Day 102/Dia 102/Jour 102 We woke up early’ish (8am), packed a small suitcase and caught the shuttle bus from the campsite to Disney and then the train from Disney to Gare De Lyon, Paris (railway station). A short walk up the road directly opposite the station and we arrived at the hotel Paris Bastille where we were staying for the night, right opposite the Opera Bastille and next to the Place De Bastille and the Bastille Metro station (The Metro is the Paris underground railroad). Also 100 metres from the River Seine. We arrived just before midday but we weren’t allowed into our room until 2pm. Not because the room was occupied but because the receptionist wouldn’t organise who was staying in which room until all of the guests leaving that day had checked out. That was her routine and she wasn’t going to change it, she is French after all! To be fair, she was nice enough and said ‘non’ with a smile but it was a pain for us because we only had a short time in Paris and wanted to settle in before going sight seeing. So, we went for a walk around the local area and grabbed a baguette and a coffee/coke in a little café before going back to the Hotel at 1:30pm. Still not allowed in because it wasn’t 2pm yet, we decided to sit in the foyer and do some research on where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see because we hadn’t had time to do this before, what with going to Disney during the last two days and spending the evenings recovering from all the walking, we just didn’t seem to have the time. At dead on 2pm we were allowed up to the room which was small but adequate, nicely furnished with a lovely bathroom and very comfortable beds. Perfect! When we were packing in the morning I had somehow twisted my back getting the suitcase down and was really struggling with it so before we left the campsite Sue had given me one of the tablets that she’d got in Spain when she hurt her neck earlier in the trip. By the time we got to the Train my back ache had gone but buy the time we got into the hotel room I was struggling to keep my eyes open because the tablets you get in Spain are really strong and whilst they worked really well they had almost knocked me out! So, because we’d had to wait to get in the room we decided to have a siesta before heading out, rather than head out for a couple of hours and then come back before going out again in the evening. Sue was more than happy to have a sleep and, anyway, we really wanted to see Paris by night! After a couple of hours sleep we got ourselves ready and were out by 5:30pm, We walked down to the River Seine to walk to Notre Dame which is on an island in the middle of the river and just a short walk from the hotel. We then planned to walk to the Eiffel Tower which didn’t seem to be far on the map. Well; Paris is a really big city and it was more of a walk to Notre Dame than we expected but a nice walk all the same. Notre Dame is pretty spectacular and well worth a visit. By the time we’d walked there and looked round it was starting to get a bit dark and we were getting hungry so we crossed the river and noticed what seemed to be a nice little street with bars and restaurants so headed that way as it was on the way to the Eiffel Tower. It seems we had stumbled on one of the main eating areas of Paris, really lovely little streets with restaurant after restaurant and all offering food at fairly reasonable prices which was a huge surprise. We had expected prices in Paris to be astronomical considering the fact that everywhere we had been in France to date was really expensive but we sat down for a 3 course meal for 15 Euros each which was not quite Spain prices but great value for France. Sue even had a small jug of wine for 5 Euros which gave her 3 glasses, again, excellent value. Then came the hit …… a pint of beer ….. 8 Euros! WTF! How do they come to that price when you can buy beer in the supermarkets for a lot, lot less?? More evidence of the every day French person being stung in the pocket! It’s not surprising that they all look miserable! After the meal we started to walk to the Eiffel Tower but soon realised that we had bitten off more than we could chew. The problem was that we hadn’t worn any closed in shoes since leaving the UK and were now in jeans, boots and the dreaded socks (Yeuch!). Our feet were killing us! We were both wearing boots that we’d spend all day and evening in back in the UK and which were really comfortable but not now, we had become too used to flip flops and bear feet in the sand! So, we bit the bullet and went on the Metro which was fairly painless and relatively cheap! We got to the Eiffel Tower tube station at 8:55pm, just right because we had read that the tower ‘sparkled’ for 5 minutes at five to the hour so we were just in time. As we left the station we could see the tower lit up in the distance and had to run a bit so as not to miss it ‘sparkling’, not a nice thing to do when your feet are killing you but we made it and it was well worth it! Whilst it is lit up all the time, when it ‘sparkles’ it is quite magical! Sue had a tear in her eye because it was so lovely! A special moment for us both! We walked around and sat under the tower, gazing up at the lovely structure and taking a picture from underneath looking up but decided not to go up it because the queues were so long and it was quite expensive. Anyway, we didn’t need to do that to enjoy it! We then jumped back on the tube and went back to a place that we had read was very lively and close to the area we were staying in. We were winging it a bit really, not knowing exactly where the life was and got off the Metro in the general area. After another short walk we came across loads of life and realised that we were in the area where you really could experience ‘Gay Paris’! So we strolled around the streets heading in the general direction of our hotel and participating in our favourite pastime of people watching! We ended up going back to the hotel at 11:30pm with feet and legs aching. Our beds have never been more welcome! No worries! :-)
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 15:11:39 +0000
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