Paris: Cheese and the French

Finally the time had come for our big trip to Paris.  I didn't know what to expect because I had only been there with my parents so this was a totally new experience.  We had to wake up fairly early (4:30am) in order to catch the 7:10 Euro-star train from St Pancras to Gare du Nord.  The St Pancras station was beautiful although we didn't get to really enjoy it because we were still tired from having to wake up at such an early time.  We were able to grab a few photos of the station before we headed out.  Since we hadn't had breakfast before we got to the station we decided to grab some coffee and a bite to eat before we got on the train.  We both ended up getting cappuccinos from a french looking coffee store, and food-wise I got some honey porridge and Tyler got an almond croissant.  There we also some condiments on the table so I put some nutella and jam in my porridge (:  It was also extremely nice being in the station and hearing some fellow Americans.  

St Pancras Station

Porridge, Croissant, Cappuccino

After getting through security and passport control we were ready to go!  The train trip took about 2 hours, we tried to nap a little but it didn't really work because we always have trouble sleeping in vehicles of any kind.  Going through the Channel Tunnel ("chunnel") took about 20 minutes and when we popped back up we were in France.  Unfortunately the weather did not seem to be in our favor as it rained a bunch while we were on the train.  When we arrived in the Gare du Nord station in Paris we were ready to start exploring.

Gare Du Nord international train station

We headed out of the station, not knowing where to go at all, we headed out and just started walking.  The smell of smoke was overwhelming, you could tell we were in Europe.  I think we started of in the outskirts of  Paris so we really just wanted to get to the main tourist area so we were not totally out of place.  So we made our way towards the metro station called Barbas Rochechouart (line 4-purple line).  Something that really surprised Tyler and I was that the metro was absolutly filthy.  Since it was a hot day (about 80) and very humid it made everything 150 times worse.  When we got onto the metro it was totally packed and you could hardly move because of the massive amount of people.  From that moment we realized that we should take the metro as little as possible.  We got off at the Charles De Gaule station right next to the Arc de Triomphe.  The weather had been pretty crappy before we got on the metro, but when we arrived at our first  location the sky had brightened and we were ready to explore Paris!

Hannah, Tyler and the Arc de Triomphe

After we took a few photos with the Arc de Triomphe (we even walked under it), we walked down the main street for tourism in Paris, the Chanselise.  There were pleanty of interesting sights to see and stores to explore.  Something that caught our attention was the McDonalds.  Usually the McDonalds in the US are run down and dirty, but this was completely different.  Like many of the McDonalds in Europe, the one in Paris was modern, two stories and clean.  You could order  electronically and there were hundreds of choices.  Different burgers and drinks, you could even get beer there too.

After we were done looking through a few stores (everything was extremely pricey) we decided to head towards the Eiffel tower.  So we got to the Seine river, and decided that it was about time for a little food break.  We found a corner restaurant called Le Grand Corona, and ordered something very traditionally french.  The assorted cheese plate,which contained a bunch of cheeses that we couldn't identify, with the addtition of salad with a sort of wasabi-like dressing, pecans and a jelly like substance which according to Tyler tasted like wood.  We were also given a basket of bread (only 4 slices) which defintley wasn't enough to go with all the cheese, so we just ate the cheese plain.  We also ordered some french Affligem beer.  The cheese plate was very refreshing, but the waitress didn't speak much English so the language barrier was a little difficult.  In addition, we had to ask for the bill instead of them just giving it to us.  It was surprising how many people in France couldn't speak English.

Assorted Cheese Plate

Wimpy serving of bread

After our little food fix we continued on our journey in Paris towards the Eiffel Tower.  Before going to France we decided that we were going to paint locks and place one on a bridge, in order to leave our mark, so we found a nice little walking bridge called the Pl. Debilly and placed our decorated lock with hundreds of others.  If you ever happen to visit Paris, look out for our lock, its definitely unique compared to all the others.  Hopefully we will keep up this tradition and leave our mark on all the different places that we visit.

Our beautiful lock on the bridge

We finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower and Tyler noticed a vendor on the street corner selling crepes.  He just had to take a photo of the giant jars of Nutella since we are such fond admirers of this glorious goop.  Oh and another interesting point, the "original" lays chips are called "nature" which we thought was a little funny.  It took us a good while to actually figure out the flavor of nature.  We then took a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower.  Unfortunately there was some repairs going on so we didn't get to see it in all of its glory.  I have been to the Eiffel Tower many times but Tyler hadn't, so he thought that it was enormous.  It's really sad that it seems like all major landmarks are always under construction (Neuschwanstein castle last summer in Germany and the Washington Monument in DC this spring).

Nutella and Nature

At the Eiffel Tower

The weather had changed dramatically and realized that we were in need of something cold to cool us off.  We originally went searching for a drink, but in a supermarket a french woman pushed aside and treated us cruelly because we were American...So then we looked for some ice-cream, found a place and the stupid woman didn't speak any English and didn't even try to communicate with us, so we left, still thirsty and hot.  After walking along the river, and crossing over again we found ourselves close to the Grand Palais and Palais de la Decouverte.  We ended up stopping at a restaurant called Brasserie le Grand Palais.  Here we also had to ask for a menu because the waiters didn't even acknowledge that we were sitting in there restaurant.  We ended up ordering a sorbet dish, with fresh fruit and 2 refreshing coca colas.  We were very pleased with this.  In addition, we found a 10 euro note on the ground right outside the restaurant so technically the sorbet was free!

