Getting to the Eurostar train was very exciting. We left at 9:00 thinking we could take the tube (surely the lines were open now) and arrive well before the required 30 min. check-in for our 10:10 am departure. Our only tube choice was in the wrong direction so we took it, all the while dragging our luggage, and hoping we could pick up the correct line to Waterloo at the next station.
That plan worked but everything was slower than we anticipated and a little more tricky. Three line transfers later and running through the crowded Waterloo Station, we arrived at 10:02. We still needed to print out the tickets at a kiosk & get through security. We jumped on the first train car we saw and were told we needed to find our car, #15 which was 11 cars ahead! We made it but when I looked at the time it was 10:08.
Grace had the window seat so here’s what she saw:
Finally we could relax and enjoy the three hour trip. Not so! At the next stop a “field trip” of French students joined our car. You’ve never heard such a racket. Michael said he did see one of the chaperones conk one of the boys on the head trying to maintain some order. Didn't really help much.
Bon jour Paris! We love the hotel; went with a safe bet – the Best Western near the Arc de Triomphe. The room is small but at least the extra bed we requested for Grace isn’t just a cot – it’s an actual daybed.
Here's our view if you hang out the window a little. Look for the Eiffel Tour top peaking up and then I zoomed in a little:
About the only things we managed to accomplish was getting a sense of the Paris Metro, finding a place to get some dinner and getting back to the room for a little nap. A lovely fellow tourist offered to snap our photo in front of the Arc so here we are:
Later we went back out to sit at one of the street cafes to have a glass of wine, dessert and some café au lait. The coffee was perhaps the best we’ve ever had.
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