Sisterhood of the Traveling Powells: Paris, France

We woke up in London early Sunday morning and took ourselves and our packs to Kings Cross St. Pancras train station. Our Eurostar train was scheduled to depart at 8 AM. We settled into our reserved seats and arrived in Paris at 11:47 AM after entering another time zone. We were now 7 hours ahead of our family in Oklahoma. Zee, my friend from the study abroad program in Dundee, met us at the Gare du Nord train station. He was our tour guide for the afternoon and he absolutely crushed it.

First order of business was ditching the packs at our hostel, Smart Place Paris, which was just a few blocks away from the Gare du Nord train station. We grabbed sandwiches and cheese at a nearby Monop before taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic lunch. Along the way we stopped at the Champs-Elysees for the Arc De Triomphe and my one request: an authentic french baguette that I promptly chomped into. 

We found a shady spot at the Eiffel Tower and devoured our lunches while catching up with Zee and his law career. When my baguette was reduced to crumbs, we refilled our water bottles and continued our race around Paris. We boarded the metro again, this time bound for Sacre Coeur. Word to the wise: if anyone ever asks you if you want to the take the elevator to the street versus the stairs at the Sacre Coeur metro stop ALWAYS PICK THE ELEVATOR. Not realizing what we were in for I assured Zee we could conquer the stairs. There were 181. I was seeing spots by the time we reached street level. Combine those with the steps required to climb to the Sacre Coeur and I was certain I'd just become a contestant on The Biggest Loser and Zee was Jillian Michaels. The view was one hundred percent worth it and we soon started our descent. 

The Louvre was next on the agenda, but we didn't have time to go inside for the famed Mona Lisa. At least this time I actually picked a day when it was open so I'm getting closer with each visit! We walked along the Seine before reaching Notre Dame. We ate ice cream in Luxembourg Gardens before meeting Zee's girlfriend for a crepe supper at La Creperie de Cluny. I chose a crepe filled with cheese, Canadian bacon, and eggs and was not one bite disappointed.

We took the metro back to our hostel and checked into our four bed female dorm. Much to Jordan's dismay, our bunkmates had already claimed both bottom bunks. For this reason plus it being "tiny" and "uncomfortable" Jordan only gave it 3 stars. We showered the layers of sweat away before climbing into our rickety top bunks for a restless night of sleep. We kept the window open for ventilation, but paid a high price with the city noise. Sirens, buses, and cars kept me awake most of the night. 

We tiptoed out of our room at 7:30 AM the next morning and located the metro that Zee had instructed us to take to the Gare de Lyon train station. We were scheduled to catch the train to Nice from there. However, this particular metro wasn't running as it normally did and stopped before it got to our destination. A nice businessman noticed our confusion and offered to show us which metro to take. We followed him through the metro maze like puppies as I struggled to remember my four semesters of college French. He directed us to the correct platform and I breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled into the Gare de Lyon station. I shouldn't have as this is when we experienced the first hiccup in our carefully formed itinerary. 

At dinner the evening prior, Zee explained to us that train strikes were in effect all over France and checked to make sure our train was still running according to schedule. However, when we arrived at the station on Monday morning, we were told our train to Nice had been cancelled. The completely unhelpful railroad employee told us we could try to get on the train at 14:11, but that it was likely completely full. 

Not one for panicking on an empty stomach, we decided to find some breakfast first. Keep in mind that we were dressed in shorts and tshirts, as we expected to be on the beach later that afternoon. We shivered on our walk to a nearby cafe where I ordered petit dejeuner. Turned out to be two croissants, hot chocolate, and orange juice. Europeans really like their liquids in the morning. I scanned the Eurail planner app for backup options and texted Zee to inform him of our predicament. 

Naturally, Zee was furious with French National Rail and offered to come up to the train station during his lunch break to help with the language barrier. Seeing as we were 30 minutes out of his way, I wanted to see if we could resolve the issue before inconveniencing him. We went back to the National Rail ticket office at 11:15 to see if we could get anymore answers. We were instructed to take a number and sit. Picture a DMV. Now add a language barrier. It was difficult, but we were able to change our tickets to the afternoon train at no additional cost. We waited a few more hours and were soon on our way to Nice, 5 hours behind schedule. 

Paris stats

27,292 steps walked

$11 US dollars spent (remember-I took euros out before leaving the USA!)