In Cork, we figured we would just go to the train station and get on the next train to Rossalare to catch the ferry, but when we got to the station to check on times, we were told that it was not a direct route and that the one train we could catch would bring us to Rossalare at 22:00 hours- and we had to be at the port by 15:00! eeek. So we rushed to the bus station to find a bus to take us there and with luck, a bus was about to leave and would put us at the port by the time we needed. Had we missed that bus, we would have missed our ferry! The ride took about 3 hours to the port. Just as we got there, they started boarding. When Alan purchased the tickets (we got a discount with our eurorail passes), he opted for the less expensive supplementary, so we got chairs to sleep in. I tried to picture it being like a long flight and that being in a chair wouldn´t be so bad. When we boarded the boat, the section we were in was downstairs and when I walked in, it was like a huge theater. TONS of chairs and no windows. Oye! We dropped off our backpacks in our designated seats and headed upstairs to the deck to watch the ship leave the dock. Next stop was to the pub for a few pints. haha. Since it was a car ferry, there wasn´t much to do on the ship at all. They did have a couple of ´shows´but they were horrible. Seriously. I spent much of the time writing in my personal journal and catching that up to date. By 10 I was pooped and headed downstairs to go to sleep. It was a bit difficult to do at first as there were a few loud-mouthed foreigners. Not sure the nationality--maybe Russian, but they didn´t know how to be quiet. haha. Then as I did begin to fall asleep, this rather loud group of Irish people came down with their retarded son who would burst out with noise randomly. I´m not trying to poke fun at the retard, but it was funny. I used my hoodie sweatshirt and covered my head and eyes, which helped me sleep. We got to Cherborg Paris at about noon. Thank god that journey was over. Now I know I´ll pay more for a cabin on the next boat. haha.
At Cherborg, we took a train into Paris central. Our eurorail passes are for 1st class accomodations, so we get to travel in style. haha. The train ride was nice and smooth. The scenery was spectacular as well. We passed through beautiful fields and meadows. I love traveling by train, though they tend to put me to sleep. haha.
Paris was much warmer than the UK and Ireland. YAY! It was also bigger and had more room to move, though there were still a bunch of people walking around. Similar to London, the subways were filled with different levels, connecting tunnels and lots of walking to different trains. We had a small subway map that helped with the navigation.
We got to our hotel and dropped our bags off and toured the city. It was very neat to finally see the Eiffel Tower in person. It really is an amazing structure. The lines to get up to the viewing deck were too long to wait in, so we decided to go up in the Arch instead. We walked around and decided to take a train out to Versille. It was mentioned in our travel book as a ´day tour´and it certainly was. That place is HUGE. The sucky part was that it is under renovation so the spot where the most photos are taken where Marie Antoniette (I can´t spell!)opens up the doors to the balcony and supposedly said "Let them eat cake" was covered up by scaffolding. Booooo! The line to view the inside of Versille was enormous like that of the Eiffel Tower, so we opted to go through the gardens first. This is where you could see just how enormous Versille is. The gardens stretched out around the back and straight down the middle was a wide path leading down to the lake. Alan said it was Paris´version of the Washington DC ´Mall´. We walked and walked and walked until we got down to the lake where people were renting row boats. We grabbed some sandwiches and sat by the water. This group of ducks came up and I fed them some bread. I was laughing at these baby ducks, who were like Pirhanas. As soon as I would throw in a piece of bread, they would race in a pack over to it. I caught it on video. haha.
We must have spent almost 2 hours walking around the gardens and then back up to the main square. The line was now very short, so we went in and got our tickets. Inside it is just amazing. I can´t imagine having such a lifestyle like that. Enormous paintings covered some walls. There were a lot of statues (even in the gardens) and the hall of mirrors with huge chandilers hanging from scene painted ceilings. Absolutely spectacular.
The next day we toured Paris and went up to the top of the Arch for a great city view (thanks Matt for the tip!). We walked down the famous Champs street - I can´t spell it, so I won´t try haha. It was filled with tons and tons of stores and eateries. We walked down to Notre Dame and along side the river. Next was the Louvre, but the lines again were enormous. I honestly didn´t have an interest to go in (museums bore me) so we just hung around and took pictures. I did hear that the portriat of the Mona Lisa there was actually small and not big as most people think (thanks Stephen for that tidbit!).
We moved on to the Pantheon, which is like DC´s capital building. It houses a giant pendelum ball that proves the earth´s rotation by showing the time as it swings to each number. Below the Pantheon are crypts where famous people like Marie Curie are burried.
And speaking of crypts, our next stop was the catacombs of Paris! This is where there are tunnels under the city that were used for excavation of stone that helped build much of the city. When the excavation ceased, for some reason they took the remains from several cemetaries and put them down below. When you walk through the long tunnels (45 minutes from one end to the next and that wasn´t even for the whole catacombs!) you see piles of neatly stacked bones and skulls along with signs that indicate what graveyard they came from. The interesting thing here is just how many piles of bones there are! It was a bit creepy.
The wine at the local supermarkets in Paris is pretty cheap. We ended up grabbing a few bottles of Merlot for about 1.99 euros each. haha. What is funny in Paris is how people walk around with loafs of french bread snacking on them. But I must say, french bread, cheese and ham is yummy!
We had a short break to do laundry (finally! It had been forever since we washed clothes - more than in the sink). I thought I understood what to do, but ended up starting the washing machine at the laundromat before I could get the soap in so I basically just washed my clothes in water. hahaha. We had a good laugh about that.
Paris was great. I can´t wait to go back when I have more time and when it´s less crowded.
Next: San Sebastian Spain!
