2004.10.09 in Paris
Decided to make reservations and buy rail tickets for our night train to Barcelona at Paris Lyon station. We didn't want to get screwed over on not having a seat/bed or pay hefty supplement fares... At the station we bought some stamps and upon telling the "Tabac" clerk en francais I wanted X number of stamps, he said my French was good (take that Le!) since I also asked first-off 'parlez vous anglais' and he replied very little. From the station we transferred over to one of the Metro's 14 lines to reach the Eiffel Tower once more. But not before stopping into a really cheap supermarket chain for a baguette, hot dog weiners (which are really expensive in Europe it seems), fruits, and pre-packaged crepes for lunch.
It was overcast all day and when we reached L'Ecole Militaire it began raining hard. Not so great for pictures but we decided to go up the tower anyway. At the base of the tower was a big rally of Irish football fans singing and drinking boisterously. Police and military patrolled around but were there the last time we came. After a month of backpacking we finally had to use our $2 plastic ponchos as we climbed up the tower's first two levels. Waited in another queue to take an escalator to the top (third) level - it was really windy so climbing up the rest of the way was dangerous as they had closed the stairway. The views were great as you notice how flat and spread out the city really is.
Not surprisingly, we were offered to eat dinner at the homestay even though we weren't staying that night. Enjoyed the curry chicken and kimchi for the last time. The only korean food I've had before Paris is all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ - which pales in comparison to the variety and flavourful dishes we've had the past few days. I miss the real, home-cooked kimchi already!
Our couchette car was much better than the Italian train we had. However, we were on the top beds of the 6-bed compartment and it's clear the higher centre of gravity on a wobbly train proved to be no help in getting a good night's sleep. We probably should have moved to another compartment - there were so many empty ones in the car - since our tickets weren't even checked on the train! Our trip was much less than the 59 euros since we'd be connecting at a small border station in Spain...
It was overcast all day and when we reached L'Ecole Militaire it began raining hard. Not so great for pictures but we decided to go up the tower anyway. At the base of the tower was a big rally of Irish football fans singing and drinking boisterously. Police and military patrolled around but were there the last time we came. After a month of backpacking we finally had to use our $2 plastic ponchos as we climbed up the tower's first two levels. Waited in another queue to take an escalator to the top (third) level - it was really windy so climbing up the rest of the way was dangerous as they had closed the stairway. The views were great as you notice how flat and spread out the city really is.
Not surprisingly, we were offered to eat dinner at the homestay even though we weren't staying that night. Enjoyed the curry chicken and kimchi for the last time. The only korean food I've had before Paris is all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ - which pales in comparison to the variety and flavourful dishes we've had the past few days. I miss the real, home-cooked kimchi already!
Our couchette car was much better than the Italian train we had. However, we were on the top beds of the 6-bed compartment and it's clear the higher centre of gravity on a wobbly train proved to be no help in getting a good night's sleep. We probably should have moved to another compartment - there were so many empty ones in the car - since our tickets weren't even checked on the train! Our trip was much less than the 59 euros since we'd be connecting at a small border station in Spain...
posted by ET at 14:51
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