Editor’s Note – Today, we continue a week-long series on Coach Jeff’s Blog about our family’s recent trip to London and Paris. On Day 3 of 4, I’ll tell you all the highlights of our visit to Paris.
Having completed the London leg of our EU vacation, on Monday morning we were challenged to a frenetic check-in to ride the Eurostar train from London to Paris.
No matter that we arrived on time. By arriving on time, we were already late. I think we wound up being the last four passengers seated on the train. By the time I got to my seat, I was dripping with sweat.
It was no easy Monday morning commute.
Fortunately, we were able to settle into our family foursome section and fall back asleep. I think each of us napped on the trip through the chunnel and northern France.
Soon, we were notified that our ride was pulling into the Gare du Nord train station in northern Paris. From there, it was just a metro ride to our hotel. We were not able to check in right away, but a very friendly desk clerk allowed us to check our baggage.
At that point, we were ready to explore the city.
Holly built our itinerary and our first stop was Notre Dame. She wanted us to see the venerable cathedral and she also wanted us to have lunch in the surrounding community.
We did do those things.
Unfortunately, we were without umbrellas (remember…checked baggage) when an unexpected heavy rain doused us as we crossed the Pont Neuf bridge. When were finally able to seek refuge in a local café, the manager looked at me, drenched, and said “Qu’elle douche!” (What a shower).
It was my second drenching of the day.
Not to worry. We were able to dry up as we ate lunch and then went on to explore Notre Dame. After we spent time in the cathedral, we explored a bread festival (La Fête du Pain) set up in a tent just across from the cathedral. What a lucky find!
And, of course, Notre Dame was as fantastic as announced.
We were up early on Tuesday to go to - my highlight of the trip - the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel).
We rode all the way to the summit. There was something magical about being up so high above the beautiful city.
I also enjoyed a display inside the summit comparing the Tower to other tall buildings. The display goes around the perimeter of Tour Eiffel. You look to the west and it shows you cities that are in that direction. I wanted to make sure to snap photos of some North American landmarks.
You can see this photo also served as a pseudo selfie.
Later that day, we explored the Champs Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe. Those were amazing sights.
Nothing could prepare me, however, for the climax of our visit to Paris – a riverboat cruise up and down La Seine. We embarked at dusk and sailed through the city in an hour-long tour. We all agreed this was our favorite part of our time in Paris.
What could possibly be a better thing than to see the City of Lights…all lit up?
JG
Tomorrow – Welcome Home
No comments:
Post a Comment