Arriving in Paris

We decided to go from London to Paris by train.  There is a highspeed train that goes under the English Channel in about two hours.  You can't really think about the fact that you're travelling underground.  It is very easy to use, it's reasonably priced, and saves some of the waiting time involved in going to the airport.

We have two in our group who are prone to motion-sickness and can't travel backwards.  Because the train is pointed on both ends, you can't tell which end will be coming or going.  So everyone picked their seats, and then once the train started moving, we had to adjust to accommodate those who might get sick.  The French people in the seats near us rolled their eyes and laughed because we were so frail.

Once in Paris, we had to find the place we rented.  We rented all of our places through Air BNB, which is a site where people rent their homes out.  We took what we learned in the London Tube and found that we were much more equipped to use public transportation.  Add to that that I speak some French, and we had no problem getting to our destination.

We settled in and then struck out for the city.  Because we were arriving later in the day, we figured that most things would be closed by the time we got around.  That was not the case.

We headed downtown toward Notre Dame.  We found it to be easily accessible and incredibly beautiful.  This was one place where you can take pictures inside, and it's pretty amazing.  I understand that the ND basillica in our hometown is based on this same building.  We climbed the towers to go up to the big bell towers that the book The Hunchback of Notre Dame was based upon later this week.  It's hard to understand how they might have gotten these things, weighing several tons, in place.

Wandering through town, we came upon a bridge that had several locks on it.  We'd seen a movie that included this bridge as a part of the story line, and so the kids were fascinated by it.  The story is, to prove your undying love for someone, you write your names on a lock, fasten it to this

bridge, and then throw the key into the Seine.  So on this bridge, and several other bridges, there are literally thousands of locks of all shapes and sizes.  Each one has a different message; some appear to be hundreds of years old.  It's really neat.
I had three years of French in High School.  In our third year, our teacher, Mrs. DeWeiss, taught a section that included learning all of the major sites in Paris.  Many of these places you would not recognize by name, but it was remarkable how, when we wandered upon a location, the things I'd learn would come to mind.

We came upon le Place de la Concorde on our way to see l'Arch de Triomphe.  The arch at the center of Paris was constructed by Napoleone as

a place where his conquering armies could come back to town and celebrate their accomplishments.  I didn't realize just how large it was.  It's massive! We climbed to the top and from there, you can see all the way around the city, since all roads lead here.

We walked down the Champs Elysee, another famous site I'd learned in French class, and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.First impression: it's much, MUCH bigger than I figured.  Since we arrived later in the evening, the elevator to the highest point was closed, but we did make it halfway up and could see all around Paris.  I know that we've probably used "breathtaking" too often to describe these places, but it really is an accurate description.  Hard to imagine that someone had the idea to do something so outrageous like putting up a tower like this!

We had been told that at 10:00 pm every night that the Tower dazzles for five minutes, and so we

thought that we had missed it for the evening.  As soon as we arrived on the ground, hundreds of lights began twinkling and the atmosphere around the tower changed.  People were picnicing on the lawn, opening champagne, rushing to take pictures to capture it.  That really is one of our greatest moments so far.

It's remarkable to have the opportunity to see this with my own eyes.  It was described to me first in French class by Mrs. DeWeiss, then I've seen mini Eiffel towers at Disneyland, in Vegas, and even at Kings Island, but they really don't do it justice.  I'm so glad to be able to bring my family to see these things.  I hope that they will have this to draw on the rest of their lives.