We flew out of Johannesburg for London and took the Eurostar train to Paris. It was a beautiful way to see the Paris countryside on our way to the huge city. On the train, we were provided with a delicious lunch that has given us lots of ideas for future dishes to make and wine, of course! I don't think a day went by that I didn't have at least one glass of wine! It was everywhere!
We will definitely learn more French before we attempt to go back to Paris or anywhere else in France. We took the subway to get from the train station to our hotel instead of taking a taxi. We had to change trains two times, but had no problems. It was very interesting taking the subway in an unfamiliar city in another language.
Everything was so beautiful! The language, the buildings, the food! We had an amazing time. The streets are very hard to navigate in Paris though. Very windy-twisty as I would call them. There was no grid-pattern to the streets I am used to like in Philadelphia or most of Manhattan. I don't think any of the streets ever ran parallel to another, LOL.
The other interesting piece of the trip was the first night we were there, there were riots on the Champs Elysees. The Paris Saint-Germain soccer club won their first championship in 19 years and they started a parade for the team, but cut it short due to fan craziness and then the fans got even crazier. We stayed away from the Champs Elysees that first night, except for one part at the end of the evening we needed to be on part of it to get back to our hotel. We saw a small white car do a 180-degree spin on the street. Then they turned back around and kept going. Immediately, a police car was chasing them. Interesting times! That night we did go to a restaurant where they knew very little English at all and we sat next to a table of eight Americans who were trying to get away from the rioting area of the city. It was very cool, sitting there, googling French words from the TV on at the restaurant to find out that 30 people were injured and 21 arrested, and talking to these other Americans about where they were from.
Here's some of the cool pics!
Taking the train to Paris from London St. Pancras International train station. I also kept singing "King's Cross" from the Pet Shop Boys in my head after being at that station.
Here is the view of the train station in London before we left
Lunch on the train: cold stuffed pork, couscous salad with mango and nuts, roasted eggplant and peppers and wine!!!
France countryside from train view
Flares going off one of the bridges over the river from the riots
Going to see the Eiffel Tower - taken by Phoebe
Phoebe's turn
Daytime view of the Eiffel Tower
I fell in love with this dress. I didn't get it though. Need to look it up and see how much it is!
The architecture was amazing!
Here was the back of the house at the Rodin Museum. They were getting ready for an event. I'm sure it was an amazing event!
Flowers from the garden there
Here was the front of the house
Phoebe eating a pastry and hot chocolate at at coffee shop
We went out for a nice dinner that night. Here we are all dressed up in our finest!
And the next day, we took the train back to London. Here's the train station in Paris.
Next up, the London leg of the trip!
We will definitely learn more French before we attempt to go back to Paris or anywhere else in France. We took the subway to get from the train station to our hotel instead of taking a taxi. We had to change trains two times, but had no problems. It was very interesting taking the subway in an unfamiliar city in another language.
Everything was so beautiful! The language, the buildings, the food! We had an amazing time. The streets are very hard to navigate in Paris though. Very windy-twisty as I would call them. There was no grid-pattern to the streets I am used to like in Philadelphia or most of Manhattan. I don't think any of the streets ever ran parallel to another, LOL.
The other interesting piece of the trip was the first night we were there, there were riots on the Champs Elysees. The Paris Saint-Germain soccer club won their first championship in 19 years and they started a parade for the team, but cut it short due to fan craziness and then the fans got even crazier. We stayed away from the Champs Elysees that first night, except for one part at the end of the evening we needed to be on part of it to get back to our hotel. We saw a small white car do a 180-degree spin on the street. Then they turned back around and kept going. Immediately, a police car was chasing them. Interesting times! That night we did go to a restaurant where they knew very little English at all and we sat next to a table of eight Americans who were trying to get away from the rioting area of the city. It was very cool, sitting there, googling French words from the TV on at the restaurant to find out that 30 people were injured and 21 arrested, and talking to these other Americans about where they were from.
Here's some of the cool pics!
Taking the train to Paris from London St. Pancras International train station. I also kept singing "King's Cross" from the Pet Shop Boys in my head after being at that station.
Here is the view of the train station in London before we left
Lunch on the train: cold stuffed pork, couscous salad with mango and nuts, roasted eggplant and peppers and wine!!!
France countryside from train view
Flares going off one of the bridges over the river from the riots
Going to see the Eiffel Tower - taken by Phoebe
Phoebe's turn
Daytime view of the Eiffel Tower
The architecture was amazing!
We went to the Rodin Museum - we have one in Philly too that is excellent! Wanted to compare. Especially since the Louvre was closed the day we had (Tuesday) free to go to museums.
Here was the back of the house at the Rodin Museum. They were getting ready for an event. I'm sure it was an amazing event!
Phoebe eating a pastry and hot chocolate at at coffee shop
We went out for a nice dinner that night. Here we are all dressed up in our finest!
Next up, the London leg of the trip!
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