20240602 Sunday, June 2, 2024; 170mph to Paris and the Basics

20240602 Sunday, June 2, 2024; 170mph to Paris and the Basics

It was nice that we only had to worry about crossing the street to get to the train station.  The train was scheduled to leave at 12:05pm so we had a lazy breakfast and then checked out of our room at 10am.  We hung out in the lobby for another hour and then rolled our suitcases across the street back to the Lille Europe train station.  They didn’t list what platform the trains would be loading from until about 20 minutes before they arrived.  There were actually two trains going to Paris at the same time.  The first had arrived about 20 minutes before the departure time, but the second train, which was the one we were booked on, didn’t pull up until 11:50.  It hitched up with the other train and we boarded. 

There was only a tiny luggage rack at the end of the car which we barely got our 3 bags into by squishing one of them.  The first class coach has considerably more leg and hip room with only 3 seats across the car in a 2+1 configuration.  Our seats were side by side and this trip we were facing forwards.  

The TGV trains are fast.  We clocked ours at over 170mph at one point.  The train did slow for a few sections of track that were a bit wobbly, but for the most part, the ride was smoother and quieter than a 737.  There was no security check or customs for this domestic train so loading up was quick and efficient.  

We barely had time to do a couple of Duolingo French lessons and take a quick nap before we were pulling into the Gare du Nord Paris train station.  We had no difficulty with getting our suitcases up to the street level, but did have to use escalators.  We opted for an Uber because of all our bags and unfamiliarity with navigation to the hotel.  Our Uber picked us up at a Popeye’s fried chicken restaurant across the street from the train station.  Traffic around the train station was a bit insane, but our driver handled it with the skill of a surgeon.  He had us at the hotel in under 30 minutes.  

The Hotel Montfleuri Arc De Triomphe is a small boutique hotel within walking distance of the Arc De Triomphe and within several hundred yards of the Argentine Metro station.  They had us wait for just a short while before our room was ready.  We are in room 105, which is up one floor from the lobby, but they do have a lift.  The room again is quite small, but bigger than the one in Bath.  It was quite hot and stuffy when we entered.  Fortunately, there are windows that open in the bedroom, and in the bathroom that are in separate air shafts which provided excellent cross circulation of fresh air through the room.  That cooled things off quickly to a comfortable level.  

Airshaft bedroom window

Airshaft bathroom window

Weird bathroom wrapped around elevator shaft.

After getting settled in by unpacking our chargers and toothbrush bag, we decided to preview our trip to the Louvre scheduled for tomorrow morning. We have a Viator tour booked which is a skip the line tour of the highlights of the Louvre.  It meets at a landmark near the Louvre, but not the actual museum.  Janet wanted to have a closer look at the Arc De Triomphe so we walked completely around and under it.  You can pay to go up to the deck on the top of the monument, but the line was insanely long, and we didn’t think it would be worth it.  There is a tomb to the unknown soldier of WWI at the center of the monument.  

From there, we took the Metro to the Louvre.  The place where we are scheduled to meet the tour is called the Arc De Triomphe du Carrousel.  This is a smaller arch adjacent to another smaller traffic circle, but it was entirely surrounded by chain link fencing and was being refurbished.  It’s possible it may have something to do with the upcoming Summer Olympics because there is a lot of construction going on in preparation for the Olympics.  We will just have to show up early and find the group around the construction site.  

From the Louvre, we walked through some of the Jardins des Tuileries and then along the Seine past the Musée D’Orsay and Esplanade de Invalides,  where some sort of Olympics venue was being set up with bleachers set up all across the Alexander III bridge.  We also stumbled on an American Church In Paris. Ben kept thinking he'd hear some Gershwin playing.

We ultimately ended up at the Eiffel Tower.  There was an Olympics countdown clock showing 54 days until the Opening Ceremonies.  There are Olympics venues being set up both the Bridge leading to the Eiffel Tower, and on the Champ de Mars to the southeast.  The one between the Palaise de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower will be for viewing the opening ceremonies.  

An American Church in Paris

Just past the Paliase de Chalillot, we found a place called Mokus l’Ecureuil which had decent Yelp reviews for Italian, and which actually had pizzas on the menu.  Our Duolingo French lessons keep droning on and on about Duo Mange Pizza, so there was a subconscious current driving that pizza desire.  Fortunately, this place did not disappoint.  They made really excellent wood fired thin crust pizzas with very tasty and well textured crusts, as well as fresh and savory toppings.  We had a pepperoni (tomato, mozzarella, sweet chorizo and oregano) and a picante (fresh cream, nduja, mozzarella, spicy sausage, lemon ricotta, arugula salt and fresh red pepper).  Both were first rate pizzas and were larger than we had expected.  They were each full 12” pizzas, but we did manage to eat them completely.  

We had originally planned on taking the Metro back to the hotel, but saw we were just 22 minutes by walking from the hotel, so we hoofed it.  Ben’s Apple Watch recorded 19K steps, so that’ll help burn off some of that pizza.  

We zoomed the kids again in the evening. It's hard to imagine how the time flys by.  We will be seeing John and Ciara in Lyon later this week on the last leg of our transatlantic adventure.  We'll be touring the Louvre tomorrow, but don't have anything else planned for our 3 night stay in Paris.  We'll see what happens.