewhat inside-out. The piping is on the outside, as is the main escalator and some lifts.Whoops, got ahead of myself. Here's the Seine again.
Here's the Pompidou center as we approach from the south.There was also a shallow pool on the south end that had moving sculptures within. Cool stuff.Ok, this is going to have to be part 1 of the post as my blog editing software is freaking out with so many pictures. I'm unfortunately rather tired from a long day of travel today, so that'll have to be it for now. With any luck, I can catch up tomorrow.
