Prior to this trip, I’ve only seen the Eiffel Tower in pictures and miniature replica. Seeing the enormous tower in real life was breath-taking especially if you get to the top of the over a century old tower. Have you ever seen those red double-decker buses in movies? It is more fun to be in them – on the upper deck. Our trip last summer was a trip of a lifetime (so far). 20 years ago, I would not have imagined experiencing it. But it was planned and so we went.
Our Paris-London trip was my first trip outside of the country (not counting the crossings south of the border). This trip included all modes of transportation (plane, bus, train, and boat). My wife has been to these European cities before so the excitement was all mine.
We were early checking in at the airport so we had time to walk around the terminal. The flight to Paris was full. I thought the airplane would be bigger but the plane was an older A310. Our overnight plane ride from YYZ landed at CDG early morning. One thing I noticed when we were waiting for our checked-in luggage, it came out last. Why? We checked-in early in YYZ. First-in Last-out. That didn’t dampen our morning.
Our hotel shuttle was already waiting for us at the terminal lounge area. There were couple more groups in our shuttle. Our driver indicated that we will be the last group to be dropped-off. How he came up with that decision? I didn’t bother to ask. In a way, it was like a pre-tour of Paris. He drove the 1st group to 13eme arr. (District 13), then the next group to 11eme arr., then it was our turn to 18eme arr. up north of the city – near Moulin Rouge. It was quite an experience seeing Paris wake up to a new day.
Paris is divided into districts. The last two digits of Paris postal code indicates the district (arrondissement). Maybe this is where The Hunger Games got the idea about districts.
Our hotel was kind enough to check us in that morning (around 9am). We freshen up and planned our day – visit Tour Eiffel. The nearest Metro (subway) station was less than 100 meters from our hotel. Except for our transportation (flight and train) and accommodations, we planned our own activities. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Visited several museums including the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, and famous churches in Paris (Sacre Coeur and Notre-Dame).
Using public transportation (subway, train, and buses) was a lot of fun. It gives you the feel of the way of life in Paris. We did a lot of walking, too. Pont des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris crossing the Seine river. It is famous for “Love” locks. This practice isn’t Parisian tradition but lovers (mostly tourist) write their initials in a padlock and attached it to the railing on the bridge then throw away the keys in the river.
(In 2014, there was an initiative to remove the padlocks on this bridge and several bridges in the city of Paris because it is slowly ruining the bridge due to the weight of the locks.)
Our trip to Paris ended when we took a EuroStar train to London. The high-speed train ride was an experience in itself.
