Paris, France
Monday, January 16 - Monday January 23, 2012
Today was an epic day of travel… 7 train rides, one bus, one plane and one taxi. We were up at 6am, and had to walk to the local metro station with our luggage. We had to change trains twice, in order to get to the airport which was one hour from hotel. I guess that is what happens when you choose a cheap airline. Once at the airport, we had to take a bus to get to terminal two. We were there two hours early, and check in was no problem. It was a 90min flight to Paris, so we slept on the plane. Once in Paris, we had lunch and then took a taxi to our hotel in Montmartre. We checked in, then jumped on the Metro. It took two trains to reach the Eiffel tower. It was amazing. We took many photos, then walked all the way to the Arch de Triomphe. It began to get dark at 4:30pm, as we were walking down the Champs Elysees. We stopped and had some coffee and a donut, then jumped on a random metro station and made our way back to our hotel, changing trains only once. We found a French-japanese restaurant for dinner, but then we went to bed early, exhausted.
We slept in this morning, then had breakfast, packed our bags and walked 2.2km to our next hotel with our luggage. We found it okay, but we didn’t realise it was all uphill. The new hotel is much bigger and more spacious. We have our own kitchen, so it is more like a resort. Our room was not ready when we arrived, so we put our luggage in storage and set out to explore Montmartre. We were only a five minute walk from Sacre Couer. On the way, we passed a Fragonard store so Gwen was very excited. The church was amazing. I was evicted for taking photos inside the church. We walked back down the hill to the tourist district, through the shops. We found the main road and walked all the way to Moulin Rouge.
We had lunch then went and checked into our hotel and had an afternoon nap. When we woke up, we explored the shops in the areas before finding a carrefore so we could buy some groceries for a week. We bought some chinese food for dinner, then went back to the hotel for an early night.
Today, we took advantage of Rick Steves’ audio guide of historic Paris for the ipod. We started at Notre Dame, an amazing church built in the 14th Century and famous for the story about the hunchback. Behind it is the deportation memorial which remembers the 200,000 Parisians who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. We walked along the left bank of the Seine river and saw all the booksellers that have been working there since the middle ages. We had crepes for lunch in the latin quarter before visiting St Severin. We detoured past St Michel Place which has a fountain sowing ST Michael slaying the dragon. Next was one of the most amazing churches in all if Europe, Saint Chappelle. The stain glass windows were enormous and each one told a story. The church was built to hold the crown of thorns by Kin Louis IX, in the 13th Century. It was spectacular. Next door is the Palais de Justice where many were sentenced to death during the French Revolution. We toured the Conciergerie, and saw the cell where Marie-Antionette spent her last days. We also saw an original guillotine from the 18th Century. We explored Place Dauphine, a beautiful park behind the palais de justice, and then we crossed pont neuf before heading to the Louvre. The Tullieres gardens around the Louvre are magnificent with the sculptures, hedges, fountains, etc. We took many photos on the way to Champs Elysees where we looked at some shops before taking the train back to Montmatre to have dinner in our hotel.
We took the train direct to the Louvre and had no trouble getting tickets. In fact we bought our tickets for Orsay and Versailles as well. There was no line so we wandered straight in and once again relied on Rick Steves to guide us through the huge muse d’Louvre. We started with the greek antiquities where we saw the Venus de Milo. We then headed into the Italian Renaissance grand gallery that was full of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinvi, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Caravaggio and many more. Many paintings I had seen in books, but the size of them was enormous in real life. They were all huge, except the Mona Lisa which was quite small. We had lunch in a café in the gallery, then walked to Orsay, which had many impressionist works by Van Gogh, Renior, Monet, Manet, Degas, etc. Rick Steves walked us through it again and I learnt so much. I can’t believe all these artists were living in Montmatre 100 years ago, right where we are staying this week. When we got out of Orsay, it was raining so we took the train to Saint Lazarre where we found the biggest shopping centre in all of Europe. It was seven square kilometres. It was quite overwhelming, so we just got some chinese for dinner and went back to the hotel.
