Paris Day 1

Photos: the Eurostar passenger lounge, A few of the 18 cars on our train, the clock at St. Pancras Station in London

Photos: We're in France, The Eurostar, The Seine

Photos: A fountain that Nancy liked in Paris, the Pompidou Center, the escalator going up the side of the Pompidou Center

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The alarm rang (actually Neil woke before the alarm) at 4:00 AM.—obscenely early. We did the last minute things that needed to be done and left the apartment right on time—4:50 for a nice walk to Glasgow Central Station to catch our train to London. The train was relatively empty, so we took what were marked as an unreserved/available table. We didn’t particularly like our reserved seats. We had a whole car to ourselves for awhile. Later we moved cars so we could keep a table…at that point a number of people were getting on. We all took naps of various lengths. Pretty scenery.

We arrived in London at Euston Station at 10:12 AM, right on time. We collected our things and made our way out of the station for a short walk to St. Pancras Station. This is where the Eurostar leaves from. We made our way to the Eurostar International station in good time. We stopped and picked up sandwiches at Marks and Spencers and headed through security. Put everything in the basket, walk through the arch and collect your belongings on the other end. Pete had to totally empty his pockets, including the paper cash he had in his pocket. No one else had to do that He was patted down. When he got his basket on the other, there was a 20 Euro bill missing. They asked him twice if he was sure it was there. Then a young lady went in search of it. It miraculously appeared. Jess’s bag was emptied and swabbed. Neil and I walked through with absolutely no problems. It seemed to be that more young people were being targeted than older people.

We found the Eurostar lounge and waited for our boarding information. Eventually they posted that we should use gate 8 at which there was a huge rush of people. Then they (unknown powers) and said we should continue to wait in the lounge. No one moved. They weren’t about to give up their place in line. Eventually the doors opened and we all went up the very steep moving sidewalk. We were in seats 25 & 26 at a table. Pete and Jess were across from us. We were in carriage 1 of and 18 car train…..very long and full. We went fast….very fast. We had been underground several times and so were not even sure when we went into the chunnel. We finally figured it out. We were informed that we would be 55 minutes late and would get in around 4. They were having to do special things because someone or group of someones stole 400 meters of signaling cable last night. It’s hard to run trains when the signals don’t work. The scheduling people weren’t very happy. However, the thieves got quite a bit of copper and are probably quite happy.

We arrived in Paris and eventually got off the train. We let others who seemed to be in a great hurry out first and walked the length of an 18 car train. It seemed to go on forever. We reached the Gard Nord station proper and found the subway. Down we went to the subway station. Pete and Jess found the automatic ticket machine and got tickets for us. Down we went again to get to the subway. We took the subway, very hot, and very crowded to the Bastille station. We got off and up we went to find the rain. Nancy, being the pansy, pulled out her umbrella. Actually, I was trying to protect this computer. We walked in the rain down the Rue St. Antoine to Rue St. Paul. Down St. Paul we went to #16 where we are staying.

We have rented an apartment from Vacation in Paris. It is on the second, really third, floor. There is a courtyard in the center of the building which means when you open the windows your neighbors see and hear what you are doing. We have been informed with the building rules that we must be quiet. It is true that you can see and hear everything…Pete and Jess saw a woman taking a shower. The apartment belongs to an Argentinean couple who live in Buenos Aires and travel a lot. This is one of their homes. All of the belongings are from IKEA or Habitat. It is a cute little flat with one bedroom and a sofa bed which Pete and Jess volunteered to sleep on. There is no air conditioning, but Pete found a fan in the closet. If you watch the House Hunters International you have seen this apartment. It is tiny but very, very cute.

After we dumped our luggage, we went out to see what we could see. We found Norte Dame Cathedral—a beautiful church. We walked on and found the Pompidou Center which is world famous because it supporting structure in on the outside of the building, sort of like a bridge with a building inside. Then we just walked around and looked at very old buildings. We did see the famous Seine River. It doesn’t appear to be a very clean river. We finally found our way back to Rue St. Paul area where we needed to find some groceries. We found a grocery on the bottom floor of a department store. It is a full grocery store with all the things you find in US stores, except they are obviously in French.

This is our tribute to Pete. He fortunately remembers enough of his French and his practice in anticipation of this trip has made it much easier to cope. With his assistance, getting on the subway and getting groceries was imminently easier. Thank you Pete.

After a dinner of salad, bread, cheese, and fresh vegetables, we divided the bottle of wine left by Vacations in Paris and went off to bed.. We were all a wee bit … ok, a lot tired.

Steps: 13,590