Whirlwind Europe Trip - Day 1
Aug 22nd, 2006, 11:19 AM
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Whirlwind Europe Trip - Day 1
This trip report will seem a bit late I know given that it took place in December of last year, but my friends and I have just recently begun to read through these Message Boards and we thought it would be nice to tell a little bit about our experience in Europe while also hoping that, given our youth (we were were all under 25 at the time of the trip) and small budget, our trip can give some insight for other young people wanting to see Europe on a budget and in a limited amount of time. To begin with, let me apologize ahead of time for my propensity for run-on sentences, pauses can seem too incovenient at times I am afraid. Back to the trip, though. We had been talking about going to Europe for a little while, but sadly, talking never seemed to provide the impetus we needed undertake such a venture. In the Spring of 2005, however, having been out of a school for about a year and not really feeling inspired any longer at my temp job, I looked into, and was lucky enough to get a three month internship working in British Parliament in the Autumn of that same year, meaning I would be living in London from early September to early December. This turned out to be the springboard we needed and my two best friends and I were soon discussing a two week trip around Western Europe at the end of my internship before flying home before Christmas. The plan was for them to fly over to London on Friday, December 9, the last day of my internship and we would go from there. We would spend the weekend in London, then it would be on to Paris, and from there to Geneva and a day traveling through Switzerland before passing through Munich on our way to Vienna. Then we would head back west through Austria and stop off at Salzburg and Innsbruck before spending the final five days of our trip traveling through Italy and seeing Venice, Florence, and Rome, all before flying out of Rome early Friday morning, December 23, just two weeks after we had begun our whirlwind trip through Europe. This is our story.
Friday, December 9, 2005:
Ryan and Will, my two best friends I had previously mentioned, flew out of Atlanta that morning around 6:30 or 7 to Washington D.C. to catch a connecting flight from there to London. Using their ISIC cards and University email addresses, they were able to buy round trip (from Atlanta to London and from Rome to Atlanta) plane tickets from www.studentuniverse.com for a very reasonable price of $500-$600. Having left Atlanta at around 6:30 A.M. local time, they arrived into London Heathrow Airport around 21:30 (to avoid morning and night confusion I will use the European clock in this report) local time. From here, it would have been faster to catch the Heathrow Express into Paddington Station in Central London, but I was able to save a few pounds for them by buying two Zone 1 daylong travelcards. Mind you, Heathrow is actually in Zone 6 and where we were staying for the weekend was actually in Zone 4 of Greater London, but I knew (bad though it may seem for security measures given that less than six months before had been the London Tube bombings) that we would be able to get on to the Tube leaving from Heathrow for Central London and Victoria Station without having anyone stopping to check what our tickets were valid for. The only times we would need travel cards to actually get across a barrier would be getting in and out of the tube stations in Central London and onto the National Rail system at Victoria Station to head to our lodgings in Zone 4 of Greater London, all of which stations were in Zone 1 and thus our travelcards covered those stations. It sounds complex I know, but Will and Ryan probably saved about $10 a piece by doing this. Our first night in Europe, our only goal was to get back to the place we were staying at in London and get some rest so that Will and Ryan (who was struggling at this point from all the traveling to say the least) could adjust to the time difference as quickly as possible and be ready to see London the next day. Our prices for lodging in London were as good as you will find, but that is only because we rented an extra room for two nights in the Host Family's home that I had been staying at while I had been living in London the previous three months, and it was actually in Thornton Heath, which is around Croydon, about 8 miles south of Central London. The costs for two nights lodging was 12 pounds a piece for Will and Ryan. And this was our first night in Europe all together. Given the rediculous length of this first post, which has actually only covered the first few hours of our collective time in Europe, I will write a separate post for each day we spent in Europe, and this is Day One. Not too exciting I know, but hopefully some of the logistics I have provided have helped for future planning. I will be back soon with a post for Day 2, though I suppose not everyone will be waiting with bated breath, but we shall see.
Friday, December 9, 2005:
Ryan and Will, my two best friends I had previously mentioned, flew out of Atlanta that morning around 6:30 or 7 to Washington D.C. to catch a connecting flight from there to London. Using their ISIC cards and University email addresses, they were able to buy round trip (from Atlanta to London and from Rome to Atlanta) plane tickets from www.studentuniverse.com for a very reasonable price of $500-$600. Having left Atlanta at around 6:30 A.M. local time, they arrived into London Heathrow Airport around 21:30 (to avoid morning and night confusion I will use the European clock in this report) local time. From here, it would have been faster to catch the Heathrow Express into Paddington Station in Central London, but I was able to save a few pounds for them by buying two Zone 1 daylong travelcards. Mind you, Heathrow is actually in Zone 6 and where we were staying for the weekend was actually in Zone 4 of Greater London, but I knew (bad though it may seem for security measures given that less than six months before had been the London Tube bombings) that we would be able to get on to the Tube leaving from Heathrow for Central London and Victoria Station without having anyone stopping to check what our tickets were valid for. The only times we would need travel cards to actually get across a barrier would be getting in and out of the tube stations in Central London and onto the National Rail system at Victoria Station to head to our lodgings in Zone 4 of Greater London, all of which stations were in Zone 1 and thus our travelcards covered those stations. It sounds complex I know, but Will and Ryan probably saved about $10 a piece by doing this. Our first night in Europe, our only goal was to get back to the place we were staying at in London and get some rest so that Will and Ryan (who was struggling at this point from all the traveling to say the least) could adjust to the time difference as quickly as possible and be ready to see London the next day. Our prices for lodging in London were as good as you will find, but that is only because we rented an extra room for two nights in the Host Family's home that I had been staying at while I had been living in London the previous three months, and it was actually in Thornton Heath, which is around Croydon, about 8 miles south of Central London. The costs for two nights lodging was 12 pounds a piece for Will and Ryan. And this was our first night in Europe all together. Given the rediculous length of this first post, which has actually only covered the first few hours of our collective time in Europe, I will write a separate post for each day we spent in Europe, and this is Day One. Not too exciting I know, but hopefully some of the logistics I have provided have helped for future planning. I will be back soon with a post for Day 2, though I suppose not everyone will be waiting with bated breath, but we shall see.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 12:21 PM
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and while I'm making demands, would you please post your entire trip report on this thread, instead of starting a new one for each day?
Just "reply" to yourself on this one and then you can add more days..
again - <i>thanks!</i>
Just "reply" to yourself on this one and then you can add more days..
again - <i>thanks!</i>
Aug 22nd, 2006, 12:35 PM
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WOW!!! You went to all of those countries in TWO weeks!! How on earth did you do it? I mean, at my old age, I would have passed out in Switzerland. You three guys must be really in shape to do all that. Looking forward to see how you did it!
Aug 22nd, 2006, 12:57 PM
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Thanks for all the feedback thus far. I will definitely make sure I just reply to this post instead of starting a new thread for every entry while also forming my posts in regards to actually breaking for new paragraphs. Once I get to typing, I tend to not pause properly as I should. Glad everyone has enjoyed it so far despite its length and faults.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 01:03 PM
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Looking forward to the rest of your report.
I did one of those student whirlwind trips when I was a student. It was something that I would never do now. I remember beating my Eurail to death. By the way Eurail passes were a lot cheaper back in the Late Middle Ages when I did my whirlwind trip. Mine "did" Europe in 5 1/2 weeks. I went everywhere from London to Vienna to Rome to Edinburgh. Just thinking about it now tires me out.
