An American in Paris
Ok, no the most original title, I know, but I thought it was cute! hehehe
Sooo, what did I do in Paris? Lots! Anna and I left Zurich late Friday night on the Night Train. It was an ok trip, but I have decided that night trains are way too cold to sleep on! (however this time was better than coming back from Salzburg) But, when we pulled into the station at 6:45am, we shook off our sleepiness and hit the ground running! When you have only 3 days in Paris, you want to cram in as much as possible, believe you me!
First item of business was to find our hostel & dump our luggage. We were having a bit of trouble figuring out the Metro system (after all, it was only 7am and we were still a bit groggy), so after consulting the map, we decided it wasn't too far of a walk from the train station. It really was a nice walk, morning breaking, everything was still pretty quiet. Great way to start the trip.
When we arrived at the hostel, we found out we couldn't check in yet, but we could leave our luggage in the locker room. Hurrah! We then decided the first thing we had to see was Notre Dame. (naturally) There was a metro stop directly across from the hostel & with determination, we figured out how to buy tickets and get where we wanted to go. (we later found out that the metro was going to be a very good friend on this trip, because Paris was MUCH bigger than we'd anticipated)
It was so cool, because once we climbed up from the underground station, boom! there she was, Notre Dame! Amazing! For those of you, who (like me before this trip) don't know, Notre Dame is actually situated on an island in the middle of the Seine river and, in the courtyard, there is a small metal disk called "Point Zero" from which all distances in Paris are measured. Neat, huh?
After admiring the entrance, we made our way inside. Wow. That had to be my first reaction. It is as big and beautiful as people say. The stained glass windows are gorgeous and it is so dark & gloomy. Very medieval. We had managed to make it there before the tourist rush (guess not many folks are out and about at 8am on Sat, even the Asian tour groups, lol) so we were able to really take our time and walk through undisturbed. Fortunately, Anna is alot like me, in she is not a "take a million photos" tourist (I know, I know, I do take SOME!), wander about without the whole "hang on, just a couple more pictures" and "hey, can you take one of me in front of this, too?". I mean, those kinds of pics never come out anyway, right?
Once we emerged from the dark interior, we made our way round the outside of the cathedral. What can I say? Flying buttresses, gargoyles, it was all there! We then considered climbing up to the steeples, but that part wasn't open yet, so we decided to put that off til later.
Back on the metro and next stop, Eiffel tower! It is HUGE!!! I don't exactly know what I was expecting, but it wasn't THAT big, in my mind's eye. I mean, each of the leg-things at the base (what are those things called?) was as big as a small house! I kid you not!
So, we decided it was well worth it to wait in line for the lift, excuse me, elevator, (that's the British English rubbing off on me). It took about 45 min in line and then another 45 min to get to the top (you have to get off the bigger elevator that only goes to the 2nd level and then line up AGAIN for the smaller ones going to the top) but it was well worth it! A wonderful panoramic view of Paris. (this is where we realized Paris was way bigger than we thought). Notre Dame, the Louvre, Museum Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, we could see it all.
After all the waiting in line (to get up there and then to get down again), we were quite hungry. We popped into a little shop down the road and bought a quiche (pour moi/for me ) and a chicken sandwich for Anna (on a baguette, of course) & ate our lunch in a garden in the shadow of the Eiffel tower. Cool, huh?
By this time, it was getting close to the time we told Front-desk Guy @ the hostel we'd be back to check in (they were pretty insistent on the website, if you weren't there within X amount of time to check in, you could loose your room), so we headed back there. There we had a nice surprise...the 3-bed room that we reserved turned out to be a dorm room with 12 beds!! Excuse me?? According to FDG ^, the last manager had screwed up many of the reservations and that was the only place available for that night (we'd ge the 3 bed-room the next night). Grrrr! So, being left with no real choice, we sucked it up and checked in. I'm glad I wasn't traveling alone, otherwise I'd have probably gone to another hostel. Ah well...
Museum Orsay was the next place on our list. I had downloaded a free audio tour from Rick Steve's website (thank you, Karen, for the tip!) for Museum Orsay, as well as the Louvre and a historic walk through Paris. It was really good for this museum (I'm sure we were a funny site, sharing my earphones at the same time, but it worked!). Museum Orsay is actually in an old train station, so not only is the art very interesting, but the building itself.
That took us about 2 1/2 hours (they finally kicked us out at closing time), so we bought an ice cream and contemplated dinner. We headed out to an area recommended by our guide book and there found a quaint little restaurant. We were a little unsure at first if it would be any good, because only 2 other tables were occupied when we got there. We needn't have worried. But the time we left it was chock-full of folks speaking French.
I had a salad with toasted goat cheese (yummy) and beef burgundy over rice. Ahhh, full stomachs at last! We had unwittingly ended up not far from the Pantheon, so we strolled up to check out the exterior (it was closed for the day) before finally calling it a day.
We figured we had been up for about 15 hours by the time we finally got back to the hostel. So, needless to say, we slept like babies that night. (in spite of the 8 guys and 2 other girls in our room, lol)
stay tuned for another exciting episode, coming soon!! (have to get some studying done...finally got my test date! Will be taking it on the 24th!!)
