London (actually Paris) - Day 4

Wow today was a busy day.  We got up at 4 AM to get ready and be at St. Pancras International Station at 5:45.

St. Pancras International and Kings Cross Station in the early dawn

We were to meet our tour guide at the groups area, but we got there early and our group leader wasn't there yet.  We hung around with a bunch of other prople who slowly drifted away as other groups were called.  Finally a lady with an Evan and Evans tour paper arrived and checked us in.  We had to go through passport control and security and then all that was left was to wait for the train.  We took the 7:15 train to Paris via the Chunnel.  Paris is one hour ahead of London so we got in at 9 something.  It was interesting to see the countryside and scary when another train would pass.  Finally they announced that we were entering the Chunnel and that it would be 20 minutes before we were out the other side.  Mom and I had been waiting for that and then we were going to go get breakfast from the dining car.  But there was some tour guide talking to this person and that person while standing in the aisle.  Finally we just got up and walked past him.  We got some coffees, muffins, yogurt and fruit.  When we got back to our seat that guy was sprawled across them snoozing.  Really!  I said excuse me and he got up and went back to wherever he came from.  After eating we watched the French countryside pass us until we fell asleep like everyone else.

I regret nothing...

French countryside

We all drowsily awoke when they announced we were coming into Paris.  They told us we'd find our tour guide on that end of the tour at the end of the platform and thank goodness he was there.  His name was Sami and he spoke very rapidly in English with a French accent, making it hard to understand him at times.  (He also wore a very chic fedora and all my brain kept saying was "Sami dans le chapeau.")  He rounded us up, counted us off and then off we went...and we never stopped!  We started by getting on a Big Bus Paris and listed to the commentary while I took a million pictures.  We saw THE Paris Opera House, the Luxor Obelisk, the Arc du Triomphe and then stopped at the Eiffel Tower.

Waiting for the bus

Our ride for the day

Just a random building, but EVERYTHING was ornate

Bakery and Library...my kinda store

Palais Garnier or The Paris Opera House...you may have heard about it from
a small musical called The Phantom of the Opera... ;)

The front of the Opera House

The Luxor Obelisk

Champs Elysees

Arc du Triomphe

A replica of the flame from the Statue of Liberty
Over the entrance to the tunnel that Princess Diana died in...

Here Sami got us through the line and up to the second platform.  I was worried how Mom would take it with her fear of heights and, other than hiding behind me as we went up in the elevator, she was okay!  There wasn't a whole lot of wind and the tower felt very sturdy which helped her.  We walked all the way around and I took pictures of pretty buildings that I didn't know the name of.  Sami had told us not to stop at the gift shop, but I really wanted something from the Eiffel Tower!  He caught us nonchalatly trying to make it in one time and took us back out to enjoy the view and showed us where the model of the Statue of Liberty was on an island in the Seine.

See there at the far end...the smaller Statue of Liberty...

We took pictures and when he wasn't looking we ran into the gift shop through another door.  I got a small Eiffel Tower and a coin with the year and a bunch of the famous sights of Paris on it and I thought the lady said it would be 10 Euros to run my card!  I said I didn't have any cash and she just rolled her eyes and ran it, but when I looked at the receipt it didn't look like there were 10 extra Euros on there as a charge.  Sami gathered us back up and we went to lunch on a side street close to the tower.  Mom had a chicken Caesar salad and I had spaghetti bolognese and both of us had a Coke Zero.  Those bottles were pretty fantastic with all the writing in French and "Have a Coke with Copine" on it.

Next to the restaurant were some souvenir shops and Mom got some postcards while I picked up a small bag and a magnet.  The man there spoke English much more clearly and he said I needed to buy 10 Euros worth of merchandise to run the card.  So that's what the lady at the Eiffel Tower was talking about!  Mom said we'd put our items together and then we picked up a few more things just to be sure we made the minimum.  We overachieved of course but it was all stuff we wanted!  Sami (dans le chapeau) then took us back past the Eiffel Tower and took pictures for us in front of it.

Sami our guide

Then we took an open top river barge ride down the Seine around Notre Dame and back up the other side.  Lots more pictures of course.

Pont Alexandre III Bridge

Seen in many movies, including the animated movie Anastasia
(I admit it took that reference for me to recognize it...)

The Louvre from the Seine

Notre Dame...

...all...

...the way...

...around

Not even sure what this was, but it was beautiful

From the cruise it was back on the bus and more sightseeing and commentary.  From the commentary I got that the French really like Napoleon and Marie Antoinette, even though when they were living they weren't their biggest fans (exile and guillotine aren't the usual ways you show your love).  Eventually we were dropped off at Notre Dame and Sami took us around explaining what the different sculptures were around the doors and how they were each unique and told a story.  He also showed us Kilometer Zero which is the point from which all distances are measured across France, which is a marker in the plaza in front of Notre Dame.  It is also considered the official "center" of Paris.

