Today we headed out really early! We took a cab from near our B & B to St. Pancras and caught the 8:00am Eurostar train under the chunnel to PARIS!! We stored our luggage at the train station and only brought small handbags with our essentials. We arrived in Paris around 11:30am and here is where things started to go downhill! We had originally decided we were just going to take a taxi everywhere we wanted to go. On the train, these young girls had been telling us about a Hop-on-Hop-off bus that they were going to take that had like 50 stops on the route. We thought this would be great- we had done this in London and loved it. So we went ahead and bought the HOHO bus tickets. MISTAKE! We then left the train station and were immediately approached by these gypsy girls asking us if we speak English. This was a pick-pocket scam I had read about so we quickly got away! We went over to wait for the bus and got on. Then we sat and waited for about 40 minutes. Finally we were off! Our first stop was the Opera Garnier- famous for Phantom of the Opera!
Of course in my poor planning for the day- I didn't check opening times and so we had about an hour until they opened for the day at 1:30pm. So we crossed the street and sat at an outside cafe across the street. We people watched, ate a sandwich and had $5.00 Cokes!
After we finished our lunch, we headed into the opera house!
We waited again for the HOHO bus and then took it over to our next stop at Notre Dame! Along the way we saw much of the city of Paris, including the outside of the Louvre.
Notre Dame was awesome! We walked through it and admired the beautiful stained glass, the amazing carvings and statues and all the history within.
Notre Dame
This point in front of the cathedral marks the center of Paris.
The most famous gargoyle from Notre Dame
We had wanted to go to Sainte Chapelle, but felt we were running low on time (it was about 3:30 by now), and we wanted to see the rest of the things we wanted (Arche de Triomphe, Champs de Elysee, and the Eiffel Tower) before meeting up with mom's friends for dinner at 5:30. The plan was to do these things today and then spend the morning at the Louvre before heading back to London. So we waited and waited for our HOHO bus. For about 40 minutes! At one point we tried to find a taxi, but none were to be found. So finally the bus comes and we hop on! After about 20 minutes on the bus trying to figure out what street names they were announcing, I realize that we GOT ON THE WRONG BUS!! We ended up taking this bus al the way to the Bastille- the complete opposite end of Paris that we wanted to go. I was so mad! I felt like we wasted our whole day and would never be able to see everything we wanted. And I was tired. And hungry. My advise to anyone would be to Never ever ride the HOHO bus in Paris when you only have 1 day!
The Bastille
So we finally made it to our hotel and found mom's friend Joan in the Lobby! She was working on her scrapbook and waiting for us. It was so nice to see a friendly face after what had felt like a very unfriendly and stressful day in this city! We headed up to get freshened up. Here is where I finally am able to get on the internet in the hotel room to check my email- only to discover that British Airways is on strike, and OUR FLIGHT HOME HAS BEEN CANCELLED!!! Now I totally lost it and broke down crying! I was so frustrated and felt like things were just not going our way at all! Lucky for me I had my Mommy with me, so she was able to calm me down and reassure me that she WAS having a good time and it would all work out ok. I got a hold of Chris and he said he would make some calls and try to figure out how to get us home. I cleaned up and headed down to meet up with the group for dinner.
We met up with the friends that Joan was staying with. What a great group of ladies! They were so friendly and cheerful! We headed off from the hotel to eat Crepes. And drink 2 glasses of a delicious wine! : ) We had a wonderful meal together and some great conversations. It was a great time!
We headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep! I was exhausted!
March 17, 2010 Wednesday
We decided to get up early and head back on the HOHO bus to take the route over to the Eiffel Tower and then attempt to make it to the Louvre. We were told that the HOHO busses started running at 8:00, so we got a taxi from the hotel to the bus stop at Notre Dame- where we could get onto the correct bus. And we waited. And waited. Until after 9:00 when the HOHO bus finally came along. Again- never do this! So we headed up Champs de Elyse and saw the Arche de Triomphe. So cool!
We finally ended up at the Eiffel Tower!
Champs de Mars in the background
This was so cool! As we walked up, we saw this guy rappelling down from the Eiffel Tower!
It was now about 11:30 and we had to be at the train station at 12:30. We debated taking a taxi to the Louvre, racing in to see Mona Lisa, and then rushing to the train station. We instead decided to take it easy, relax and have a French Baguette and a Grande Chocolat' at a sidewalk cafe, and enjoy more people watching in Paris. So that is what we did!
We headed onto the train station and caught the Eurostar back to London! Overall, I really liked the things we did in Paris, but felt like it was very rushed and we wasted alot of time. I just wish we had done things a little differently. If I ever go back, I will try to learn a little French!!
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