Europe 2004 Day 3

Bon soir from Paris! Early- too early this morning we caught a cab to Waterloo Station in London to catch the Eurostar to Paris. The train ride was dark in the beginning, lightening as we approached the Chunnel. Transversing the Chunnel only took 20 minutes, and soon we were in France, which is where the trip got a lot faster- I thought we were moving at a good clip in Britain, but when we got on those wide open TGV tracks... daaaang! A very fast, scenic ride through the French countryside and soon we had arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris.

First we made our way via the Metro to our hotel on the East side of the city. This did not take long and we took a short nap since the night before was much too short. Soon we were back on the Metro (and RER!)heading for the Champs-Elysses and were soon gazing up at the Arc d'Triomphe.

We walked down the Champs-Elysses all the way to the Louvre. Of course by this time the museum itself was closing, so we'll be checking that out at a later date. We crossed the Seine to the left bank, and wandered for quite a long time in the Latin Quarter. We each had an éclair from a small patisserie and eventually found a small French restaurant for dinner.

That brings us to the present, at an internet cafe on Rue Soufflot. The French keyboards here are an interesting challenge. It took me a bit longer to type this in than it usually should.

January 17, 2004 11:59 PM

Comments (3)

01/18: kelley said:

the louvre is large. if you haven't already gone, go in with a game plan. soon, you will be joining the "yes, the mona lisa IS small" club.
where is the east side of paris? are you droit ou gauche?

01/19: Bill said:

We were in the 20th Arrondissement, on Blvd. Davout, near the Porte de Montreuil Metro station on Line 9.

01/31: Bill said:

I read today that at one time, the Louvre was one of the largest buildings in the world. I did not know that, but I believe it.