We caught the Eurostar train to Paris at 10.24 am , arrived at 1:45 PM.
Nice smooth trip, saw some of the English and French countryside blur by at 130 km an hour.
After some language and GPS confusion we got an Uber car for the four of us and our luggage.
We saw lots of police near the train station and as our car pulled out heard lots of loud shouts.
Turns out a riot by angry train workers was about to break out and we just missed it.We read that a police car was set on fire.
Found our next Air BnB easily and got settled by 3 PM.
The place is small but very clean. One bedroom and a fold out couch in the living room.
Nice modern bathroom and shower.
We did a walkabout of the neighborhood and bought a few essentials.
Stephen and Mark went out on their own for dinner and some shopping.
We were all in bed by 10:30.
In the morning ,May 19, the boys went across the street and got fresh croissants and coffee for breakfast then we took another Uber to the Louvre.
It was raining lightly.
No lineups ,which can sometimes be very long , we were inside quickly and started exploring.
Saw the actual residence of Napoleon. Stunning rooms and decorations.
Got lost several times trying to find our way to the next wing where the Italian paintings are.
We got a free wheelchair for Karen because this place is so vast she wouldn't have been able to walk it all with her sore knee.
This worked to our advantage because they let wheelchairs in to view the Mona Lisa in front of the other people, this is how we managed to get a close-up viewing!
We were quite amazed at the number of paintings and the brightness of the colours!
After about 3 hours of seeing the museum we left and walked across the street and caught a Batobus on the Seine. For €16 each it offers hop on hop off trips that make a loop of most of the sights.
We stayed on until the Notre Dame stop then caught an Uber back home at about 4:30.
The boys arrived back just behind us and Karen and Mark had long naps until about 8 pm and then we walked down the street to find somewhere for dinner.
Found a sidewalk cafe where we could decipher enough of the menu to make a choice.
We had beef bourguignon and the guys had pizza.
After dinner we all caught an Uber to the Tour Montparnasse, a 56 story office building with a viewing deck on top with 360 degree views of the city.
We got to see the Eiffel tour as it gradually lit up as it got dark.
Very pretty!
By then it was 10:30 and we were all tired after our busy day so we came back and went to bed.
Pictures below;
Karen putting her feet up in our apartment
The main street near us
Our phone booth sized lift
The Louvre main entrance through the pyramid
Mona Lisa
Colourful painting
Batobus
Eiffel tower from the Seine
Notre Dame Cathedral
View looking towards our neighborhood from Tour Montparnasse, Invalides cemetary visible on left
Eiffel Tower at night
No comments:
Post a Comment