London to Paris by Eurostar.
I needn’t have set my alarm as I was up at 4, although didn’t leave till 5:45 to meet Tom and walk to the New Barnet mainline station for a 6:20 am train to St.Pancras International rail station, from where we caught the 8:01 to Paris. Hilary got up at 5 to see me off, and quite a feat as she probably didn’t go to sleep until 2 or 3, as is her usual custom.
I got maybe four hours of sleep, but Tom, it turns out, got maybe two, thanks to the Friday night sounds of karaoke ringing up loudly from the pub below. I never thought of that when I was booking the hotel, but it’s obvious now. Friday or Saturday night at a British pub? How could it not be outrageously noisy? I only hope it’s not like that on Sunday night when Tom next stays there. He was tired!
Still, all went smoothly, from getting our train at New . Barnet and getting to St. Pancras around 7 for pre-boarding check-in and passport control, and we got to our seats on the Eurostar hassle-free. The Eurostar sped us to Paris, hitting speeds of 141 miles per hour in France, after clearing the Channel Tunnel, although we were overall slowed by 30 minutes as the Eurostar ahead of us had hit an animal on the tracks in France. Like the Japanese Bullet Train, the Shinkansen, which I took just a few weeks ago, on board the train there’s really no sensation of super speed, although the Shinkansen is much more of a luxury experience, with respect to the quality of the train itself.
Because of the delay, the journey took about two hours and 45 minutes, rather than expected two hours and 15 minutes, and we arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord railway station just before noon (we lost an hour due to the time zone change). And we sprung into action. We quickly figured out how to get to the hotel by Metro, and were very pleased to find the hotel, La Lapin Blanc (the White Rabbit), on Boulevard Saint Michel, was just minutes from the metro station and in a great location in the Latin Quarter, and was a really nice boutique hotel, with very friendly and helpful staff. Although too early to check in, we left our small overnight bags, and immediately set off for the River Seine, just minutes away on foot, for our one-hour boat tour along the river. Which was excellent.
The Latin Quarter (Quartier Latin), part of Paris’ Left Bank (of the Seine), dates back to the Middle Ages, its name reflecting the use of Latin in higher education, with the University of Paris and Sorbonne University in the district (now merged), founded in 1150 and 1257 respectively. Hence, the area became the intellectual hub of Paris as it was home to colleges, libraries, scholars, and students from across Europe. I recall visiting the area many, many years ago, with Bev, and for years had a Sorbonne University sweatshirt that I loved.
I think this is my fifth visit to Paris, starting in 1970 when I was 19, and most recently in 1997, when I visited with Hilary, Mitchell, Janis, Amy, and Kaye, who was then 10. Bev and I visited Paris with Mitchell and Janis in 1986, a long time wish of Bev’s. She was thrilled to be here and loved it. That was a long time ago. I thought about Bev a great deal during my short visit with Tom, and all that’s transpired. I wish Bev and I could visit again. She’d still love it, and appreciate it even more.
But, back to today. We walked from our hotel maybe 10 minutes or less to the river tour boat, and off we went on our one-hour ride along the river, with fabulous views of Paris as we cruised down the Seine. The weather was still hot, maybe in the high 80s, but the heatwave plaguing Europe, including France, was over, at least for now and we enjoyed weather that ranged from pretty hot but okay to just right.
Running through Paris, as the Thames runs through London, the Seine has 37 bridges that criss-cross it along its length, with the city in many ways designed to be viewed from the city. Unlike London, with its increasingly ultra modern and super high buildings and towers, Paris city planning has kept high rises out of the center and maintained the look of Paris from Medieval times, ensuring that the the Eiffel Tower stands high over the city, unfettered and unobstructed by building around it. And what a fabulous city it is.
The tour of the Seine was lovely, and gave a wonderful overview of the city, at least along its banks. Although London and Paris remind me of one another, partly because each has a major river flowing through its center, and also the range of glorious buildings and surrounding that flank each bank of the river and spread into the surrounding city, not to mention the age of each city itself, but the cities are nevertheless notable different. Paris is not the ultra-modern city that London has become, with its massive high rises and towers, and has made a point of not allowing modernization to deter from its history, keeping high rise structures well out of the city centers, allowing the Eiffel Tower to reign supreme. Like London, Paris is an old city, founded around 250–225 BCE, becoming a Roman city around 52 BCE, then name Lutetia Parisiorum, and renamed as Paris in the 4th Century ACE. Both are beautiful cities, but I must admit, Paris seems lovelier, perhaps because it has maintained its appearance, charm, and vibe – it’s Je ne sais quoi (“that certain something”), refusing to be yet another high-powered ultra-modern city.
We headed back into the Latin Quarter, near our hotel, wandering the beautiful streets, and visited the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens), minutes from the hotel. Just as Paris has taken a different approach to city planning, design, and development, so too has it taken a different approach to parks management. Unlike the heat depleted Royal Parks in London, the gardens here are lush and verdant. Here, there is no walking on the grass, a significant part of the problem with the London parks, and the city continues to water the park lawns despite the heat wave.
We enjoyed the gardens and walking the area, and then headed back to our hotel, looking for a place to eat, among the restaurants in the area, and settled on an outdoor cafe in the Place de la Sorbonne, near the hotel, and enjoyed a lovely meal in lovely early evening weather. I had – well, what else? French onion soup and boeuf (beef) bougininon.
. We had decided to take a hop on-hop off tour of the city tomorrow, but decided to also take the Paris by Night double decker bus tour, which was excellent and a great idea. So great, in fact, that it made the hop on/off tickets we had already booked for tomorrow sort of pointless, as it was almost exactly the same route… but the goal now was to see Paris in the evening, as it would otherwise have been difficult (or impossible) for us to see so much of Paris and its sights lit up. Excellent, and again, what a city!
The bus tour started at the Louvre at 9 pm, as the sum was starting to go down, and lasted a little less than two hours, hitting all the spots – Notre Dame, the the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs-Élysées,
The sights were each wonderful, and even more so as the lights came on in the city, passing the L’Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile (the one we more simply know as the Arc de Triomphe) as we drove along the splendid Champs-Élysées, and as we passed the lit up Eiffel Tower at 10 pm, it came to life, as I think it does on the hour throughout the evening.
Finally, we passed through the Montmartre, an area I hope to visit tomorrow, and stopped in front of the fabulous Moulin Rouge. These places aren’t just famous tourist sites, they are part of the history and the appeal of the city.
As the bus tour ended back at the Louvre, Tom and I walked slowly back to the hotel, maybe 25 minutes away, still soaking in the city and its mystique. We walked through the streets and along the Seine, which was filled with people young and old sitting along its banks, same with picnics or wine, others just sitting and enjoying the ambience, and others partying on a Saturday night. A lovely scene, and a lovely end to the day.
Bon Nuit, at the end of a pretty long, and excellent, day. Tomorrow we visit the Eiffel Tower, and from there the hop on/off bus and more of the city