We had a pleasant and relaxing journey watching the French countryside go by. Once at Paris Gare du Nord station, it was quite busy and overwhelming. Phil sent a message to the person meeting us at our Airbnb place that we were about 30 minutes away. Then we had trouble buying train tickets because the machines wouldn't accept our Visa card and we couldn't find any open counters. After a huge run-around with unhelpful staff, I managed to get change in coins from a couple of shops to buy our tickets from the machines.
Once at the apartment we were greeted by an angry man declaring that we were late (not more than 15 minutes!). I somehow managed to diffuse the situation by apologising and agreeing with him in French. Nicholas freaked out and ran off but I got him to come back after I convinced him everything was ok.
It was a mostly sunny day in Paris and not too cold. Our Parisienne apartment was nice, spacious and decorative. It was comfortable and in a convenient location (3rd arrondissement). Went just down the road to a creperie for dinner, Ar Poul Gwen. We had 2 savoury (ham and cheese, cheese and egg) and 2 sweet crepes (Nutella and lemon and sugar). Kids were not a fan of the savoury. They were a bit too salty after a while. Went for a walk around the area to the Centre Pompidou. People-watched before back to the apartment for a quiet evening.
Notes
The Journey
• Antwerp - Paris: Thalys, 2 hours
The Sights and Transport
• Gare du Nord
• Metro from Gare du Nord to Etienne Marcel
• Centre Pompidou
Sunday, 01 October
Drizzly and cool day. Went out in the morning by myself and found a local cafe, Loustic, where I was able to get a takeaway coffee (café crème) – enjoyed it.
We all went out later in the morning. It was still too cold for Nicholas but we managed to find a cool playground nearby at Nelson Mandela Park to keep Catherine and him happy. We spent a good while there before more showers arrived.
Checked out Saint Eustache next door. Huge gothic church, quite dark but impressive with a massive and majestic organ vibrating our souls. There was a mass in progress when we went in. We sat till the end and left with the crowd. More rain as we walked out and Nicholas was no longer in the mood to explore. We headed back to the apartment.
Catherine and I went back out to get some lunch via Starbucks. We walked back to the outdoor market near the church and bought a rotisserie chicken. Happy that both kids enjoyed it. More quiet time at the apartment until it was time for dinner. Back out again at 5pm. Went to a sushi place, Leader Sushi, which Catherine and I scoped out earlier. Food was pretty good and we were all satisfied. Catherine had a glacé (banane chocolat) afterwards.
Notes
The Sights
• Adventure Playground in Jardin Nelson Mandela
• Mass at Saint Eustache
• Sunday Markets at Saint-Eustache-Les Halles
Monday, 02 October
A bit warmer today, about 20˚C. No rain but cloudy. Eventually convinced the kids to go on a river cruise. It was a slow walk to the Seine. Stopped at McDonald’s for a quick pick-me-up to get the kids across the river to Notre Dame via a brief stop to look and admire city hall. We even did a little bit of souvenir shopping along the way.
The bells of Notre Dame were ringing once we arrived which added to the atmosphere. We eventually went inside after waiting in line for about 10 minutes. It was very busy and one child was not enjoying it at all. Since Phil and I had been there years ago, I was fine to get back out as quickly as possible.
Walked down to Pont Neuf and it was the other child’s turn to find it all too hard. We found Pont Neuf soon enough and caught a boat from Vedettes du Pont Neuf. The calm and relaxing cruise went for one hour and we saw most of the major sights.
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| From Paris |
Back to the apartment for lunch and a rest before we went out again in the early evening to check out the Eiffel Tower at night. The kids wanted to see it both during the day and at night. Glad we did it. Took a train to the Eiffel Tower and once there we were hounded by touts. Got in line to walk under the Eiffel Tower. Nicholas wanted to touch the tower so we decided to try our luck and go up. Catherine was hesitant but she went along anyway. The wait to take the lift up was no more than 15 minutes. It was very cool going up to the 2nd floor. Lovely views!
Catherine was getting quite scared being up so high so we rushed through a bit. Nicholas wanted to climb back down the stairs. So we split. I went with Nicholas and Phil took Catherine back down via the lift. Nicholas and I stopped on the 1st floor briefly. I stood back while Nicholas sat down on the glass bottom floor for a while. The climb down was just as cool as taking the lift up – we were enclosed in the steel. It was so nice to see Nicholas so happy and excited being at the Eiffel Tower. I think a dream of his came true today. My legs felt like jelly once we touched the ground.
Last stop was Catherine’s request to ride on the carousel across the road. The kids both had fun on there too. It was after 8pm once we finished. Kids were especially tired so we took at taxi back to the apartment. Arrived close to 9pm. We had a quick supper eating baguette with goat’s cheese, salami and tomatoes. Yum!
Notes
The Sights and Transport
• Hôtel de Ville
• Notre Dame
• Pont Neuf
• Seine River
• Musée d’Orsay
• Musée du Louvre
• Tour Eiffel
• Bateau on the Seine
• Metro from Les Halles to St-Michel Notre-Dame to Champs du Mars Tour Eiffel
• Taxi from Eiffel Tower to Rue de Montmorency
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