I did one of those student whirlwind trips when I was a student. It was something that I would never do now. I remember beating my Eurail to death. By the way Eurail passes were a lot cheaper back in the Late Middle Ages when I did my whirlwind trip. Mine "did" Europe in 5 1/2 weeks. I went everywhere from London to Vienna to Rome to Edinburgh. Just thinking about it now tires me out.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 01:16 PM
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Alright, guys. I have to admit, I was apart of this trip. I tried to lie early when I said it was amazing that Europhile23 did this. Actually, I was there with him. Due to my excitement, I had to stop the lies because I can't wait to throw my two cents in to the reports. I won't add much because Europhile23 is definitly the writer of the group, but I will try and contribute a little.
Aug 23rd, 2006, 08:38 AM
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Whirlwind Europe Trip - Day 2 - London
With plenty before us, my friends and I awoke around 8 or 9 to get ready and spend the day in Central London. My friend Will had adjusted pretty well to the time change after a good night's sleep, but Ryan was still struggling a bit as he came to grips with how much ground he had covered in the previous 24 hours, but there was not a moment to lose.
Using much the same scheme for the trains that we had the previous day, I told Ryan and Will not to bother with getting a travelcard in Thornton Heath where we were staying due to the fact that it was Zone 4 and it would have cost extra. I told them not to even bother with getting a travelcard until we actually got into Central London because I planned for us to disembark at Waterloo Station where again (and I know this does not speak volumes of security measures which may well have changed since then) I knew there would be no barrier like there would be at Victoria Station to have to put a card through. We got through fine and only had to buy a Zone 1 travelcard so as to get around on the tube all day.
From Waterloo Station, we walked towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament just a short ways away. I had planned long before this moment to make sure that this would be the way that Ryan and Will would go to see Westminster because it is such a grand and imposing view as you approach it from south of the Thames. You sort of just round a bend, and then there is the River with the Houses of Parliament in all their glory, the spires of Westminster Abbey just poking through in the background, and looking to east is the larger than you would think London Eye as will as the North Bank of the Thames with all its glorious architecture. I wanted Ryan and Will to be blown away by the moment, the grandeur of it all. I know I was the first time.
After overcoming our awe, we crossed the river, glaring at Big Ben the whole time, and headed towards Westminster Abbey. I would have liked to use my Parliamentary Pass to show my friends around the Houses of Parliament in all neo-gothic glory, but was unable to. We headed instead for Westminster Abbey. I had fallen in love with this place back at my first sighting in early September and I think the same was true for Ryan and Will. You hear all about it and you see pictures of it so that you recognize it instantly, but it still seems uniquely beautiful in that same breath. The inside was no less mesmorizing has we came across the shrines, and in some cases, a final resting place, of a whose who of historical figures we had read and learned about all our lives. This experience was just the tip of the iceberg however.
I should warn everyone at this point that my descriptions of all these famous places will not always be breaking new ground for a lot of readers on this forum as I am sure they are familiar enough with most, if not all the places I will mention. Still, I hope people find it entertaining enough and in some cases I hope what I write here will spark enjoyable memories for everyone as you remember what it was like the first time you saw some of these places.
Back to London, though. From Westminster Abbey we walked up Whitehall passing my various Government buildings, most notably 10 Downing Street and the Home of the British Prime Minister, which I suppose will be Tony Blair for a short while longer. Soon the boys got to see thier first magnificent European square, Trafalgar with Nelson's Column dominating the square. The National Gallery, full of works by the world's greatest artists, along with the stand alone spire of St Martin-in-the-Fields further enhance the beauty of the square. The bustling atmosphere also makes for great people watching as well.
This was, however, a whirlwind trip, so we did not linger long before heading down to Embankment Station to head out towards St Paul's Cathedral and its mammoth dome, only second to St Peter's I think, but we had yet to visit the Vatican so St Paul's was IT for us. It must be said that at this point my previously struggling compatriot Ryan had long ago forgotten his fatigue even as we rushed to see the sights at such a breakneck pace. There is no great cure for tiredness like the adrenaline rush you receive from marvelling at all these incredible sights that had previously felt so unreal such was the space between.
Such was the rush that Ryan, no friend to needless cardio vascular activities, did not pause to think about whether it would be worht climbing the seemingly endless stairs St Paul's offered on the way to the top of the dome. And he was duly rewarded with a veiw of London and beyond for miles. We were also fortunate enough have a view from the Cupola which showed a ghostly looking haze descending upon Westmisnter, providing for an erie, yet enchanting photo opportunity. We soon descended to the bottom and further reveled in St Paul's holy offerings before pausing briefly in the Cathedral's cafeteria to receive a little nourishment that would allow us to go on for a few more hours before really stopping for a meal.
From St Paul's we headed further into the Old Town of London to see the Tower of London. Light was fading by this time (around this time of year, it is fairly dark in London by around 4:30) and the woman at the ticket window told us it would be better to come back another time so we were not rushing through the castle, but who knows when we were going to be in London again, so we thought an hour and a half she allotted us with was plenty of time to take in the surroundings. And it really was for the most part. We certainly moved with great pace at some instances, but when we finished with our own personal tour we did not feel like we should have spent more time on any one thing. We saw the Ravens, talked with the Beefeaters, got a feel for medieval times, paused along the dock to snap some beautiful nighttime photos of the Tower Bridge. We did not even really feel like we rushed at all.
I am sure there are more things to see, but again, this is a whirlwind trip through Europe, not a methodical walk. We kind of figured for our first trip through Europe we would just see as much as we thought possible with ruining any of it for us. Then on other trips back we would be more contemplative in what we did and try to appreciate it more than merely enjoying it. And it worked brilliantly for us.
It was about 6 or 7 and already that day we had visited Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London, and we seemed no worse the wear for it. However, I maybe did go a bridge too far with my next undertaking. I decided we would head back towards Central London and Leicester Square to grab a bite to eat, but I thought it would be nice to have Will and Ryan stop off at Covent Garden, a great open-air market with endless amounts of items to buy and a great overall atmospehre. Hunger was catching up with us though and we did not linger long before walking towards Leicester Square and grabbing a bite to eat a popular chain restaurant. Here, Will and Ryan tried out Fish and Chips for the first time, and it met with their approval. Local cuisine would turn out to be a continuing highlight of our trip, and it was really no different in London, though it was probably the least spectacular to all of us. It was here also (though London is certainly so commercialised, and Americanized in some cases that this is not a big issue there) that Ryan and Will learned firsthand that Europe is not service oriented, which is fine for us, but something new certainly. A little more ice and free refills would be a welcome addition, however, to European ettiquette.
After dinner, the day began to wind down for us. We went walking through the carnival atmosphere of Leicester Square en route to Piccadilly Circus and Eros with all its lights. We ventured a short ways down Regents Avenue to view the overhanging Christmas Lights. It was all beautiful and splendid, but it did not feel all that different from New York City at Christmas time, so the wow factor was not really there fo us. Still, Piccadilly always warrants a look.
We coasted on down to Trafalgar once more and breathed in the cool night air as we looked down towards a well lit Big Ben. Then we passed through the Admiralty Arch and walked down the Mall towards our final piece of sight seeing for the day: Buckingham Palace. At nighttime, it was hard to take in all the grandeur of the place, but certainly it did not seem small to Ryan and Will. It was underneath Queen Victoria's statue that we really paused for the first time that day to just sort of take in everything we had done that day and all that we had seen and all that we would see in the coming weeks.
