Destination : Paris!
Destination : Paris! Saturday morning (15th Sept) and a rather early morning brought the excitement and somewhat nervousness about our trip to Paris! Viva La France, here we come.. LOL We planned as much of our trip, booking hotels, looking up the Mètro Map and researching the language so we didn't look like complete bafoons when we got there! I even chatted to some of my internet pals that had visited not only Paris but elsewhere in France to get their opinions and impressions of the French folk. We also brought one of those typical tourist EYE WITNESS Travel books a couple of weeks before hand in order to read about French life, a menu decoder, typical phrases we would need on arrival as well as an intricate chapter on French History. Clichè as it sounds, those books are really worth the buy and we got like an extended remix version with all the provinces of France, what you could see there, a detailed description of architecture and a detailed map of Paris as well as a tonne of information on where to go and what to enjoy etc, but I digress and more of that later!
On Saturday morning, after checking in at Waterloo International terminal and having our passports stamped we boarded the EUROSTAR to France. On first impressions the EUROSTAR seemed quite amazing - 18 carriages of people all headed to Paris (Paris Nord) and it seemed quite luxurious and roomy and the idea of just being able to catch a train to another country seemed impossible and quite out of reach - well at least in my mind, but not in this day and age. To that moment, the EuroStar would have been or was the most interesting train ride I had ever had , but as we discovered later in the week it did get better....
Anyway, back to the train.... After a short period on the train it became apparent to me that we were sitting opposite some NZ folk (the book the lady was reading had a ChristChurch library stamp on it)... so we got chatting and asked them what they were doing all the way in Merry England etc. Imagine that 3 generations of women travelling together, Grandma (who looked very young and fit for her age), Mum, and her daughter (who was studying at St Martin's College in London and was VERY hungover that morning!) I don't know how they managed to travel together.. LOL.. No offense MUM... ;o)
The time spent on the train seemed relatively short, before I had blinked my eyes we were in the Channel Tunnel, through the tunnel and out the other side - WOW I thought to myself "We are in France!" in fact I went so far as to embarrassing poor Steve and verbalising "Viva La France" and humming the French National Anthem.. LOL! So about an hour and half later Steve and I arrived at Paris Nord (and were greeted by a gorgeously sunny afternoon) hopped off with a whole new enthusiasm and a new city to explore. ;o)
Lucky for us we had done our research prior and booked a hotel across the road "New Hotel", we checked in with an awkward "BonJour and J'ai fait une rèservation Monsieur Hill" and settled into our VERY ORANGE looking room which the fabulous windows made up for and considered what we were going to do for the rest of the afternoon ....and after an afternoon siesta Steve and I set out on foot to explore our new surroundings.
Well actually, we arrived pretty hungry to Paris and considered what we were going to eat and so our nap was brief. We headed out of our hotel, picked a random direction (with a map of course - we weren't THAT silly!) and headed that way - and wouldn't you know it, just around the corner staring at us where the BIG YELLOW ARCHES... Ahhh old faithful reliable McDonalds. We swung into there promptly (as my stomach was growling ferociously now) and checked out the menu. Interesting and different, burger of the week was THE AUSTRALIEN burger ironically enough, but I opted away from that and chose a ROYAL with CHEESE! So bellies full Steve and I were both ready to take on Paris on foot.
At our first corner, we stopped to look at our map and were immediately ambushed by a parisian obviously selling something. I don't know what possessed her to approach us umm HELLO (tourist with map - probably non french speaking!) She promptly began to waffle on in french, we just shrugged at her and went "Sorry, Anglais?" she then switched to a broken English and after a few minutes we couldn't figure out what she was offering and just kind of wandered off on her! LOL. At the next intersection (on our way to Bastille), I was interrupted by an elderly frenchman who asked me for the time. He grabbed my hand to look at my watch and proceeded to plant a Gomez Adams like kiss on my hand, awkwardly I removed my hand and continued to cross the street. It occurred to me after that, he was shifty enough looking and was probably trying to steal my watch! Phew and that was just the first 10 mins of our walk...
Our walk took us to Place De La Bastille, in this square the Bastille Prison (Bastille St Antoine) once stood until it was destroyed finally in 1790 during the French Revolution. The July column ( Colonne De Juillet) that stands in the middle commemorates the events of the July Revolution in 1830. Place De La Bastille joins the 4th, 11th and 12th Arrondissments (Districts) in Paris and it is also the home of the Bastille Opera House. When we got to Bastille there was some sort of HUGE houseparty in play, there were hundreds of wandering teenagers and massive piles of rubbish - not the best first impression of Paris! Anyway, the word Bastille means "Castle" or "Stronghold"....
From there, our feet took us down towards the Seine River. The name Seine - comes from the latin word "Sequana" (Goddess of the River Seine) and originated from the Celtic word "Sicuana" which roughly means "Sacred". The Seine River starts its journey from Burgundy and flows into the English Channel at the mouth. WE walked onto Ile Saint Louis, had a look around there and picked up some La Glacè (Icecream - ultra chocolate!) and sat on the River bank of the Seine and found ourselves looking at the amazing architecture of the Notrè Dame.
You know you are sitting in Paris - when you are looking in awe at the Notre Dame and its Gothic design. At that moment, it dawned upon me "I am in Paris" although I still didn't quite believe it! LOL Notre Dame, translated means "Our Lady." Incidentally, the Notre Dame is found on the Ile de La Citè in the middle of the Seine River. The cathedral today is still used as a Roman Catholic Cathedral and is the seat of the Archbishop of Paris. Construction on the Notre Dame began in 1163 and was only completed around 1345. Since that time the cathedral has undergone several alterations, vandalism, destruction and restorations. A full restoration program for the cathedral was begun in 1845 and lasted a total of 25 years, the architects involved in the restoration period were Jean-Baptiste Antoine Lassus and Eugène Viollet Le Duc. During this time a spire was added to the cathedral and the addition of chimeras (Gargoyles) to the Gallerie De Chimères. The cathedral is yet again in a restoration period which began in 1991.
The architecture of the cathedral is something to be marvelled at and the characteristic gothic style stands out with its pointed arch windows, flying buttresses and Rosè windows. The Notre Dame has also been the site for many significant events in its time such as the coronation of Henry IV (1422) and Napoleon Bonaparte (1804)
Anyway, after relaxing on the river bank for a while and staring at this monstrous piece of architecture, Steve and I decided to slowly make our way back to our hotel room and find dinner along the way. On our return journey to the hotel room, we stumbled across the Opèra National De Paris Garnièr. What a beautiful building. Apparently this opera was designed by Charles Garnièr for Napoleon Bonaparte in 1862 but building did not begin until 1875 due to the Prussian War and the 1871 uprising. It is famous for its Grand Staircase and a false ceiling painted by Chagall in 1964....
Wow, big first afternoon in Paris! Steve and I stopped in a restaurant around the corner from the Opera for dinner and ordered our first real meal in French.. well some French, filled our tummies and headed back to our hotel room for a good night's sleep! Bonne Nuit everyone!
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