Friday 25th March 2016:
After around
two and a half hours on the train, going through countryside and beneath the English
Channel we made it into Paris. Unfortunately the approach to the Gare du Nord station
is less than elegant, which probably isn’t a great first impression for a first
time visitor.
Off the Eurostar
and we were onto the Paris Metro. Despite being there for the entire Easter weekend,
Nola just never seemed to be able to figure out a) where we were, b) where we were
going to, and c) which direction on the map we were travelling in. Luckily the rest
of us knew what was going on.
So impressed
were we with our last Airbnb experience that we’d booked the same property again.
If ever you’re in Paris, you should definitely consider sta
The following
day we boarded the train across to the Arc de Triomphe and strolled the Champs Élysées,
stopping in at Ladurée macarons. We finally made it to Place de la Concorde at the
end of the Champs Élysées, and joined the queue at Angelina for one of their world
famous hot chocolates and a bite to eat.
At 3:30pm, we
went across for our access to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. Although we’d
previously missed out on making it to the 276 metre high summit, we were unable
to convince Nola and Stacey to rise to the third floor. In memory of the recent
tragedy in Brussels, Belgium, the Tower was illuminated of an evening in the colours
of the Belgian flag, in lieu of the usual hourly sparkles.
On Easter Sunday
we set off to do something that none of us had yet done in Paris – visit Disneyland!
We proceeded from the apartment around 45 minutes out of the city centre, making
it to the park not long after opening time. Maintained and landscaped with impeccable
attention to detail, the Disneyland Paris complex is comprised of two separate though
adjoining theme parks – Disneyland Park and Walk Disney Studios, plus a number of
hotels and shops. We managed to ride most of the attractions across both parks,
including all five of the “Big Thrills” that were open. Amongst the four of us (Nola
included!), our favourites were the two high-octane rollercoasters, Space Mountain:
Mission 2 and Crush's Coaster. We stayed in the park right through until the 10pm
fireworks lit up the Sleeping Beauty Castle, a quintessentially Disney scene.
On our final
day in Paris, amongst drizzling rain we posed outside the Musée du Louvre and went
across to the Notre-Dame. In a flashback to our Contiki travels the year before,
we strolled across to the nearby Latin Quarter and returned to the exact same restaurant
we’d once had lunch. We even managed to convince Nola and Stacey to try escargot,
and they didn’t totally hate it.
After a pleasant
Eurostar experience on the Good Friday, our Easter Monday return journey was more
of a debacle. The station was heavily crowded, with only a single escalator in operation
to the London bound platforms. Staff were not allowing people to use the stairs,
and only a select number of people were permitted on the escalator at any one time.
This was despite the digital screens showing that check in was open, then train
boarding, and finally that check in was closed creating stress, agitation and confusion
amongst the hundreds (if not thousands) of travelers.
When people were
eventually allowed onto the escalator, the surge of people rushing forward meant
that people were being pushed and shoved against their will. As evidence that Karma
could potentially be a real thing, one woman abused another traveler for brushing
against her and then proceeded to trip over her luggage and smack her head on the
glass and steel of the escalator.
Finally the four
of us made up the escalator (though not in one go), through immigration and on the
train back to London.
Highlights:
- First Eurostar
experience
- Second Airbnb
stay at
- Arc de Triomphe
- Champs Élysées
- Ladurée macarons
- Hot chocolate
at Angelina
- Second floor
of the Eiffel Tower
- Eiffel Tower
lit up in colours of Belgian flag for the recent Brussels attacks
- Disneyland
Paris
- Phantom Manor
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Peril
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Alice's Curious Labyrinth
- Mad Hatter's Tea Cups
- 'it's a small world'
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
- Space Mountain: Mission 2
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic
- Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin
- RC Racer
- Crush's Coaster
- Ratatouille: The Adventure
- Musée du Louvre
- Notre-Dame
- Nola and Stacey
tried escargot