I remember us just sitting there and looking and Buckingham Palace and just thinking and saying to each other, 'Wow! We are just sitting here hanging out in front of Buckingham Palace right now.' We had come a long way and were just glad to be there together. At that point we knew there was never going to be any regret about this trip except leaving and going home. We were happy to be here and ready to go home and get ready for the next day, because by this time tomorrow we would be looking over the City of Light from atop the Eiffel Tower.
I hope in other posts to give you better specifics of my finances for the trip, but for some reason on this day in my travel journal I only listed my total financial output for the day, which came to something like 47 pounds, which I guess is close to about $80 to $90. Not bad I thought. Well, that is all for now, hope to be back with another post before too long. Also, let me apologize now for this and future postings for any punctuation errors as I guess through all this rambling, it is just a post on a Message Board, not literature, so I did not bother much with proofreading. Hopefully is readable and makes sense.
With plenty before us, my friends and I awoke around 8 or 9 to get ready and spend the day in Central London. My friend Will had adjusted pretty well to the time change after a good night's sleep, but Ryan was still struggling a bit as he came to grips with how much ground he had covered in the previous 24 hours, but there was not a moment to lose.
Using much the same scheme for the trains that we had the previous day, I told Ryan and Will not to bother with getting a travelcard in Thornton Heath where we were staying due to the fact that it was Zone 4 and it would have cost extra. I told them not to even bother with getting a travelcard until we actually got into Central London because I planned for us to disembark at Waterloo Station where again (and I know this does not speak volumes of security measures which may well have changed since then) I knew there would be no barrier like there would be at Victoria Station to have to put a card through. We got through fine and only had to buy a Zone 1 travelcard so as to get around on the tube all day.
From Waterloo Station, we walked towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament just a short ways away. I had planned long before this moment to make sure that this would be the way that Ryan and Will would go to see Westminster because it is such a grand and imposing view as you approach it from south of the Thames. You sort of just round a bend, and then there is the River with the Houses of Parliament in all their glory, the spires of Westminster Abbey just poking through in the background, and looking to east is the larger than you would think London Eye as will as the North Bank of the Thames with all its glorious architecture. I wanted Ryan and Will to be blown away by the moment, the grandeur of it all. I know I was the first time.
After overcoming our awe, we crossed the river, glaring at Big Ben the whole time, and headed towards Westminster Abbey. I would have liked to use my Parliamentary Pass to show my friends around the Houses of Parliament in all neo-gothic glory, but was unable to. We headed instead for Westminster Abbey. I had fallen in love with this place back at my first sighting in early September and I think the same was true for Ryan and Will. You hear all about it and you see pictures of it so that you recognize it instantly, but it still seems uniquely beautiful in that same breath. The inside was no less mesmorizing has we came across the shrines, and in some cases, a final resting place, of a whose who of historical figures we had read and learned about all our lives. This experience was just the tip of the iceberg however.
I should warn everyone at this point that my descriptions of all these famous places will not always be breaking new ground for a lot of readers on this forum as I am sure they are familiar enough with most, if not all the places I will mention. Still, I hope people find it entertaining enough and in some cases I hope what I write here will spark enjoyable memories for everyone as you remember what it was like the first time you saw some of these places.
Back to London, though. From Westminster Abbey we walked up Whitehall passing my various Government buildings, most notably 10 Downing Street and the Home of the British Prime Minister, which I suppose will be Tony Blair for a short while longer. Soon the boys got to see thier first magnificent European square, Trafalgar with Nelson's Column dominating the square. The National Gallery, full of works by the world's greatest artists, along with the stand alone spire of St Martin-in-the-Fields further enhance the beauty of the square. The bustling atmosphere also makes for great people watching as well.
This was, however, a whirlwind trip, so we did not linger long before heading down to Embankment Station to head out towards St Paul's Cathedral and its mammoth dome, only second to St Peter's I think, but we had yet to visit the Vatican so St Paul's was IT for us. It must be said that at this point my previously struggling compatriot Ryan had long ago forgotten his fatigue even as we rushed to see the sights at such a breakneck pace. There is no great cure for tiredness like the adrenaline rush you receive from marvelling at all these incredible sights that had previously felt so unreal such was the space between.
Such was the rush that Ryan, no friend to needless cardio vascular activities, did not pause to think about whether it would be worht climbing the seemingly endless stairs St Paul's offered on the way to the top of the dome. And he was duly rewarded with a veiw of London and beyond for miles. We were also fortunate enough have a view from the Cupola which showed a ghostly looking haze descending upon Westmisnter, providing for an erie, yet enchanting photo opportunity. We soon descended to the bottom and further reveled in St Paul's holy offerings before pausing briefly in the Cathedral's cafeteria to receive a little nourishment that would allow us to go on for a few more hours before really stopping for a meal.
From St Paul's we headed further into the Old Town of London to see the Tower of London. Light was fading by this time (around this time of year, it is fairly dark in London by around 4:30) and the woman at the ticket window told us it would be better to come back another time so we were not rushing through the castle, but who knows when we were going to be in London again, so we thought an hour and a half she allotted us with was plenty of time to take in the surroundings. And it really was for the most part. We certainly moved with great pace at some instances, but when we finished with our own personal tour we did not feel like we should have spent more time on any one thing. We saw the Ravens, talked with the Beefeaters, got a feel for medieval times, paused along the dock to snap some beautiful nighttime photos of the Tower Bridge. We did not even really feel like we rushed at all.
I am sure there are more things to see, but again, this is a whirlwind trip through Europe, not a methodical walk. We kind of figured for our first trip through Europe we would just see as much as we thought possible with ruining any of it for us. Then on other trips back we would be more contemplative in what we did and try to appreciate it more than merely enjoying it. And it worked brilliantly for us.
It was about 6 or 7 and already that day we had visited Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London, and we seemed no worse the wear for it. However, I maybe did go a bridge too far with my next undertaking. I decided we would head back towards Central London and Leicester Square to grab a bite to eat, but I thought it would be nice to have Will and Ryan stop off at Covent Garden, a great open-air market with endless amounts of items to buy and a great overall atmospehre. Hunger was catching up with us though and we did not linger long before walking towards Leicester Square and grabbing a bite to eat a popular chain restaurant. Here, Will and Ryan tried out Fish and Chips for the first time, and it met with their approval. Local cuisine would turn out to be a continuing highlight of our trip, and it was really no different in London, though it was probably the least spectacular to all of us. It was here also (though London is certainly so commercialised, and Americanized in some cases that this is not a big issue there) that Ryan and Will learned firsthand that Europe is not service oriented, which is fine for us, but something new certainly. A little more ice and free refills would be a welcome addition, however, to European ettiquette.
After dinner, the day began to wind down for us. We went walking through the carnival atmosphere of Leicester Square en route to Piccadilly Circus and Eros with all its lights. We ventured a short ways down Regents Avenue to view the overhanging Christmas Lights. It was all beautiful and splendid, but it did not feel all that different from New York City at Christmas time, so the wow factor was not really there fo us. Still, Piccadilly always warrants a look.
We coasted on down to Trafalgar once more and breathed in the cool night air as we looked down towards a well lit Big Ben. Then we passed through the Admiralty Arch and walked down the Mall towards our final piece of sight seeing for the day: Buckingham Palace. At nighttime, it was hard to take in all the grandeur of the place, but certainly it did not seem small to Ryan and Will. It was underneath Queen Victoria's statue that we really paused for the first time that day to just sort of take in everything we had done that day and all that we had seen and all that we would see in the coming weeks.