The Louvre

Notre Dame

Kilometer Zero

Sami got us in on the fast track again (good thing as the line stretched across the plaza) and we were given 15 minutes to see it.  Yikes!  They were having a service while we were there, so I walked in a bit and then we sat and just took a moment to appreciate the beauty, see some of the service and get a good dose of frankincense.  We got up and walked all the way around the perimeter, while I took pictures of as many stained glass windows as I could.  All the way around there are smaller chapels to individual saints and each has beautiful statuary and unique stained glass windows.  We made it back around to the front and the pictures I took down the nave which really give you the impression of the immensity of that church.

There was a large basin of holy water for blessing and Mom and I blessed ourselves and listened while the organ was played just a bit.  Then we ran (okay, we walked briskly) to catch up to our tour.  Back on the bus we were driven to Pont des Arts or "Lovers Bridge" where the number of padlocks placed on the rail has cause some of the rail to fall.  There were locks on a lot of the bridges there in Paris, but this was the "one" that started it all.  There were even vendors there in the middle of the bridge selling locks.

Just across from that was the Louvre.  Mom and I opted out of paying more to run and see the Mona Lisa, but we got to walk through the entrance (which is in the large glass pyramid!) down and through to see the inverted pyramid and Sami had Mom and I touch the bottom while he took our picture.  From there he escorted us and another couple to the Avenue de l'Opera leading up to the Palais Garnier (aka the Paris Opera House) for shopping.  Most of the other people we were on the tour with were Australian and one guy was from New York.  The couple we were with decided to just stick with us while Mom and I shopped.  We went into La Mere Poulard, a chocolate and cookie shop, and Mom got some chocolate for her people at work and we got some cookies and chocolate for ourselves.  Then we stopped in a bookstore for me and I got some children's books in French.  When we left that store they were missing.  We were supposed to meet the rest of the group at the Lindt store or at bus stop number 3.  Figuring they went up to find the meeting place we checked the store one more time and kept walking.  I bumped into a lady accidentally in the store and managed to get "Pardon!" out instead of the english equivalent "excuse me."  My French was already getting better. ;)  We found them eventually and they said they couldn't find either of the meeting spots.  Sami had said the Lindt store was to the left of the Opera House, but we couldn't find it no matter how far we walked around to the left.  Well now we didn't know which stop was number 3 and we couldn't find the Lindt store.  Finally the man from the Australian couple stopped a Big Bus and we found the corner where stop 3 was.  Famished and thirsty and with our feet hurting, we found a cafe close by, Le Grand Cafe Capucines.  I read the menu and the lady from the couple said she wanted a latte.  They had cafe du creme on the menu and I said that was close.  She went for a soda instead but I ordered two of those plus a chocolate cake for Mom and I to share.  Mom also asked for water and it's pretty common for them to ask if you want still or sparkling over here.  He did and she looked at me panicked.  Still, I said.  The food was AMAZING.  The chocolate cake was gooey and lava-like inside and went perfectly with the coffee.

We paid quickly and went to meet Sami and the rest of the group.  Then we all headed down to the almost hidden Lindt store and Mom and I picked up more chocolate and I got some for my people at work there.  At this point we were crazy tired.  One more bus and a walk back to the station and we were free.  We tipped our guide, filled out our entrance cards, made it through passport security and border control (again), found a bathroom, got some more desperately needed water, bought a newspaper for the novelty of it and collapsed on to our train.  Which is where I typed all of this originally on my iPhone on our ride back to London.  Phew!

The Paris Gare du Nord train station

Fun Observations of the Day - Paris is really smoggy, or at least it was when we were there.  When I blew my nose that night it looked like I'd been working outside in the garden and dirt.  Yuck.  Parisians weren't that unfriendly to us.  We'd been told that they would be rude, but overall (and we were with a tour group only) they were nice.  It requires at least 10.00 Euros of goods before they'll run your credit card.  All Parisians face out towards the street at a cafe.  We saw this multiple times when we would pass them.  All their chairs facing the street, not the table.  Their coffee is really REALLY good.  At the Eiffel Tower there will be ladies who come up and ask you if you speak English.  They are what Sami called "gypsies" and what we would call pickpockets.  I had one come up and ask me just that and I kept walking and didn't make eye contact.  They have bunches of boats that line the Seine and they are barge like, with living spaces up on top that look like gardens with sitting spaces.  The bridges are amazing and when you ride on a barge under them and let your eyes unfocus, the small bricks distort as they go by.  I finally got to put my high school French to good use!  You become numb to all of statues and gold leaf and extravagance of all the buildings eventually.  It's sad, but true!

Step Count - Carrie:  14286 steps, 7 floors climbed.  Cindy:  13802 steps, 9 floors climbed.