Sooo, what did I do in Paris? Lots! Anna and I left Zurich late Friday night on the Night Train. It was an ok trip, but I have decided that night trains are way too cold to sleep on! (however this time was better than coming back from Salzburg) But, when we pulled into the station at 6:45am, we shook off our sleepiness and hit the ground running! When you have only 3 days in Paris, you want to cram in as much as possible, believe you me!
First item of business was to find our hostel & dump our luggage. We were having a bit of trouble figuring out the Metro system (after all, it was only 7am and we were still a bit groggy), so after consulting the map, we decided it wasn't too far of a walk from the train station. It really was a nice walk, morning breaking, everything was still pretty quiet. Great way to start the trip.
When we arrived at the hostel, we found out we couldn't check in yet, but we could leave our luggage in the locker room. Hurrah! We then decided the first thing we had to see was Notre Dame. (naturally) There was a metro stop directly across from the hostel & with determination, we figured out how to buy tickets and get where we wanted to go. (we later found out that the metro was going to be a very good friend on this trip, because Paris was MUCH bigger than we'd anticipated)
It was so cool, because once we climbed up from the underground station, boom! there she was, Notre Dame! Amazing! For those of you, who (like me before this trip) don't know, Notre Dame is actually situated on an island in the middle of the Seine river and, in the courtyard, there is a small metal disk called "Point Zero" from which all distances in Paris are measured. Neat, huh?
After admiring the entrance, we made our way inside. Wow. That had to be my first reaction. It is as big and beautiful as people say. The stained glass windows are gorgeous and it is so dark & gloomy. Very medieval. We had managed to make it there before the tourist rush (guess not many folks are out and about at 8am on Sat, even the Asian tour groups, lol) so we were able to really take our time and walk through undisturbed. Fortunately, Anna is alot like me, in she is not a "take a million photos" tourist (I know, I know, I do take SOME!), wander about without the whole "hang on, just a couple more pictures" and "hey, can you take one of me in front of this, too?". I mean, those kinds of pics never come out anyway, right?
Once we emerged from the dark interior, we made our way round the outside of the cathedral. What can I say? Flying buttresses, gargoyles, it was all there! We then considered climbing up to the steeples, but that part wasn't open yet, so we decided to put that off til later.
Back on the metro and next stop, Eiffel tower! It is HUGE!!! I don't exactly know what I was expecting, but it wasn't THAT big, in my mind's eye. I mean, each of the leg-things at the base (what are those things called?) was as big as a small house! I kid you not!
So, we decided it was well worth it to wait in line for the lift, excuse me, elevator, (that's the British English rubbing off on me). It took about 45 min in line and then another 45 min to get to the top (you have to get off the bigger elevator that only goes to the 2nd level and then line up AGAIN for the smaller ones going to the top) but it was well worth it! A wonderful panoramic view of Paris. (this is where we realized Paris was way bigger than we thought). Notre Dame, the Louvre, Museum Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, we could see it all.
After all the waiting in line (to get up there and then to get down again), we were quite hungry. We popped into a little shop down the road and bought a quiche (pour moi/for me ) and a chicken sandwich for Anna (on a baguette, of course) & ate our lunch in a garden in the shadow of the Eiffel tower. Cool, huh?
By this time, it was getting close to the time we told Front-desk Guy @ the hostel we'd be back to check in (they were pretty insistent on the website, if you weren't there within X amount of time to check in, you could loose your room), so we headed back there. There we had a nice surprise...the 3-bed room that we reserved turned out to be a dorm room with 12 beds!! Excuse me?? According to FDG ^, the last manager had screwed up many of the reservations and that was the only place available for that night (we'd ge the 3 bed-room the next night). Grrrr! So, being left with no real choice, we sucked it up and checked in. I'm glad I wasn't traveling alone, otherwise I'd have probably gone to another hostel. Ah well...
Museum Orsay was the next place on our list. I had downloaded a free audio tour from Rick Steve's website (thank you, Karen, for the tip!) for Museum Orsay, as well as the Louvre and a historic walk through Paris. It was really good for this museum (I'm sure we were a funny site, sharing my earphones at the same time, but it worked!). Museum Orsay is actually in an old train station, so not only is the art very interesting, but the building itself.
That took us about 2 1/2 hours (they finally kicked us out at closing time), so we bought an ice cream and contemplated dinner. We headed out to an area recommended by our guide book and there found a quaint little restaurant. We were a little unsure at first if it would be any good, because only 2 other tables were occupied when we got there. We needn't have worried. But the time we left it was chock-full of folks speaking French.
I had a salad with toasted goat cheese (yummy) and beef burgundy over rice. Ahhh, full stomachs at last! We had unwittingly ended up not far from the Pantheon, so we strolled up to check out the exterior (it was closed for the day) before finally calling it a day.
We figured we had been up for about 15 hours by the time we finally got back to the hostel. So, needless to say, we slept like babies that night. (in spite of the 8 guys and 2 other girls in our room, lol)
stay tuned for another exciting episode, coming soon!! (have to get some studying done...finally got my test date! Will be taking it on the 24th!!)