I remember us just sitting there and looking and Buckingham Palace and just thinking and saying to each other, 'Wow! We are just sitting here hanging out in front of Buckingham Palace right now.' We had come a long way and were just glad to be there together. At that point we knew there was never going to be any regret about this trip except leaving and going home. We were happy to be here and ready to go home and get ready for the next day, because by this time tomorrow we would be looking over the City of Light from atop the Eiffel Tower.
I hope in other posts to give you better specifics of my finances for the trip, but for some reason on this day in my travel journal I only listed my total financial output for the day, which came to something like 47 pounds, which I guess is close to about $80 to $90. Not bad I thought. Well, that is all for now, hope to be back with another post before too long. Also, let me apologize now for this and future postings for any punctuation errors as I guess through all this rambling, it is just a post on a Message Board, not literature, so I did not bother much with proofreading. Hopefully is readable and makes sense.
Aug 23rd, 2006, 08:50 AM
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I want to add that we did see a lot and did move quickly, but we never thought that we were missing something. My fellow traveler forgot to mention that we saw the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London too. So for all of those people thinking, "they forgot the crown jewels!" Well, we didn't. I was also trying to think of the restaurant we ate at, but I can't remember now. Might try and find out, and then post it.
Aug 24th, 2006, 10:06 AM
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Sunday, December 9, 2005 - Day 3 - London/Paris
Given that we were going to have a lot of early days over the next two weeks, we let ourselves sleep in a little our last day in England. Our Eurostar train for Paris did not leave until around 13:30 and our only plans before had been to go to the London Eye before going to check in for departure to Paris. Unfortunately, we dragged behind this initial schedule and were unable to ride the London Eye, though this was mainly due to the fact that we did not expect such a large line to ride it. It must be said that this was really the only time where lines were a problem for us in Europe. Being December, we were able to do a lot of things that might have taken hours to wait on during the Spring or Summer which was quite nice and has probably spoiled us for future trips to Europe that do not take place in the Winter.
Having involuntarily saved the London Eye for our next visit to the city, we headed back to Waterloo Station to grab a bite to eat and make sure that everything was good to go for Eurostar. Given other prices I have seen for a Eurostar trip to Paris, I think we did pretty well, largely thinks to our International Student Identity Cards (ISIC). Since we already had a rough itenerary set in September for this trip, we had gone ahead and called the people at ISIC and ordered our tickets over the phone for $60 a piece before I had left for London. ISIC can be overrated at times, but it was a big help here and saved us a fair bit of money I think.
Before and during the train ride, my friends and I were greatly anticipating the beginning of the continental leg of our trip. I know I was especially since the previous few days I had been visiting sights I had covered months ago. But France and Paris was the first time I found myself in an unfamiliar setting for some time so I was definitely excited to be visiting a new place after getting use to London over the last few months and having it feel more like home than a foreign destination. Plus, having lived in London for three months, I had been able to steer me and my mates around London rather seamlessly, but now would be the first time when we really were on our own and it was down to Will's extensive and intensive planning and our collective ability get by in new places that we had never been, and with only the most very basic knowledge of these foreign languages. In fact, we spent part of the train ride over there practicing our basic French phrases that would help us get by. Such was our ignorrance that we did not realize that seemingly all of Paris, nay, seemingly all of Europe spoke good English. It made me feel quite arrogant everywhere we visited in Europe (despite the fact that we were visiting very mainstream places as it was not like London was a bastion for linguistic diversity) spoke decent English while many places in America (outside of heavily Latino populated areas) and England I gather do not bother to appeal linguistically to the foreign traveler. Thus, I have sworn to learn at least one foreign language over the next couple of years.
Back to the trip, though. After practicing our French and reveling in the English and French countryside (as well as the speed at which we passed under the English Channel) we arrived at the Gare du Nord around 17:00 local time. I would suggest that from here that the best thing to do would be to go to your hotel, but Will, in all his infinite wisdom, thought we should carry a backpacks with us and head first to Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur to see the sun set over Paris. So we bought a 3 day Metro pass (since we would be here for two night and three days) for under 19 Euros and headed the Metro stop for Montmartre.
Bear in mind that we were European adventurer novices at this point and the names Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur were just more French words to butcher. I knew of a Bohemian hangout in Paris with its famous stairs to climb to the top, but I was not aware that it was called Montmartre and it was the highest hill around Paris. So we got off the Metro station and questioned how to get to Sacré-Cœur and were pointed more or less in the right direction. We kept rounding a bend of roads that elevated a little higher each time and we began to wonder if maybe we should not be carrying our 50 pound backpacks. Then we saw the beautiful (yet steep) stairway that we would have to climb to get to the top. Mind you, there are probably better ways to the top of Montmartre, but think European novices.
Halfway up, Ryan was in no doubt Will had erred in his planning as he had to take a moment (we all did by this point) to rest before climbing any further. I dropped my bag and scouted ahead and assured them both it was not too much further. It was not, but it was still painful. We finally got around the top of Montmartre and marvelled at the Bohemian setting while catching our breath at the same time. It was beautiful to take in for me and Ryan while Will not took his turn to actually look for Sacré-Cœur. At this point, Ryan and I agreed (in all the breath we could muster) that Will's idea had been well conceived, but very poorly executed. It would have been great to get there at sunset, but being unfamiliar with Paris, we never really stood a chance to make it by then given that this was winter and the sun set early. Yet for Ryan and I the main issue was always having to carry our lumbering backpacks up the hill. We thought for certain that at any given time, Ryan was done for, but he persevered (probably imagining Will as a pinata) and made it to the top.
Once we overcame our bitterness, we realized the trip to Montmartre was definitely worth it (as I am sure anyone who has been there can attest to) no matter what the obstacles, and Will would be forgiven, and it must be said that he ran a thoroughly flawless operation from here on out in regards to his planning. When we finally made it to Sacré-Cœur, all pettiness was completely put to the back of our minds. The cathedral sits on its throne atop Montmartre peering wondrously over the city with and the light shining upon its tall, thin domes gives it an angellic look at night. Moments like this, after months of planning, was why we had wished so greatly to come to Europe I thought. In one instance we were cursing each other, and in the next, we were grabbing our cameras with mouths gaping to snap pictures in order to some how record the granduer of the moment.
Then we turned around and there was a great, well-lit watchtower looming over Paris with a fiery looking eye keeping watch over the city. It the Eiffel Tower of course. Miles away it seemed like the most amazing thing on earth. We were in Paris and loving every second of it. We just sat down on the stairs below Sacré-Cœur and soaked up the amazing feeling. It became quite clear then why this is one of the most romantic cities in the world. I imagine that millions of couples have fallen in love for the first time, or all over again, on top of Montmartre when looking at the beautiful canvas before them. I fell in love with Paris at that very instant.
After gawking over Montmartre, we finally headed back to the Metro to head to our hotel. The Metro is very convenient to use in Paris. It can take you just about anywhere you want to go and is easy to follow. Anyone who is use to the London Underground should not have a problem here. Using it, we headed towards our Hotel, called the Hotel Beauséjour Montmartre (http://www.hbeausejour.com/index.english.html). It was not far from Montmartre as you might guess from the name. I believe it was located around the northwestern part of Paris. It did not take long to get anywhere that we needed to go from there and if you check out that morning, you can still leave your bags there if you are still going to be doing more sightseeing in Paris. It did not have an elevator, but the room was spacious enough for three people with a kind sized bed and a roll away. The bathroom was nice. They did not have regular shower, just a detachable showerhead that you use while sitting in a tub. It costs something like 28 Euros a piece for the three of us staying in the room. It provides breakfast in the morning. Bearing in mind that we are young and so we were not really looking for luxury as much as comfort, it was a great fit for us.
