when we left off, i had gone for a massive walk around paris to the madeleine and culminating in me at the place de la concorde looking up the champs elysees. by this time, i was well and truly stuffed - i was so thirsty and just needed a seat! but the tourist thing still called, and i had a poke around the grand palais and the petit palais (i don't know what was on, but there were thousands of people around there). i then started off up the massive avenue des champs elysees.
it was a really nice walk, apart from there being people everywhere! i was in desperate need of a drink of some sort, but all the cafes were full and i couldn't find anywhere that looked like a convenience store! so in the end, i headed into maccas. classy eh?! but when you're desperate.... so i ordered a cup of tea, and a bottle of water (which was soooo overpriced!), and i saw little boxes of 6 maccas macarons, so i grabbed one of those too. as much as i don't like going to maccas, the one thing they have is wifi (hooray!), so i was able to skype my friend while i sat there eating my macarons and drinking my tea.
anyway, after the refreshments (and no, i didn't eat all the macarons... 4 of them went back with me to the hotel), i headed to the arc de triomphe.
i'd never been up it before, so with my museum pass in hand, i ducked to the front of the line (hooray!) and started the climb to the top... yes, that's 284 steps up, and 284 down... oh my poor, tired legs!
but the view is sooooo worth it!
after drinking my fill of the view, i headed to the charles de gaulle etoile metro station and caught the train back to the hotel, where i got changed for dinner. my friend had told me about this amazing place in the marais district so i was keen to check that out for dinner. i realised that might not have been such a good idea while i was walking there from the metro station, since i was alone and received way too much attention due to my long blonde hair. i did manage to find my way there though, only to see that it was closed. with no idea where to go for dinner from there, i stumbled into this lovely little restaurant called grizzli cafe, where i had lamb shanks, potato gratin, creme brulee and a nice glass of wine for dinner. after eating my fill, i headed on back to the hotel feeling very content.
the next day, i was off to versailles. ok, i'm going to say again how amazing the public transport is in paris - it is so easy to get around and work out the maps, even for a non-frenchie like me! i love it! so i had to get to the musee d'orsay to change for the RER train out to versailles... no problem!
i arrived in versailles a bit before 9am and got off the train and walked with the many others over to the palace. thankfully, i arrived before all the tour buses turned up, but it wasn't long before the line i was standing in was snaking all the way down from the palace to the gates (it was preeeeeettty long!).
it took me about 30 minutes or so to get in, so it wasn't too bad. glad i got there when i did though! i went in and was immediately struck by the beauty of the palace... click read more to see more photos!
it was a really nice walk, apart from there being people everywhere! i was in desperate need of a drink of some sort, but all the cafes were full and i couldn't find anywhere that looked like a convenience store! so in the end, i headed into maccas. classy eh?! but when you're desperate.... so i ordered a cup of tea, and a bottle of water (which was soooo overpriced!), and i saw little boxes of 6 maccas macarons, so i grabbed one of those too. as much as i don't like going to maccas, the one thing they have is wifi (hooray!), so i was able to skype my friend while i sat there eating my macarons and drinking my tea.
anyway, after the refreshments (and no, i didn't eat all the macarons... 4 of them went back with me to the hotel), i headed to the arc de triomphe.
i'd never been up it before, so with my museum pass in hand, i ducked to the front of the line (hooray!) and started the climb to the top... yes, that's 284 steps up, and 284 down... oh my poor, tired legs!
but the view is sooooo worth it!
after drinking my fill of the view, i headed to the charles de gaulle etoile metro station and caught the train back to the hotel, where i got changed for dinner. my friend had told me about this amazing place in the marais district so i was keen to check that out for dinner. i realised that might not have been such a good idea while i was walking there from the metro station, since i was alone and received way too much attention due to my long blonde hair. i did manage to find my way there though, only to see that it was closed. with no idea where to go for dinner from there, i stumbled into this lovely little restaurant called grizzli cafe, where i had lamb shanks, potato gratin, creme brulee and a nice glass of wine for dinner. after eating my fill, i headed on back to the hotel feeling very content.
the next day, i was off to versailles. ok, i'm going to say again how amazing the public transport is in paris - it is so easy to get around and work out the maps, even for a non-frenchie like me! i love it! so i had to get to the musee d'orsay to change for the RER train out to versailles... no problem!
i arrived in versailles a bit before 9am and got off the train and walked with the many others over to the palace. thankfully, i arrived before all the tour buses turned up, but it wasn't long before the line i was standing in was snaking all the way down from the palace to the gates (it was preeeeeettty long!).
it took me about 30 minutes or so to get in, so it wasn't too bad. glad i got there when i did though! i went in and was immediately struck by the beauty of the palace... click read more to see more photos!
