London/Paris - Day 4 (Wednesday, March 25)
Slept in a little bit as we were pretty tired and had no immediate plans for this morning other than packing. Decided to skip the hotel breakfast in favor of a more substantial morning meal. While Debbie and Judy were finishing up their packing, I decided to finally try to find the cache that was supposed to be in the gardens right across from our hotel (150 feet away from our hotel window according to the GPS.) Had no luck. When I logged it as a DNF (did not find) later in the day, I was about the fifth in a row to DNF so it must be gone.
We walked down Praed Street and found a café. While Debbie & Judy ate a full breakfast, I decided to walk to a nearby cache 2/10 of a mile away, as it was one I could leave trackables in and I hadn’t yet been able to leave any trackables, including some that wanted to go to London. I was able to find it, walked back to the café, and had an almond croissant and orange juice while they were finishing their breakfast (I had eaten some yogurt back in the room.)
We walked back to the room, gathered our luggage, and checked out. We took the tube from Paddington Station to St. Pancras for the Eurostar connection. Had to wait a while for the tube as the train was pulling out just as we got to the platform. Glad we missed it though, as the next train was delayed about 15-20 minutes as there was an “incident” further down the tracks. Not sure what happened, but it seems like it probably involved the train we just missed.
Got to St. Pancras and found a trolley (cart) to carry our luggage around in. Had about an hour and a half to spend before we could check in so Judy and I went off to the Kings Cross rail station (across the street) to find the famous “9 ¾” platform that Harry Potter left from. We found it but it was pretty much a non-event for Judy, whose daughter Alex is a H.P. fan. She says it doesn’t look like in the movie. I have no frame of reference there.
Went back to St. Pancras and we were finally able to check in. Went through security and of course my bag was checked again….this time I think it was just because I had such a variety of items in the bag, including my noise-cancelling headphones, souvenirs, and Debbie’s medication bag including her insulin pen. I will definitely have to mail some things back home from Germany (U.S. Mail from the base.)
Once we got to the lounge, found it had free wireless so I spent the waiting time checking e-mail, logging caches, and a quick skype call to mom. Our train was called and we got on and settled in. We were seated backwards which was pretty weird. I didn’t have a window so missed out on much of the scenery. I’ll have that chance when I take the train to Germany, I guess. Hardly even noticed when we went through the Channel tunnel.
As we approached, the intercom piped up with “Bienvenue a Paris!” (welcome to Paris) Can’t believe we’re finally here. Excited about London but even more so about Paris. There were carts available for a 1 euro coin fee. Good thing that I had ONE 1 euro coin that I’d found in a geocache last fall – that came in handy! After loading the luggage up we set off to find metro line 4, which I’d figured out we needed to use. Had to use the restroom – oops, costs 50 euro cents. Have no other coins. Will have to wait. Went to buy tickets in a machine. Sure enough, would only take credit and couldn’t read my American cards. So found a ticket window. Pretty proud of myself – I knew the best thing would be to buy a “carnet” of 10 tickets and was able to ask for them in French! Armed with the tickets, we set off for the platform. Lots of steps which Debbie was having trouble with due to her ankle and toe, but she managed. Had to change trains to the #2 – then rode that to the nearest station to the hotel. Got off and headed to the “sortie” (exit) – came up the stairs and we were on the right street! And what a view awaited us – the Arc de Triomphe. (I’ll say right now that I know many of these French words should have accents but I don’t know how to put them in on the computer.)
We went down the Ave. de Wagram and found our hotel. Very nice – 3 beds, nice bathroom, TV, minibar, and it has an elevator so no walking up and down the stairs like in London! Relaxed a bit then set out to see a tiny bit of Paris and find a place to eat. Deb wanted to eat at a place called Chez Indiana which had American food but we ended up at another place which had a fixed prie menu for 10 euros. Basic food but good. Also saw the Arc de Triomphe lit up, as well as the Tour d’Eiffel lit up a bit farther away.
We are looking forward to our first full day in Paris tomorrow! We have to find the Hard Rock Café where we pick up our Paris passes, including transportation, and we’ll go from there.
The internet in the room costs 8 euros for an hour or 13 euros for a day so I won’t get to post this until tomorrow when we stop at the “MacDo’s” just up the street for the free internet.