After checking in, we headed spend a little time resting, but not long before head out again around 20:00, this time heading for the Eiffel Tower which would be the main event for our first evening in Paris. We got off at the Metro and were shocked that we did not see it instantly, but we did not have to wait long, and then of course, it was more gawking and picture taking as we looked at the lit-up tower that every now and again twinkled in the night sky for all of Paris to see.
We moved towards le Tour and were absolutely blown away by it for the second time that night, but it would not be the last. Hard to believe that at its genesis Eiffel's iron constructed tower was thought by Parisians to be a terrible eye sore. It was anything but to us from any angle we viewed it from. We marvelled underneath it as we looked up into the belly of the beast and its iron belt. We marvelled from the courtyard beside it. We marvelled from the phone booths as we called our families and told them that we were standing here, talking to them thousands of miles away, looking at the Eiffel Tower.
Sadly, the only strike against le Tour was the incessant hounding from street vendors trying to sale us small, lit-up replices of le Tour. We would say no to one and another would just come right up to us, saying 'half-price'. One even jumped out from some bushes to try and persuade us. We said no thank you and headed straight for the Main booth and spent 11 Euros on a ticket to the top. Again, it was nice to not really have to deal with much of a line as I am sure in the busy season, it would be a two hour wait to go up, but we only waited about twenty minutes before heading up.
Even though it ws nighttime, the sights from atop le Tour were still spectecular. Paris definitely earned its nickname 'City of Light' for from up high as we were. The Grand Palais below was glorious. The Champs-Élysées was unmistakeable and we even spotted the towers of Notre-Dame in the down the River Seine. The wind and the cold made it a little uncomfortable, but it almost added to the joy as me and Ryan in particular dared to walk into a wind tunnel that seemed as though it would blow us off. We could even feel le Tour sway a little bit.
After enough revelling, we finally made our way down the le Tour, still bouncing off the walls though from what we had just seen. It was moments like this that provided us all the adrenaline we needed to make it through our whirlwind trip. We headed to a brasseries not far from our hotel and had Roast Chicken that probably seemed par for the course in Paris, but as tender and juicy as any we had ever encountered. We had a meal fit for kings (or at least distinguished Southern Gentlemen) for a total amount of 4.50 in Euros. I think might total financial output for this day was something like 5 pounds in England and and 60 Euros in Paris, which included our Hotel, a Metro ticket, a tour of the Eiffel Tour, and dinner. Not bad for two countries in one day.
Given that we were going to have a lot of early days over the next two weeks, we let ourselves sleep in a little our last day in England. Our Eurostar train for Paris did not leave until around 13:30 and our only plans before had been to go to the London Eye before going to check in for departure to Paris. Unfortunately, we dragged behind this initial schedule and were unable to ride the London Eye, though this was mainly due to the fact that we did not expect such a large line to ride it. It must be said that this was really the only time where lines were a problem for us in Europe. Being December, we were able to do a lot of things that might have taken hours to wait on during the Spring or Summer which was quite nice and has probably spoiled us for future trips to Europe that do not take place in the Winter.
Having involuntarily saved the London Eye for our next visit to the city, we headed back to Waterloo Station to grab a bite to eat and make sure that everything was good to go for Eurostar. Given other prices I have seen for a Eurostar trip to Paris, I think we did pretty well, largely thinks to our International Student Identity Cards (ISIC). Since we already had a rough itenerary set in September for this trip, we had gone ahead and called the people at ISIC and ordered our tickets over the phone for $60 a piece before I had left for London. ISIC can be overrated at times, but it was a big help here and saved us a fair bit of money I think.
Before and during the train ride, my friends and I were greatly anticipating the beginning of the continental leg of our trip. I know I was especially since the previous few days I had been visiting sights I had covered months ago. But France and Paris was the first time I found myself in an unfamiliar setting for some time so I was definitely excited to be visiting a new place after getting use to London over the last few months and having it feel more like home than a foreign destination. Plus, having lived in London for three months, I had been able to steer me and my mates around London rather seamlessly, but now would be the first time when we really were on our own and it was down to Will's extensive and intensive planning and our collective ability get by in new places that we had never been, and with only the most very basic knowledge of these foreign languages. In fact, we spent part of the train ride over there practicing our basic French phrases that would help us get by. Such was our ignorrance that we did not realize that seemingly all of Paris, nay, seemingly all of Europe spoke good English. It made me feel quite arrogant everywhere we visited in Europe (despite the fact that we were visiting very mainstream places as it was not like London was a bastion for linguistic diversity) spoke decent English while many places in America (outside of heavily Latino populated areas) and England I gather do not bother to appeal linguistically to the foreign traveler. Thus, I have sworn to learn at least one foreign language over the next couple of years.
Back to the trip, though. After practicing our French and reveling in the English and French countryside (as well as the speed at which we passed under the English Channel) we arrived at the Gare du Nord around 17:00 local time. I would suggest that from here that the best thing to do would be to go to your hotel, but Will, in all his infinite wisdom, thought we should carry a backpacks with us and head first to Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur to see the sun set over Paris. So we bought a 3 day Metro pass (since we would be here for two night and three days) for under 19 Euros and headed the Metro stop for Montmartre.
Bear in mind that we were European adventurer novices at this point and the names Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur were just more French words to butcher. I knew of a Bohemian hangout in Paris with its famous stairs to climb to the top, but I was not aware that it was called Montmartre and it was the highest hill around Paris. So we got off the Metro station and questioned how to get to Sacré-Cœur and were pointed more or less in the right direction. We kept rounding a bend of roads that elevated a little higher each time and we began to wonder if maybe we should not be carrying our 50 pound backpacks. Then we saw the beautiful (yet steep) stairway that we would have to climb to get to the top. Mind you, there are probably better ways to the top of Montmartre, but think European novices.
Halfway up, Ryan was in no doubt Will had erred in his planning as he had to take a moment (we all did by this point) to rest before climbing any further. I dropped my bag and scouted ahead and assured them both it was not too much further. It was not, but it was still painful. We finally got around the top of Montmartre and marvelled at the Bohemian setting while catching our breath at the same time. It was beautiful to take in for me and Ryan while Will not took his turn to actually look for Sacré-Cœur. At this point, Ryan and I agreed (in all the breath we could muster) that Will's idea had been well conceived, but very poorly executed. It would have been great to get there at sunset, but being unfamiliar with Paris, we never really stood a chance to make it by then given that this was winter and the sun set early. Yet for Ryan and I the main issue was always having to carry our lumbering backpacks up the hill. We thought for certain that at any given time, Ryan was done for, but he persevered (probably imagining Will as a pinata) and made it to the top.
Once we overcame our bitterness, we realized the trip to Montmartre was definitely worth it (as I am sure anyone who has been there can attest to) no matter what the obstacles, and Will would be forgiven, and it must be said that he ran a thoroughly flawless operation from here on out in regards to his planning. When we finally made it to Sacré-Cœur, all pettiness was completely put to the back of our minds. The cathedral sits on its throne atop Montmartre peering wondrously over the city with and the light shining upon its tall, thin domes gives it an angellic look at night. Moments like this, after months of planning, was why we had wished so greatly to come to Europe I thought. In one instance we were cursing each other, and in the next, we were grabbing our cameras with mouths gaping to snap pictures in order to some how record the granduer of the moment.