The weather was not the best again today, so we decided to spend it indoors and we ventured to the Palace of Versailles. It took almost and hour by train, but it was well worth the trip. Built in the 1700s by Louis XIV, it is one of the most grand palaces anywhere in the world. The luxury of this palace explains a lot why the French people revolted in the late 18th century, when they were fed up with living in poverty while the king and queen were living here. The hall of mirrors was most impressive and it was here where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to end WWI. We missed out on a tour of the gardens because of the rain, so instead we went back to Fragonard in Montmartre and bought some more perfume. We bought pizza and eclairs for dinner and had an early night. I can’t believe all these artists were living in Montmatre 100 years ago, right where we are staying this week. When we got out of Orsay, it was raining so we took the train to Saint Lazarre where we found the biggest shopping centre in all of Europe. It was seven square kilometres. It was quite overwhelming, so we just got some chinese for dinner and went back to the hotel.
We were planning to do some laundry this morning but we overslept. Madame Cartier met us at our hotel at 1pm, and she took us to a very fancy restaurant in Clichy for lunch. We took the metro to her apartment in Coursonnes, and we had a cup of tea while we showed her our photos. She did not speak English and we could not speak much French so it was interesting conversation. The view from her lounge room was brilliant, you could see the Eiffel tower. She is 92 and still very fit. I can’t believe she came and met us at our hotel alone. We went back to our hotel at 5pm, and had a nap, before I took the kids to the local maccas for some dinner while gwen continued sleeping. When she woke up, we left the kids and we went out to get something to eat. That night we purchased our tickets for Euro Disney online.
We woke up at 8am, and took two trains to Euro Disney. There are two parks and we only had 12 hours, so we decided to skip the shows and just go on all the must-see thrill rides. We began at the Disney park, and first went on the big thunder. It was a fun train roller coaster that took us over and around the mountain. While in adventureland, we went on the Indiana Jones coaster, which was very disappointing. It was nothing like the Indiana Jones ride in Los Angeles. The Pirates of the Caribbean and the Peter Pan were both very tame but fnu kid rides. We even had our photo taken with Jack Sparrow. From there, we went to “It’s a Small World”, which took you on a trip around the world, with little dolls singing. It was better than I remembered. We took the kids to see Captain EO, directed by George Lucas and starring Michael Jackson. I saw this 22 years ago in Los Angeles and it is still the same. Space Mountan was the biggest thrill ride, a crazy roller coaster thru space. The kids loved it. We had salami and cheese rolls for lunch, that we had bought in the bakery that morning. Zeke and Jamaica then rode Autotopia, where they got to drive their own car around the track. The last ride for us in Disney Park was Phantom Manor, which was just a ghost train ride thru a haunted house. By 4pm, we were ready to walk to Disney Hollywood Studios. At this park, there were only four must-do rides, and the park closed at 7pm. We raced to the Rock n Roll coaster first, which was very fast. The line for the ride was long but enjoyable because it was like you were walking through a rock n roll museum with all the memorabilia. It was a 70 min wait for the Twilight Zone ride, so we by-passed it and went straight to the Crush Coaster. Crush was the turtle in Finding Nemo, and the coaster was crazy, as it was spinning in all directions whilst doing the hairpin bends on the coaster. With 30min before closing time, we jumped on the RC Coaster which was shaped like a standing horseshoe and went up and down ten or so times. With 5 min to spare, we made it to the Twilight Zone. It was now only a ten minute wait, so they let us on. It was exactly the same as the ride we went on in Orlando, 5 weeks ago. For dinner, we went to Planet Hollywood. It was brilliant, sitting amongst all the movie memorabilia that had been collected by Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and John Claude Van Damme. We took two trains to get home, and we did not reach the hotel until 10pm.
Today was our last day in Europe, so we thought we had better make the most of it. Gwe got up early and did a wash at the local Laundromat. We then jumped on a train to Place de Concorde, where the guillotine was located 200 years ago. We walked to Les Invalides and went inside to see Napoleon’s tomb. It was a huge tomb for such a little man. We tried to go to the Rodin museum to see the thinker, but it was closed on Mondays. Instead we went to Champs de Mars and took many photos of the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch at the base of the tower, before taking the elevator to the second level and having a birds-eye look down on Paris. We walked to Trocadero and took the train to Piere Lachaise, which is the home of Paris’ most prestigious cemetery. We bought a map which allowed us to find the graves of celebrities such as Frederic Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Eugene Delacroix. We took the metro back to the hotel and packed our bags ready for an early departure tomorrow. Gwen and I went and bought some chinese food to bring back for dinner. We thought we should stay up as late as possible, so we can sleep on the plane tomorrow, and perhaps avoid a little bit of jet lag. So, we went for one last walk through the streets of Montmartre.
