Europe V: Paris

 We left peaceful Helmsley by bus-train-Chunnel-Metro and arrived in bustling Paris just a few hours later.  The transition from English countryside to giant city was pretty abrupt, and it happened all at once on the first ride we took on the Paris subway.  There we were, standing on the train with all our bags, when the car fills up and takes off.  One stop later the doors open and more people pile in.  At the next stop and the next stop more and more people cram themselves into this tiny compartment that's getting smaller by the minute.  I've never felt so claustrophobic and confined in my life.  Finally we reached our stop and shoved our way out onto the platform.

Ellen had done such a great job navigating us in London that I didn't expect anything different in Paris, but this city had it out for us.  We walked out onto the streets into the hottest weather we'd had this whole trip, pulled out our map, and started walking toward our hotel.  Well our map decided to leave off a couple streets here and there so fast forward 45 minutes later and...we were still...walking...towards...I have no idea.  Strangely enough my extensive knowledge of the French language and culture didn't help in this situation.

After a meltdown and regrouping Ellen mastered the map and we arrived at our hotel - to find a note left at the front desk from our great friends Bradley and Kiersten Hasemeyer, who just so happened to plan their trip to Paris at the same time as ours and who were staying in our hotel.  We wiped the sweat off of us in our room, then headed down and knocked on their door.  They had already bought a picnic dinner and we made the quick 5 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower.  We ate cheese, bread, and strawberries and drank wine.  It's still my favorite thing we did in Paris.  The Paris leg of our trip was finally starting to look up.

The next day we went with Bradley and Kiersten to the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, and the Louvre gardens.  We then walked over to Rue Montorgueil, a charming street full of markets, restaurants, and little shops.

We stopped for lunch at an amazing French bistro owned by an old couple.  They didn't speak a word of English but completely shattered the stereotype that the French don't like Americans.  He was the kindest man who just wanted us to have a great lunch.  And it was.

The next day Bradley and Kiersten went on a bike tour, but since Ellen rides a bike about as well as a legless man we decided to sit that one out.  Instead we started our own walking tour.  First we visited the Rodin sculpture garden - home of The Thinker, which is a sculpture of a guy trying to remember where he left his clothes.

Then we headed over to Luxembourg Gardens, where so many people stood around doing Tai Chi it was hilarious.

Next we were off to Sacre Coeur, a church on a hill with a killer view of Paris.  Finally we walked to the Orsay Museum, which actually is a converted train station.  This was one of the most beautiful buildings we saw in Paris, not to mention the fact that it contained very famous Van Goghs, Lautrecs, Cezannes, and more.

We met up with the Hasemeyers at Notre Dame, took some awful pictures of ourselves (sunglasses would have been nice), then headed to dinner.

We ended the day with the Hasemeyers, checking out the Louvre by night and sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower again.  It was something I wanted to do every night.  Then gypsy children tried to steal our stuff, so the magic was sort of broken. But c'est la vie, as the Parisians say.

Sadly, our Europe trip was coming to a close.  The next morning we hopped back on the Chunnel since our flight left from London.  We had just enough time to grab lunch in Kensington High Street before we had to hop on the plane.  That lunch (at Wagamama) was a quiet and sad one, since the trip for which we'd been saving for over a year was ending.

We just have to tell ourselves not to worry.  The travel account is accepting regular deposits.

Europe I: London, Europe II: Leavesden, Europe III: Durham, Europe IV: Helmsley