Then we turned around and there was a great, well-lit watchtower looming over Paris with a fiery looking eye keeping watch over the city. It the Eiffel Tower of course. Miles away it seemed like the most amazing thing on earth. We were in Paris and loving every second of it. We just sat down on the stairs below Sacré-Cœur and soaked up the amazing feeling. It became quite clear then why this is one of the most romantic cities in the world. I imagine that millions of couples have fallen in love for the first time, or all over again, on top of Montmartre when looking at the beautiful canvas before them. I fell in love with Paris at that very instant.
After gawking over Montmartre, we finally headed back to the Metro to head to our hotel. The Metro is very convenient to use in Paris. It can take you just about anywhere you want to go and is easy to follow. Anyone who is use to the London Underground should not have a problem here. Using it, we headed towards our Hotel, called the Hotel Beauséjour Montmartre (http://www.hbeausejour.com/index.english.html). It was not far from Montmartre as you might guess from the name. I believe it was located around the northwestern part of Paris. It did not take long to get anywhere that we needed to go from there and if you check out that morning, you can still leave your bags there if you are still going to be doing more sightseeing in Paris. It did not have an elevator, but the room was spacious enough for three people with a kind sized bed and a roll away. The bathroom was nice. They did not have regular shower, just a detachable showerhead that you use while sitting in a tub. It costs something like 28 Euros a piece for the three of us staying in the room. It provides breakfast in the morning. Bearing in mind that we are young and so we were not really looking for luxury as much as comfort, it was a great fit for us.
After checking in, we headed spend a little time resting, but not long before head out again around 20:00, this time heading for the Eiffel Tower which would be the main event for our first evening in Paris. We got off at the Metro and were shocked that we did not see it instantly, but we did not have to wait long, and then of course, it was more gawking and picture taking as we looked at the lit-up tower that every now and again twinkled in the night sky for all of Paris to see.
We moved towards le Tour and were absolutely blown away by it for the second time that night, but it would not be the last. Hard to believe that at its genesis Eiffel's iron constructed tower was thought by Parisians to be a terrible eye sore. It was anything but to us from any angle we viewed it from. We marvelled underneath it as we looked up into the belly of the beast and its iron belt. We marvelled from the courtyard beside it. We marvelled from the phone booths as we called our families and told them that we were standing here, talking to them thousands of miles away, looking at the Eiffel Tower.
Sadly, the only strike against le Tour was the incessant hounding from street vendors trying to sale us small, lit-up replices of le Tour. We would say no to one and another would just come right up to us, saying 'half-price'. One even jumped out from some bushes to try and persuade us. We said no thank you and headed straight for the Main booth and spent 11 Euros on a ticket to the top. Again, it was nice to not really have to deal with much of a line as I am sure in the busy season, it would be a two hour wait to go up, but we only waited about twenty minutes before heading up.
Even though it ws nighttime, the sights from atop le Tour were still spectecular. Paris definitely earned its nickname 'City of Light' for from up high as we were. The Grand Palais below was glorious. The Champs-Élysées was unmistakeable and we even spotted the towers of Notre-Dame in the down the River Seine. The wind and the cold made it a little uncomfortable, but it almost added to the joy as me and Ryan in particular dared to walk into a wind tunnel that seemed as though it would blow us off. We could even feel le Tour sway a little bit.
After enough revelling, we finally made our way down the le Tour, still bouncing off the walls though from what we had just seen. It was moments like this that provided us all the adrenaline we needed to make it through our whirlwind trip. We headed to a brasseries not far from our hotel and had Roast Chicken that probably seemed par for the course in Paris, but as tender and juicy as any we had ever encountered. We had a meal fit for kings (or at least distinguished Southern Gentlemen) for a total amount of 4.50 in Euros. I think might total financial output for this day was something like 5 pounds in England and and 60 Euros in Paris, which included our Hotel, a Metro ticket, a tour of the Eiffel Tour, and dinner. Not bad for two countries in one day.
Aug 24th, 2006, 10:46 AM
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Yeah, I had the best intentions of us getting to the top of Montmartre before the sun had set, but I would like to advise all young backpackers wanting to do this with a 50 pound bag straped to their back....NOT to do it. First go to your hotel or hostel, and drop off your luggage. I can guarantee that the view will be just as beautiful at night because of all the lights. Plus, if you decide to do it our way, your fellow travelers might decide to drop kick you in the face when they get their strength back. However, everything worked out and Paris was stunning. Maybe my favorite city that we saw, and that is saying a lot considering all the cities we did see in our two weeks there. More to come...
Aug 24th, 2006, 04:51 PM
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Gentlemen,
Keep this report coming! I am so enjoying hearing the details of your trip and seeing Europe through the eyes of eager and unjaded young people. You are doing a wonderful job of conveying your feelings with each new view and experience.
Teach
Keep this report coming! I am so enjoying hearing the details of your trip and seeing Europe through the eyes of eager and unjaded young people. You are doing a wonderful job of conveying your feelings with each new view and experience.
Teach
Aug 24th, 2006, 06:57 PM
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Europhile23 and 7
I am really enjoying your trip report, especially getting both of your views on your trip. E23, your descriptions of Paris are fantastic. I feel like I am there.
Looking forward to the next installment!
Johanna
I am really enjoying your trip report, especially getting both of your views on your trip. E23, your descriptions of Paris are fantastic. I feel like I am there.
Looking forward to the next installment!
Johanna
Aug 25th, 2006, 10:27 AM
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Monday, December 12, 2005* - Day 4 - Paris
*The date for the previous day was wrong, we were in Paris on Sunday the 11th, not the 9th of December.
We awoke this day at a moderate hour with much to do. We helped ourselves to a wonderful French breakfast of crouissants and bagles with juice. A modest breakfast for sure, but all we required for the day ahead. We probably left our hotel around 10:30 or 11 and made our first stop of the day at le Arc de Triomphe and des Champs-Élysées. I know that this area can seem like a tourist trap and locals probably loathe it, but it is a great stop on any trip to Paris. You just feel like you have to see it. Le Arc was marvelous. It looks a relatively simple design and it is not exactly stand alone architecture, but I guess it does give Paris and empowering feel. Le Arc brilliantly marks that end of des Champs-Élysées and Napoleon would feel satisfied that his victors from Austerlitz have been fully rewarded for their accomplishments as millions and millions of people admire its stature each year.
Our visit to le Arc also showed the incredibly hectic side of Paris. I do not see how it could ever be worth driving down des Champs-Élysées or around le Arc unless you were doing it just do it. The avenue is marked with cars as far as you can see and they seem to race around le Arc. It was not until after we returned home that we discovered we could have gone to the top of le Arc for a beautiful 360 degree view of Paris at daytime which we greatly rued. Still, I'm not sure we felt it would be worth the risk to cross the murderous traffic to reach le Arc, though I suppose there may have been a subway to get there. Even then, by this time, the weather (which ironically was absolutely perfect in England of all places) began to deteriate into a chilly, grey, and endless fog and it would be Italy before we saw the sun again. Not that we let it bog us down. It would have been nice to have a little big better weather, but we figured coming in December made this more probable anyway. If we had to do it over again, we would not change a thing in regards to timing.
