Paris day-trip
A coworker pointed out to me that if we were going to London anyway, we might consider a day-trip to Paris. I hadn't realized that it was only about a two-hour train ride. So we did that.
We booked a tour package that started/ended in London, so they arranged train tickets and the local guide. That was absolutely the right thing for us beginners to do -- and I would not do it again. Lesson learned: book our own train tickets (and get to choose the times and the seats) and either find a local tour or use the on-and-off tour-bus loop. This worked ok, but I would have allocated the time differently.
When in Paris one must, of course, go to the Eiffel Tower, a structure that was (we were told) meant to be temporary. There is a metal fence up on the viewing deck to keep people from falling; its openings are about 5-6" wide. I have never craved a lanyard for my smartphone as much as the day I stood there taking pictures through that fence. (My regular camera has a lanyard and I never thought about this for the phone -- but having thought about it now, I have no idea how I would do that. A special case, I guess?)
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
We took a riverboat down the Seine and saw some lovely sights, but the few pictures I took didn't come out very well. (The seating was good for seeing but not very good for taking pictures. Which is fine; the primary goal is to enjoy the experience, after all.) We enjoyed the tour on the Seine a lot more than the one we took on the Thames; there was more to see.
We saw the outside of the Louvre but didn't go inside (bummer!). I wasn't expecting this sculpture in the courtyard:
From Paris 2014
This picture inside Notre Dame doesn't do the place justice, but low-light photography plus crowd is hard:
From Paris 2014
Shortly before sunset we went up to the roof of a building that's set up for lounging around:
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
(Album link)
We booked a tour package that started/ended in London, so they arranged train tickets and the local guide. That was absolutely the right thing for us beginners to do -- and I would not do it again. Lesson learned: book our own train tickets (and get to choose the times and the seats) and either find a local tour or use the on-and-off tour-bus loop. This worked ok, but I would have allocated the time differently.
When in Paris one must, of course, go to the Eiffel Tower, a structure that was (we were told) meant to be temporary. There is a metal fence up on the viewing deck to keep people from falling; its openings are about 5-6" wide. I have never craved a lanyard for my smartphone as much as the day I stood there taking pictures through that fence. (My regular camera has a lanyard and I never thought about this for the phone -- but having thought about it now, I have no idea how I would do that. A special case, I guess?)
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
We took a riverboat down the Seine and saw some lovely sights, but the few pictures I took didn't come out very well. (The seating was good for seeing but not very good for taking pictures. Which is fine; the primary goal is to enjoy the experience, after all.) We enjoyed the tour on the Seine a lot more than the one we took on the Thames; there was more to see.
We saw the outside of the Louvre but didn't go inside (bummer!). I wasn't expecting this sculpture in the courtyard:
From Paris 2014
This picture inside Notre Dame doesn't do the place justice, but low-light photography plus crowd is hard:
From Paris 2014
Shortly before sunset we went up to the roof of a building that's set up for lounging around:
From Paris 2014
From Paris 2014
(Album link)