After this nice little break from our long hike through Paris we were up and moving again and we gave ourselves a choice of whether to make our way across the river again to see Notre Dame or visit the famous Louvre Museum.  After a short debate we wanted to see the Louvre, which Hannah had been to before and recommended that we take a look at the many famous paintings inside (including the original Mona Lisa).  The museum is located at the end of an extensive park just on the North side of the Seine River, and it was a nice walk through to find it on the East end.

Willllllll

The park is surrounded by a multitude of old buildings and statues all encompassing huge grass fields and flower beds.  This area also housed many restaurants and cafes which were packed with people around this time in the afternoon.  On one of the ponds next to a cafe there were lots of stone statues like the one on the left (we thought it was a kodak moment to see a bird on top of the head of the statue, we also have a friend who is the "birdmaster" so we had to take this photo for him)...Willlllllllllllll....

Arc du Carrousel

After about 15-20 minutes of walking through the park we reached Arc du Carrousel which served as the entrance to the Louvre.  We took the opportunity to lean against it and rest our aching bodies and take some  shelter in the shade (at this point in the day my backpack capacity had reached it's max, even though we weren't done buying things..).  Passing under the arch, we were greeted by the Louvre and its' 4 symbolic glass pyramids in front of it.  The pyramids are a nice picture moment, and the fountains and ponds next to them were a perfect place to dip our fingertips in the water; another nice break from our own sweat :P

Outside the Louvre

Louvre "glass" Pyramids

Looking at the mile-long line sprouting from the Louvre entrance we quickly deduced that our tired legs weren't prepared to stand in line for an hour or so for the gallery, so we happily scrammed away to find another bite to suppress our teenage stomachs.  

After we were done with our exploring we decided to do a little more souvenir shopping before stopping by for our next meal, so we walked around a few blocks in search of a bite (we were thinking wine and cheese with some more fresh bread).  There were a good number of cafes in the area so we shopped around a bit and found one with a cheese plate (again!)  and a good selection of wines.  We took a seat and the waitress spoke English well, and was also quite friendly toward us. 

Hannah's rose and my red

Chilled water was very refreshing about this time

After we had ordered our cheese plate and wines (glass of rose for Hannah and I got a red, both very nice) it had started POURING.  Luckily we had had nice weather the whole day on the contrary to what the weather forecast was, so we were fortunate that it lasted this long.  Anyways we got the cheese plate and were instantly gratified :)  This plate had an even better selection than the first and the funny thing about the basket of bread, when we were done with the first one, the waitress came back with ANOTHER.  And when we were done with that basket, she came back with ANOTHER one!   To my surprise these extra baskets didn't come up on the check!  The cheese plate was once again excellent, and it had some of the varieties from the last plate along with some new ones, and it was nice to never go without the fresh bread.  With this amazing bread-service I left a hefty tip on the table which was probably a big indicator of our 'Merican blood.

We left the restaurant and made our way to the underground line that would take us back to Gare du Nord, given that it was time to start heading back.  We got on the correct train, which was absolutely packed to the brim, and after a few minutes Hannah and I give each other a blank stare as both of us realized we were heading the WRONG WAY (this was the beginning of the sour attitudes we would have for the rest of the night/next morning).

We got off the metro two stations down, and it was an easy switch over to the line that would take us back to Gare du Nord.  This line however was even more packed before, we definitely felt like packaged sardines, unable to move or breathe in the humid, hot metro.  Finally we got to Gare du Nord at around 7:30, our Eurostar train to St Pancras was scheduled to leave at 9:15, so we were supposed to check in 30 minutes before (8:45) so we had plenty of time to spare.  I got through security about 20 minutes before Tyler did because apparently there was a backup.  We did our last minute shopping in Paris, got a drink then got on the train at about 8:45.  Once on the train everything went downhill.

For starters, our train neighbors were...very obnoxious.  For example, the person behind us was a loud eater and was talking about mushrooms...in addition, the food he was eating stunk up the whole carriage.  On the other sided of us we had two raging alcoholics.  Before the train even started moving they went through 2 stellas and 2 bottles of wine.  After about an half an hour of sitting on the train, the intercom came on and the conductor told us that there had been a "suspect baggage" so we had to wait for 200 other passengers to board.  This train ride turned into hell very fast. We ended up getting through popcorn, a sandwich, red bull, water, 2 cans of beer and 2 cups of tea before we even started moving.  In addition to our eating, the alcoholics went through 2 more wine bottles and some more beer with the addition of some unidentifiable green drink that Tyler said was illegal in the US (ironically they were Americans).  Finally the train started moving sometime between 10 and 11.  We tried to sleep but couldn't.  We arrived at St Pancras at 12:30 am, then had to take a taxi to Waterloo station, to take the 1:05 train to Farnborough.  This was absolutely ridiculous, since we ended up getting home at around 2:30 am.  Oh, and the whole London night scene was not so pretty with all the drunks and such.   But, all in all we had a great day and are excited for the rest of our trip!