From le Arc we next headed to Notre-Dame. This was definitely one of my favorite areas of Paris. I enjoyed our walk up the River Seine up to the Cathedral. I greatly enjoyed looking down onto the river and its bank with the the homes and flats and other buildings just across the street from the river on the southern bank. All of the architecture seems relative, but this was one moment where it did really mesh all together to make for lovely viewing. It felt and looked uniquely Parisian which made me happy because I did not feel like I was being ripped off or taylored to.
I know what you are thinking, wow, this is just the walk up to Notre-Dame. I am probably overdoing it here and there is nothing really at all that great about the Seine with its bordering houses, but it was often the simple things like that I enjoyed as much as the other stuff we did. Things like Swiss rooftops and spires covered in snow or a Roman backway alley that houses a great Pizzeria off the beaten path. Maybe most will agree with me on this sort of thing.
Anyway, back to Notre-Dame. I would not all want to feel as though I was not showing it the proper respect. It's beautiful, plain and simple. The front towers certainly lend it to comparison as almost a poor man's Westminster Abbey, but I think Notre-Dame as much more romantic and spiritual feeling (and I do not consider myself much of anything other than an agnostic as this point in time) about it. It's beautiful of course on the outside and very intimate on the inside. Its darkness inside gives it more reverence I think. This a tourist spot, sure, but this is first and foremost a place of worship, and nobody should belittle the fact. Westminster Abbey felt more like a museum built around a tiny church. If I did consider myself deeply religious, this is the kind of atmosphere that I would prefer to worhsip in. In churches in America I find myself easily distracted, but I think if I came to church to a place like this, I would have greater understanding and affection for what I was sitting through. Our soft whispers to each other inside the Cathedral displayed the respect with which we had for this place within minutes of our visit.
After touring around inside, we spent 4.50 Euros to visit the top of the Cathedral, which provided a great view of Paris, even in the cloudy conditions. After we had conquered the stairs of St Paul's we thought it did not look to high to the top of the cathedral, but either we were wrong or our underestimating really caught us by surprise. I made it up first (I think by this time Ryan and Will were already calling me a 'Machine' for the simple fact that I seemed to show no level of fatigue in anything we did, though I put it more down to adrenaline from being in Europe and wanting to experience absolutely everything I could) and gazed over the city littered with French flags. The Eiffel Tower of course rose out of the grown clearly and we would all make sure to take pictures of ourselves with le Tour looming in the background. Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur were visible to the northwest while all around the Gargoyles, which we absolutely loved, kept guard. I often wonder why sometimes why such evil looking things get put on Cathedrals?
We soon descended from the top and I spent a little while walkinga round the back end of the island Notre-Dame was on because I wanted to get a picture of the Cathedral from the rear with its spire rising up. It was probably early to mid-afternoon that we crossed over the Parisian mainland and walked up the bitterly cold and windy Seine to our next destination, the Louvre.
After reading what follows, people will probably feel that we did not do the Louvre justice and feel that this is one negative impact of a whirlwind trip around Europe. We probably only spent an hour or an hour and a half there. Part of it was the whirlwind factor certainly, but there is more to it than that. We found the Louvre fascinating (I mean, my God, it has pyramid for an entrance), but we are not art afficionados (though we realize there is more than just art there) and do not feel like we could have ever showed it the proper respect. The works of art we saw were famous and we all enjoyed our particular types of paintings, but we cannot really tell you what makes them great besides the obvious. We saw the Mona Lisa and thought it was very interesting, and thought it was cool in general to see maybe the most famous piece of art in the world, but acknowledged we do not know what makes it specifically great. I think we appreciate sculptures more than paintings because it is pretty clear why a good sculpture should be revered. We enjoyed seeing the Venus sculpture. Yet we did not linger long. Again, part of it is down to the whirlwind factor. We had not stopped to eat anything since breakfast and it was getting close to 16:00 or 17:00 and it was cathing up to us. The other factor was that the Louvre was so intimidating. It's just so massive you feel like you spend a week there before you come to close to appreciating all that it entails. That said, however, no one should read into this as a mistake on our trip. We would definitely do it over, because after all, you do get to see such famous pieces of art that you never dreamed of seeing along with the works of names you have grown up with all your life. It was worth it for that alone, and there was more than just that that we enjoyed, all for 8.50 Euros. So overall, absolutely no regrets on our part.
Our search for sustenance led us back towards des Champs-Élysées, which allowed us the chance to see the avenue at dusk and, later, darkness, with Christmas lights further enhancing the avenue's reputation. We walked down a side street off the avenue, and it was off the avenue at a part before des Champs-Élysées gets rediculously crowded with luxury shops, and ate a local brasserie in a nice, calm, easy-going part of town. The place was not too crowded, definitely seeming more local spot than tourist trap. Our dinner there was amazing. The French reputation for culinary excellence is well-earned. I remained loyal to my roast chicken from the previous night (I am a pollo man if nothing else) while Ryan tried the roast duck and Will had the lamb. 'Kudos to the chef' was the verdict all around. We only wished food back home was this good or that we had some local French-style brasseries of our own. Now I must confess that I regret that I do not remember the desserts that we had after dinner. Maybe Will can help me on those, but they were even better than the meal, and the meal was excelllent. We got two different ones and after the first bite we looked at each other wondrously thinking that this might have been the best thing we had ever tasted. It was that good.
After dinner, we began to wind down our day quite early. We still had to go back to our hotel and pick up our bags and head to our next hotel which was closer to the train station that we would be leaving from quite early the next morning, another reason for our early end to the evening as it would be an extremely early wake-up call before leaving Paris in the morning. But we still spent around an hour in the early evening walking up des Champs-Élysées back towards le Arc de Triomphe which looked even better at night time as cars move a million miles an hour around it. Though we would still be in Paris until the morning, we felt like that this leg of the trip was over and the walk down le avenue was felt more like bidding adieu to Paris.
We checked into our new hotel, not far from the train station we would be departing from the next morning (it was either the Gare d'Austerlitz or Gare de Lyon, maybe Will could say), later that night. Like the first one it was simple, but all we needed. It even had an elevator and a shower (making us feel like kings considering our humble standards), though the elevator was only big enough for maybe one person at a time. The hotel was called le Hotel Gobelins (http://www.hotelgobelins.com/frame.html). It may have been our favorite hotel of the trip (again please bear in mind our young person's, simple standards) even though we were probably only there less than 12 hours. We were sad that our time in Paris was drawing to an end, but excited to experience really our first European train ride the next day before ending up Geneva, which would be our third country in three days. Stay tuned.
*The date for the previous day was wrong, we were in Paris on Sunday the 11th, not the 9th of December.
We awoke this day at a moderate hour with much to do. We helped ourselves to a wonderful French breakfast of crouissants and bagles with juice. A modest breakfast for sure, but all we required for the day ahead. We probably left our hotel around 10:30 or 11 and made our first stop of the day at le Arc de Triomphe and des Champs-Élysées. I know that this area can seem like a tourist trap and locals probably loathe it, but it is a great stop on any trip to Paris. You just feel like you have to see it. Le Arc was marvelous. It looks a relatively simple design and it is not exactly stand alone architecture, but I guess it does give Paris and empowering feel. Le Arc brilliantly marks that end of des Champs-Élysées and Napoleon would feel satisfied that his victors from Austerlitz have been fully rewarded for their accomplishments as millions and millions of people admire its stature each year.