Slept in a little bit as we were pretty tired and had no immediate plans for this morning other than packing. Decided to skip the hotel breakfast in favor of a more substantial morning meal. While Debbie and Judy were finishing up their packing, I decided to finally try to find the cache that was supposed to be in the gardens right across from our hotel (150 feet away from our hotel window according to the GPS.) Had no luck. When I logged it as a DNF (did not find) later in the day, I was about the fifth in a row to DNF so it must be gone.
We walked down Praed Street and found a café. While Debbie & Judy ate a full breakfast, I decided to walk to a nearby cache 2/10 of a mile away, as it was one I could leave trackables in and I hadn’t yet been able to leave any trackables, including some that wanted to go to London. I was able to find it, walked back to the café, and had an almond croissant and orange juice while they were finishing their breakfast (I had eaten some yogurt back in the room.)
We walked back to the room, gathered our luggage, and checked out. We took the tube from Paddington Station to St. Pancras for the Eurostar connection. Had to wait a while for the tube as the train was pulling out just as we got to the platform. Glad we missed it though, as the next train was delayed about 15-20 minutes as there was an “incident” further down the tracks. Not sure what happened, but it seems like it probably involved the train we just missed.
Got to St. Pancras and found a trolley (cart) to carry our luggage around in. Had about an hour and a half to spend before we could check in so Judy and I went off to the Kings Cross rail station (across the street) to find the famous “9 ¾” platform that Harry Potter left from. We found it but it was pretty much a non-event for Judy, whose daughter Alex is a H.P. fan. She says it doesn’t look like in the movie. I have no frame of reference there.
Went back to St. Pancras and we were finally able to check in. Went through security and of course my bag was checked again….this time I think it was just because I had such a variety of items in the bag, including my noise-cancelling headphones, souvenirs, and Debbie’s medication bag including her insulin pen. I will definitely have to mail some things back home from Germany (U.S. Mail from the base.)
Once we got to the lounge, found it had free wireless so I spent the waiting time checking e-mail, logging caches, and a quick skype call to mom. Our train was called and we got on and settled in. We were seated backwards which was pretty weird. I didn’t have a window so missed out on much of the scenery. I’ll have that chance when I take the train to Germany, I guess. Hardly even noticed when we went through the Channel tunnel.
As we approached, the intercom piped up with “Bienvenue a Paris!” (welcome to Paris) Can’t believe we’re finally here. Excited about London but even more so about Paris. There were carts available for a 1 euro coin fee. Good thing that I had ONE 1 euro coin that I’d found in a geocache last fall – that came in handy! After loading the luggage up we set off to find metro line 4, which I’d figured out we needed to use. Had to use the restroom – oops, costs 50 euro cents. Have no other coins. Will have to wait. Went to buy tickets in a machine. Sure enough, would only take credit and couldn’t read my American cards. So found a ticket window. Pretty proud of myself – I knew the best thing would be to buy a “carnet” of 10 tickets and was able to ask for them in French! Armed with the tickets, we set off for the platform. Lots of steps which Debbie was having trouble with due to her ankle and toe, but she managed. Had to change trains to the #2 – then rode that to the nearest station to the hotel. Got off and headed to the “sortie” (exit) – came up the stairs and we were on the right street! And what a view awaited us – the Arc de Triomphe. (I’ll say right now that I know many of these French words should have accents but I don’t know how to put them in on the computer.)
We went down the Ave. de Wagram and found our hotel. Very nice – 3 beds, nice bathroom, TV, minibar, and it has an elevator so no walking up and down the stairs like in London! Relaxed a bit then set out to see a tiny bit of Paris and find a place to eat. Deb wanted to eat at a place called Chez Indiana which had American food but we ended up at another place which had a fixed prie menu for 10 euros. Basic food but good. Also saw the Arc de Triomphe lit up, as well as the Tour d’Eiffel lit up a bit farther away.
We are looking forward to our first full day in Paris tomorrow! We have to find the Hard Rock Café where we pick up our Paris passes, including transportation, and we’ll go from there.
The internet in the room costs 8 euros for an hour or 13 euros for a day so I won’t get to post this until tomorrow when we stop at the “MacDo’s” just up the street for the free internet.
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