Destination : Grenoble to Paris!


Destination : Grenoble to Paris!

Saturday (12th April), Steve and I awoke to a moderately cool, but sunny morning. Today, we were getting on a TGV train to Paris Gare De Lyon to get reacquainted with the city. The day before, Friday we had spent the entire day in our hotel room in Grenoble. WHY? Because, the heaven's had opened overnight from the day before (our skiing day) and stayed open for the entire day. The temperature had also plummeted and it had remained a nice and chilly 3C for most of the day. We did venture out at some point to get dinner and froze our butts off and headed straight back to the hotel room thinking "Mmm, I think we'll stay in today!"

On some colder days in London, we had just braved it or just had to go to work... but the wind had SUCH a chill in Grenoble and it was raining fairly hard we couldn't even keep my umbrella up and Steve's silly waterproof poncho was keeping him dry down to the waist... further down he was getting saturated... It easily motivated us to head back to the hotel room and stay dry....

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah... Steve and I got up and packed up our bags and headed about 2 blocks on foot to the Grenoble Gare station to get on our favourite TGV train to Paris. By some chance on purchasing our tickets, the difference in price between 1st and 2nd class was like £1 so Steve purchased us both a 1st Class ticket to Paris. VERY NICE... First class was truly a treat. It was so much roomier in seat room and leg room. I had actually appreciated the extra room to move because my body was still complaining from the ski adventure two days prior. Actually, on Friday I had woken up almost completely immobile. My body ached so much I couldn't move!

After approximately 3 hour comfortable train ride, Steve and I arrived at Paris Lyon in style. Wow, Paris again....I think the first time was a dream..and we were blessed with lovely weather. Today, the sun was out in Paris and Steve and I did our now OLD and familiar transition between Paris Lyon and Paris Nord by Metro in order to reach our hostel. At Paris Nord, I had the stupid idea that we could actually walk from Nord to Crimee where our hostel was located. I soon regretted that decision when I realised just how far it was...and the sun was beating on our backs. After a nice challenging half hour walk with packs and suitcases we arrived rather knackered at St Christopher's Inn.

Steve knew of the location, but I think neither of us were prepared for how lovely the area around the hostel was. It was located right on the edge of Basin De La Villette, with a groovy bridge that lifted up if any boats came through. St Christopher's Inn had only been open since January 2008 and was brand spanking new...with nice facilities, bar downstairs and free internet and a fresh wood smell that seemed enchanting at first.. but after a few days tended to burn a hole in your nose!

After settling in, Steve and I headed down to the bar to try and be sociable and see if we could meet some fellow travellers... but after one beer and one drink on my part I was falling asleep at the table.... and dragged Steve back upstairs and to bed. Steve had gotten us a twin room with separate beds... which I thought would be weird, but as it turned out it was rather nice.... No someone tossing and turning...No someone hogging the covers... No someone snoring right in your ear... and No someone creeping on to your side of the bed...and most importantly No someone dropping smelly fluffs and creating the dutch oven you always wanted!

And on that note...... Goodnight!

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