Our visit to le Arc also showed the incredibly hectic side of Paris. I do not see how it could ever be worth driving down des Champs-Élysées or around le Arc unless you were doing it just do it. The avenue is marked with cars as far as you can see and they seem to race around le Arc. It was not until after we returned home that we discovered we could have gone to the top of le Arc for a beautiful 360 degree view of Paris at daytime which we greatly rued. Still, I'm not sure we felt it would be worth the risk to cross the murderous traffic to reach le Arc, though I suppose there may have been a subway to get there. Even then, by this time, the weather (which ironically was absolutely perfect in England of all places) began to deteriate into a chilly, grey, and endless fog and it would be Italy before we saw the sun again. Not that we let it bog us down. It would have been nice to have a little big better weather, but we figured coming in December made this more probable anyway. If we had to do it over again, we would not change a thing in regards to timing.
From le Arc we next headed to Notre-Dame. This was definitely one of my favorite areas of Paris. I enjoyed our walk up the River Seine up to the Cathedral. I greatly enjoyed looking down onto the river and its bank with the the homes and flats and other buildings just across the street from the river on the southern bank. All of the architecture seems relative, but this was one moment where it did really mesh all together to make for lovely viewing. It felt and looked uniquely Parisian which made me happy because I did not feel like I was being ripped off or taylored to.
I know what you are thinking, wow, this is just the walk up to Notre-Dame. I am probably overdoing it here and there is nothing really at all that great about the Seine with its bordering houses, but it was often the simple things like that I enjoyed as much as the other stuff we did. Things like Swiss rooftops and spires covered in snow or a Roman backway alley that houses a great Pizzeria off the beaten path. Maybe most will agree with me on this sort of thing.
Anyway, back to Notre-Dame. I would not all want to feel as though I was not showing it the proper respect. It's beautiful, plain and simple. The front towers certainly lend it to comparison as almost a poor man's Westminster Abbey, but I think Notre-Dame as much more romantic and spiritual feeling (and I do not consider myself much of anything other than an agnostic as this point in time) about it. It's beautiful of course on the outside and very intimate on the inside. Its darkness inside gives it more reverence I think. This a tourist spot, sure, but this is first and foremost a place of worship, and nobody should belittle the fact. Westminster Abbey felt more like a museum built around a tiny church. If I did consider myself deeply religious, this is the kind of atmosphere that I would prefer to worhsip in. In churches in America I find myself easily distracted, but I think if I came to church to a place like this, I would have greater understanding and affection for what I was sitting through. Our soft whispers to each other inside the Cathedral displayed the respect with which we had for this place within minutes of our visit.
After touring around inside, we spent 4.50 Euros to visit the top of the Cathedral, which provided a great view of Paris, even in the cloudy conditions. After we had conquered the stairs of St Paul's we thought it did not look to high to the top of the cathedral, but either we were wrong or our underestimating really caught us by surprise. I made it up first (I think by this time Ryan and Will were already calling me a 'Machine' for the simple fact that I seemed to show no level of fatigue in anything we did, though I put it more down to adrenaline from being in Europe and wanting to experience absolutely everything I could) and gazed over the city littered with French flags. The Eiffel Tower of course rose out of the grown clearly and we would all make sure to take pictures of ourselves with le Tour looming in the background. Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur were visible to the northwest while all around the Gargoyles, which we absolutely loved, kept guard. I often wonder why sometimes why such evil looking things get put on Cathedrals?
We soon descended from the top and I spent a little while walkinga round the back end of the island Notre-Dame was on because I wanted to get a picture of the Cathedral from the rear with its spire rising up. It was probably early to mid-afternoon that we crossed over the Parisian mainland and walked up the bitterly cold and windy Seine to our next destination, the Louvre.
After reading what follows, people will probably feel that we did not do the Louvre justice and feel that this is one negative impact of a whirlwind trip around Europe. We probably only spent an hour or an hour and a half there. Part of it was the whirlwind factor certainly, but there is more to it than that. We found the Louvre fascinating (I mean, my God, it has pyramid for an entrance), but we are not art afficionados (though we realize there is more than just art there) and do not feel like we could have ever showed it the proper respect. The works of art we saw were famous and we all enjoyed our particular types of paintings, but we cannot really tell you what makes them great besides the obvious. We saw the Mona Lisa and thought it was very interesting, and thought it was cool in general to see maybe the most famous piece of art in the world, but acknowledged we do not know what makes it specifically great. I think we appreciate sculptures more than paintings because it is pretty clear why a good sculpture should be revered. We enjoyed seeing the Venus sculpture. Yet we did not linger long. Again, part of it is down to the whirlwind factor. We had not stopped to eat anything since breakfast and it was getting close to 16:00 or 17:00 and it was cathing up to us. The other factor was that the Louvre was so intimidating. It's just so massive you feel like you spend a week there before you come to close to appreciating all that it entails. That said, however, no one should read into this as a mistake on our trip. We would definitely do it over, because after all, you do get to see such famous pieces of art that you never dreamed of seeing along with the works of names you have grown up with all your life. It was worth it for that alone, and there was more than just that that we enjoyed, all for 8.50 Euros. So overall, absolutely no regrets on our part.
Our search for sustenance led us back towards des Champs-Élysées, which allowed us the chance to see the avenue at dusk and, later, darkness, with Christmas lights further enhancing the avenue's reputation. We walked down a side street off the avenue, and it was off the avenue at a part before des Champs-Élysées gets rediculously crowded with luxury shops, and ate a local brasserie in a nice, calm, easy-going part of town. The place was not too crowded, definitely seeming more local spot than tourist trap. Our dinner there was amazing. The French reputation for culinary excellence is well-earned. I remained loyal to my roast chicken from the previous night (I am a pollo man if nothing else) while Ryan tried the roast duck and Will had the lamb. 'Kudos to the chef' was the verdict all around. We only wished food back home was this good or that we had some local French-style brasseries of our own. Now I must confess that I regret that I do not remember the desserts that we had after dinner. Maybe Will can help me on those, but they were even better than the meal, and the meal was excelllent. We got two different ones and after the first bite we looked at each other wondrously thinking that this might have been the best thing we had ever tasted. It was that good.
After dinner, we began to wind down our day quite early. We still had to go back to our hotel and pick up our bags and head to our next hotel which was closer to the train station that we would be leaving from quite early the next morning, another reason for our early end to the evening as it would be an extremely early wake-up call before leaving Paris in the morning. But we still spent around an hour in the early evening walking up des Champs-Élysées back towards le Arc de Triomphe which looked even better at night time as cars move a million miles an hour around it. Though we would still be in Paris until the morning, we felt like that this leg of the trip was over and the walk down le avenue was felt more like bidding adieu to Paris.
We checked into our new hotel, not far from the train station we would be departing from the next morning (it was either the Gare d'Austerlitz or Gare de Lyon, maybe Will could say), later that night. Like the first one it was simple, but all we needed. It even had an elevator and a shower (making us feel like kings considering our humble standards), though the elevator was only big enough for maybe one person at a time. The hotel was called le Hotel Gobelins (http://www.hotelgobelins.com/frame.html). It may have been our favorite hotel of the trip (again please bear in mind our young person's, simple standards) even though we were probably only there less than 12 hours. We were sad that our time in Paris was drawing to an end, but excited to experience really our first European train ride the next day before ending up Geneva, which would be our third country in three days. Stay tuned.
Aug 25th, 2006, 10:40 AM
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I forgot to mention all of my finances for the day. The hotel we stayed at that night cost just under 30 Euros a piece for three of us in one room. I spent a further 21 Euros on dinner (have to love no free refills, but the dessert fully warranted the bill) and I think for the day I spent a total of around 65 Euros.
