miLE 6,755 - Paris! Day 3
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Well that was quick couple of days in London and now I'm in Paris! The Eurostar trip was just over 2 hours and it was pretty easy. Left at 7am, got in just after 10am local time. Only thing was the wifi didn't really work at all but I had some interesting travelers in the same coach as me so did a lot of people watching.
Once I made it to Gare du Nord I decided to buy my outgoing train ticket to Cologne at the station before heading on an Uber to my hostel. Not too bad, around 25 minutes or so down to the 15th arondissment of Paris. Got in to the hostel and checked in. Room wasn't going to be ready until 2pm so decided to go grab an early lunch.
Well I couldn't get an early lunch because apparently, in France, lunch doesn't start until exactly noon so ended up having a coffee and starting out the restaurant window for about half an hour before I could order the food. That being said, the food was fantastic. I had a duck breast with mashed potatoes along with a glass of red wine. It was great! Then I hung out in the hostel for a little bit, although it was pretty empty. Got into the room, dropped my luggage off and decided to head for Montparnasse Tower, which I had read had amazing Panasonic views of Paris.
And yes that was absolutely right. What amazing views of the entire city. You get that either at the 56th floor where the observation deck is or if you walk up stairs to the 59th floor you'll get a rooftop terrace view of the whole city. Pictures definitely don't do it justice. Got a couple photos as souvenirs and then decided to head over to the Arc de Triomphe.
Was the first time taking the Paris metro but it was easy. A little more difficult than London just because of the language but I got the gist of it. The area around Arc de Triomphe is pretty nice and 1 stop before you get to the plaza where you can see the Eiffel Tower in it's glory. I wasn't planning on going to the tower since I had a time set up for tomorrow but the pictures were pretty nice.
The Arc de Triomphe is another piece of fantastic architecture that I've seen on this trip. But I wonder if people actually remember what it was built for and what is underneath in the vault. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a place of honor and remembrance for every country. The US has a dedicated guard monitoring our own Tomb. Remembering the sacrifice of our service members and those who unfortunately did not make it back home.
After this stop I had to stop by and get some crepes before heading to one of my old university friends, who lived in a suburb of Paris right outside the ring road. Had a great dinner and it was a good time catching up with him and his family. By this time I feel like I'm running on fumes again. Not necessarily jet lag but having to wake up super early to catch trains and then spending all day walking can be pretty tiring.
Anyways back to the hostel and hopefully meet some people, although it is still pretty empty and I haven't heard any English yet but hey who knows. Tomorrow is definitely going to be a full day as well so stay tuned.
See you at the next miLE!