Category: europe 2011
Posted by: ali
last time i wrote, i'd just had a really crap day in london... but it was all looking up from there, sort of.
so after the crap day, i also had a crap night... staying in a hostel was interesting, but i sure did miss a good night's sleep. this was particularly evident on my last night. i had bought a eurostar ticket to paris that left london at 7:20am. yes, yaaawwwn, so early!! so with that in mind, i was getting up at 5am, and in for an early night. i was staying in an eight bed dorm and there were only 3 of us there when i went to bed that night (at 9-ish!). however, from 10-1am we got 5 new dorm mates, who made a hell of a noise, especially this old cow who kept bitching about everything! so that stuffed up my early night. i woke up the next morning to more noisy people, checked my phone and realised that i'd slept through my 5am alarm and that it was now 6am! i don't think i've ever gotten changed and packed up as quickly as i did that morning! i was running down the corridor to the elevator within about 5 minutes of waking up. within another 10, i had checked out and was running up bolsover st in london to the great portland st station with my suitcase behind me. of course, when i got to the station, my oyster card was out of money and since i only had a 20 pound note, i had to put it on the damn card! carrying my suitcase down the stairs, i made it to the station and caught the train within about 20 minutes of waking up! i got to st pancras station in time, thankfully, to go through customs and so on...
talk about hectic!
i got on the train with no further problems, and left london for paris. i don't really remember too much about the train trip there, except my desperate desire to go to the food car and get a cuppa and some breakfast. and, embarrassingly, i was also quite upset that i would be arriving in paris with no makeup on!
i realised i was in france when my phone switched roaming areas and vodafone kindly welcomed me to france. it was cool. the landscape was very much like what i had seen of england - green fields and countryside - though it was obvious when we were getting closer to paris. the train pulled up into gare du nord station finally, and i was on my way. i bought a visite pass and a museum pass and headed off to the metro.
it's funny, gare du nord is the entryway to paris from the uk, and yet, they still have stairs and no lifts. so i had to lug my heavy bag up and down a whole heap of stairs. i finally got to the platform for my train and headed to place d'italie where i was staying. after getting to my hotel room around noon (and so glad that i'd decided to book a hotel room rather than a hostel), and cleaning up, i walked down to the jardin de plantes.
it was such a beautiful spring day. i went into a boulangerie and bought a croque monseur, and walked among the beautiful gardens. it was a brilliant way to start my parisian adventure.
that night, i visited the louvre. i had been before and had done all the italian/renaissance artworks, so i decided to start with the flemish side first. i found new artists and new paintings that were inspiring... including steenwyck
and i rediscovered ingres, whose work i've always loved
i also marvelled at the fact that people could paint things at a giant scale
read on for more paris
so after the crap day, i also had a crap night... staying in a hostel was interesting, but i sure did miss a good night's sleep. this was particularly evident on my last night. i had bought a eurostar ticket to paris that left london at 7:20am. yes, yaaawwwn, so early!! so with that in mind, i was getting up at 5am, and in for an early night. i was staying in an eight bed dorm and there were only 3 of us there when i went to bed that night (at 9-ish!). however, from 10-1am we got 5 new dorm mates, who made a hell of a noise, especially this old cow who kept bitching about everything! so that stuffed up my early night. i woke up the next morning to more noisy people, checked my phone and realised that i'd slept through my 5am alarm and that it was now 6am! i don't think i've ever gotten changed and packed up as quickly as i did that morning! i was running down the corridor to the elevator within about 5 minutes of waking up. within another 10, i had checked out and was running up bolsover st in london to the great portland st station with my suitcase behind me. of course, when i got to the station, my oyster card was out of money and since i only had a 20 pound note, i had to put it on the damn card! carrying my suitcase down the stairs, i made it to the station and caught the train within about 20 minutes of waking up! i got to st pancras station in time, thankfully, to go through customs and so on...
talk about hectic!
i got on the train with no further problems, and left london for paris. i don't really remember too much about the train trip there, except my desperate desire to go to the food car and get a cuppa and some breakfast. and, embarrassingly, i was also quite upset that i would be arriving in paris with no makeup on!
i realised i was in france when my phone switched roaming areas and vodafone kindly welcomed me to france. it was cool. the landscape was very much like what i had seen of england - green fields and countryside - though it was obvious when we were getting closer to paris. the train pulled up into gare du nord station finally, and i was on my way. i bought a visite pass and a museum pass and headed off to the metro.
it's funny, gare du nord is the entryway to paris from the uk, and yet, they still have stairs and no lifts. so i had to lug my heavy bag up and down a whole heap of stairs. i finally got to the platform for my train and headed to place d'italie where i was staying. after getting to my hotel room around noon (and so glad that i'd decided to book a hotel room rather than a hostel), and cleaning up, i walked down to the jardin de plantes.
it was such a beautiful spring day. i went into a boulangerie and bought a croque monseur, and walked among the beautiful gardens. it was a brilliant way to start my parisian adventure.
that night, i visited the louvre. i had been before and had done all the italian/renaissance artworks, so i decided to start with the flemish side first. i found new artists and new paintings that were inspiring... including steenwyck
and i rediscovered ingres, whose work i've always loved
i also marvelled at the fact that people could paint things at a giant scale
read on for more paris
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