Roni got up early to a welcome email from STA travel Becks. We showered and headed out (after one false start leaving camera batteries behind!) Train to Paris Austerliz then found our way back to Gare de Lyon. The helpfulness of our ticket seller today starkly illustrated the rudeness of yesterday’s staff! Tickets successfully purchased all the way to Goes at a fraction of the original price – whew! Walked our way back to the Latin Quarter to pick up a kebab and fries for brunch. We also spotted a graf by Space Invader – one of our goals for this trip!
Ate our kai as we walked and got to Pont Neuf – oldest bridge in Paris. Our walk then led us past...and through St Germain L’Auxerrois, the oldest church in Paris which we loved. A contributing factor was that not many other tourists had found it and mass was going on the nave so singing wafted through – very cool.
On to our goal then...THE LOUVRE! Purchased our tickets from a machine and made our way through the ‘secret’Arc de Carousel entry without any queuing whatsoever at around 12 – yay!
Thus began an epic 8.5 hours. Amazing. Just SO much to see and try to appreciate!
We exited the building around 8.30 and spent some time appreciating (and trying to photograph) the glass pyramids, courtyard and building all lit up. Earlier Bray had spotted Eiffel from upstairs and we walked a little way past the Louvre’s Arc de Triumph to see it more clearly.
SO surreal. Hard to get our heads around all the ‘far away from NZ and our normal existence’ things we have seen!! Got to see the Eiffel Tower do it’s sparkly on the hour thing and were about to hunt for food (nibbling on nuts and fruit since the kebab had left us a little peckish).
Instead we set out on a mission to get to the Eiffel Tower itself...an hour or so of walking later...it seemed unobtainable for a while there on our tired feet as we passed other imposing Paris monuments and could glimpse it but never quite get there.
We made it! Just in time to appreciate it in the ‘normal’ orange-y lit up state and take pics before it got all sparkly again – VERY EXCITING.
We ooh-ed, aah-ed, took photos, joined the throngs having a kiss and cuddle before searching out some hot chips to sustain us on our walk to the closest RER station.
Got there, ate the rest of our dried fruit & nuts, shared a carrot and awaited our train.
Fortunately we carried warm clothes with us as it was very nippy on our return to St Genevieve du Bois (at 11.30pm or so). Walked our weary feet back to camp before hitting the hay.
A fantastically epic day.
