EN ROUTE, AND ARRIVING IN PARIS

To get from where I was in England to 
Paris, I had to navigate two train rides, 
a taxi ride from one London station to 
another, and two much-too-heavy 
suitcases.  I had a great cabby, a typical 
Londoner - he told me he'd lived there
all his life, in a great Cockney accent.  He 
kept saying, "It's a tough old town."  He 
told me that it has changed a lot, and that 
it really is quite rough now.  He lives alone 
in an apartment, and would really like to 
get himself a small bungalow out of town, 
but can't see how to manage it.  He heaved 
my cases in and out of the taxi without 
even a grunt, and was very pleased when 
I gave him a decent tip.  I like to think he
will be able to get that little bungalow
one of these days.

I had decided that I would skip London, just
because it seemed like such a lot of work, 
finding a place to stay and hauling my cases
around, and really not a lot of time - and on
one hand I was glad I made that choice.  I
was excited to get on to Paris.  But on the
other hand, once I was in that taxi I realized
I would love to spend some time in London,
and explore the different neighbourhoods
and perhaps see some shows, ride the 
Underground, and visit the British Museum.
I will just have to go back!!

The only photo I took in London, from the back
seat of the taxi, arriving at St. Pancras station.

The train from London to Paris was really 
fast - I think it only took 2 1/2 hours.
I was dreading the tunnel under the Channel,
(also known as The Chunnel) but on the 
approach, we had been in and out of several 
tunnels, so when we got to the
long one, I didn't realize that's where we
were - which is just as well.  There's something
a little creepy about being 150 feet under the
sea bed, with I don't know how many tons of 
water on top of you.  It only took 20 minutes!
The only way I knew we had been through it
was the shrieking teenage French girls who
cheered and said, "Nous sommes a la France!"
I don't know if they hated England, and had
been forced to go on a school trip, or if they
were just glad to be home.  Or both.

My Parisienne friend Marie met me at the
Gare du Nord, where her granddaughter 
was also arriving to stay.  We took a 
taxi to her home in Montmartre, and she
welcomed me with such excitement and
pleasure - I have been so moved by how
people have opened their homes to me,
and the really great visits I have had.
The first night, we went out for dinner
(mais oui!! what else to do in Paris??)
and then we went for a walk along the
Champs Elysees - which was really
packed with tourists.  But it was such 
fun to walk the long street, ending up
at l'Arc de Triomphe…

Here we are, Marie and I, on the Champs Elysees!!
Photo courtesy of Iris, Marie's granddaughter.

Grand-mere and Iris!

I took this in the middle of the street, while crossing - not
a really smart thing to do in Paris - mad drivers!!!!
And I mean crazy, not angry!!

I have so many photos from Paris - which is
a city I really loved!  It's funny how there
are certain places where you feel immediately
at home, relaxed.  Even though it is such a
noisy, busy city, I loved the feel of it.  It 
is somewhere else that I would love to live
for some time.  I mean, look at these….

This is the Sacree Couer, in Montmartre.  We took a funicular
up a very steep hillside to get to it, and it was, as you can see,
packed with tourists.  We lined up to get in and walk around - but
my favourite part was sitting in silence and meditating on … the Mystery.
There were too many people for the place to have that deep silent sacred
feel to it, and I was disappointed.

These were just some of the stairs going down!!

OK, I think that's it for Day 1 in Paris….more to 
come!