Today was an epic day of travel… 7 train rides, one bus, one plane and one taxi. We were up at 6am, and had to walk to the local metro station with our luggage. We had to change trains twice, in order to get to the airport which was one hour from hotel. I guess that is what happens when you choose a cheap airline. Once at the airport, we had to take a bus to get to terminal two. We were there two hours early, and check in was no problem. It was a 90min flight to Paris, so we slept on the plane. Once in Paris, we had lunch and then took a taxi to our hotel in Montmartre. We checked in, then jumped on the Metro. It took two trains to reach the Eiffel tower. It was amazing. We took many photos, then walked all the way to the Arch de Triomphe. It began to get dark at 4:30pm, as we were walking down the Champs Elysees. We stopped and had some coffee and a donut, then jumped on a random metro station and made our way back to our hotel, changing trains only once. We found a French-japanese restaurant for dinner, but then we went to bed early, exhausted.
We slept in this morning, then had breakfast, packed our bags and walked 2.2km to our next hotel with our luggage. We found it okay, but we didn’t realise it was all uphill. The new hotel is much bigger and more spacious. We have our own kitchen, so it is more like a resort. Our room was not ready when we arrived, so we put our luggage in storage and set out to explore Montmartre. We were only a five minute walk from Sacre Couer. On the way, we passed a Fragonard store so Gwen was very excited. The church was amazing. I was evicted for taking photos inside the church. We walked back down the hill to the tourist district, through the shops. We found the main road and walked all the way to Moulin Rouge.
We had lunch then went and checked into our hotel and had an afternoon nap. When we woke up, we explored the shops in the areas before finding a carrefore so we could buy some groceries for a week. We bought some chinese food for dinner, then went back to the hotel for an early night.
Today, we took advantage of Rick Steves’ audio guide of historic Paris for the ipod. We started at Notre Dame, an amazing church built in the 14th Century and famous for the story about the hunchback. Behind it is the deportation memorial which remembers the 200,000 Parisians who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. We walked along the left bank of the Seine river and saw all the booksellers that have been working there since the middle ages. We had crepes for lunch in the latin quarter before visiting St Severin. We detoured past St Michel Place which has a fountain sowing ST Michael slaying the dragon. Next was one of the most amazing churches in all if Europe, Saint Chappelle. The stain glass windows were enormous and each one told a story. The church was built to hold the crown of thorns by Kin Louis IX, in the 13th Century. It was spectacular. Next door is the Palais de Justice where many were sentenced to death during the French Revolution. We toured the Conciergerie, and saw the cell where Marie-Antionette spent her last days. We also saw an original guillotine from the 18th Century. We explored Place Dauphine, a beautiful park behind the palais de justice, and then we crossed pont neuf before heading to the Louvre. The Tullieres gardens around the Louvre are magnificent with the sculptures, hedges, fountains, etc. We took many photos on the way to Champs Elysees where we looked at some shops before taking the train back to Montmatre to have dinner in our hotel.
We took the train direct to the Louvre and had no trouble getting tickets. In fact we bought our tickets for Orsay and Versailles as well. There was no line so we wandered straight in and once again relied on Rick Steves to guide us through the huge muse d’Louvre. We started with the greek antiquities where we saw the Venus de Milo. We then headed into the Italian Renaissance grand gallery that was full of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinvi, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Caravaggio and many more. Many paintings I had seen in books, but the size of them was enormous in real life. They were all huge, except the Mona Lisa which was quite small. We had lunch in a café in the gallery, then walked to Orsay, which had many impressionist works by Van Gogh, Renior, Monet, Manet, Degas, etc. Rick Steves walked us through it again and I learnt so much. I can’t believe all these artists were living in Montmatre 100 years ago, right where we are staying this week. When we got out of Orsay, it was raining so we took the train to Saint Lazarre where we found the biggest shopping centre in all of Europe. It was seven square kilometres. It was quite overwhelming, so we just got some chinese for dinner and went back to the hotel.
The weather was not the best again today, so we decided to spend it indoors and we ventured to the Palace of Versailles. It took almost and hour by train, but it was well worth the trip. Built in the 1700s by Louis XIV, it is one of the most grand palaces anywhere in the world. The luxury of this palace explains a lot why the French people revolted in the late 18th century, when they were fed up with living in poverty while the king and queen were living here. The hall of mirrors was most impressive and it was here where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to end WWI. We missed out on a tour of the gardens because of the rain, so instead we went back to Fragonard in Montmartre and bought some more perfume. We bought pizza and eclairs for dinner and had an early night. I can’t believe all these artists were living in Montmatre 100 years ago, right where we are staying this week. When we got out of Orsay, it was raining so we took the train to Saint Lazarre where we found the biggest shopping centre in all of Europe. It was seven square kilometres. It was quite overwhelming, so we just got some chinese for dinner and went back to the hotel.
We were planning to do some laundry this morning but we overslept. Madame Cartier met us at our hotel at 1pm, and she took us to a very fancy restaurant in Clichy for lunch. We took the metro to her apartment in Coursonnes, and we had a cup of tea while we showed her our photos. She did not speak English and we could not speak much French so it was interesting conversation. The view from her lounge room was brilliant, you could see the Eiffel tower. She is 92 and still very fit. I can’t believe she came and met us at our hotel alone. We went back to our hotel at 5pm, and had a nap, before I took the kids to the local maccas for some dinner while gwen continued sleeping. When she woke up, we left the kids and we went out to get something to eat. That night we purchased our tickets for Euro Disney online.
We woke up at 8am, and took two trains to Euro Disney. There are two parks and we only had 12 hours, so we decided to skip the shows and just go on all the must-see thrill rides. We began at the Disney park, and first went on the big thunder. It was a fun train roller coaster that took us over and around the mountain. While in adventureland, we went on the Indiana Jones coaster, which was very disappointing. It was nothing like the Indiana Jones ride in Los Angeles. The Pirates of the Caribbean and the Peter Pan were both very tame but fnu kid rides. We even had our photo taken with Jack Sparrow. From there, we went to “It’s a Small World”, which took you on a trip around the world, with little dolls singing. It was better than I remembered. We took the kids to see Captain EO, directed by George Lucas and starring Michael Jackson. I saw this 22 years ago in Los Angeles and it is still the same. Space Mountan was the biggest thrill ride, a crazy roller coaster thru space. The kids loved it. We had salami and cheese rolls for lunch, that we had bought in the bakery that morning. Zeke and Jamaica then rode Autotopia, where they got to drive their own car around the track. The last ride for us in Disney Park was Phantom Manor, which was just a ghost train ride thru a haunted house. By 4pm, we were ready to walk to Disney Hollywood Studios. At this park, there were only four must-do rides, and the park closed at 7pm. We raced to the Rock n Roll coaster first, which was very fast. The line for the ride was long but enjoyable because it was like you were walking through a rock n roll museum with all the memorabilia. It was a 70 min wait for the Twilight Zone ride, so we by-passed it and went straight to the Crush Coaster. Crush was the turtle in Finding Nemo, and the coaster was crazy, as it was spinning in all directions whilst doing the hairpin bends on the coaster. With 30min before closing time, we jumped on the RC Coaster which was shaped like a standing horseshoe and went up and down ten or so times. With 5 min to spare, we made it to the Twilight Zone. It was now only a ten minute wait, so they let us on. It was exactly the same as the ride we went on in Orlando, 5 weeks ago. For dinner, we went to Planet Hollywood. It was brilliant, sitting amongst all the movie memorabilia that had been collected by Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and John Claude Van Damme. We took two trains to get home, and we did not reach the hotel until 10pm.
Today was our last day in Europe, so we thought we had better make the most of it. Gwe got up early and did a wash at the local Laundromat. We then jumped on a train to Place de Concorde, where the guillotine was located 200 years ago. We walked to Les Invalides and went inside to see Napoleon’s tomb. It was a huge tomb for such a little man. We tried to go to the Rodin museum to see the thinker, but it was closed on Mondays. Instead we went to Champs de Mars and took many photos of the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch at the base of the tower, before taking the elevator to the second level and having a birds-eye look down on Paris. We walked to Trocadero and took the train to Piere Lachaise, which is the home of Paris’ most prestigious cemetery. We bought a map which allowed us to find the graves of celebrities such as Frederic Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Eugene Delacroix. We took the metro back to the hotel and packed our bags ready for an early departure tomorrow. Gwen and I went and bought some chinese food to bring back for dinner. We thought we should stay up as late as possible, so we can sleep on the plane tomorrow, and perhaps avoid a little bit of jet lag. So, we went for one last walk through the streets of Montmartre.