Off to the Continent (Friday 5th July 2013)

Today we head to Paris for 5 nights. We were up early, bags already packed, for our last walk to Victoria station. Not so many people around in the Underground at 6:30am, thankfully. A tip for users of Oyster cards in the Underground. Last night we exited through a broken gate so did not “touch out”. Emily did. This morning Kerry and I had -$1.40, Emily had $5.40. I suspect we were debited the maximum fare because we didn't touch out. So 10 pounds later we were able to continue through the gates. We arrived at St Pancras International in plenty of time to make it through Border Control, hopped onto our Eurostar coach and headed to Paris.

The train left right on time and before we knew it we were under the English Channel and in France. We sped across the French countryside and arrived at Gare du Nord just after 11:00am local time. Ducked into a newsagent to by a map so we could work out which way to go from the station. It was pretty straightforward really, just straight down Boulevard de Magenta to Place de la Republique, about 1.5kms. Our hotel is up a small street just 25metres from the intersection.

The hotel is very nice. The chap behind the counter was very friendly and helpful, happy to speak English. We took advantage of the period leather chairs in the sitting room off to the left while he finished serving another customer. Our room was not yet ready so we left our cases and went to find lunch. In a cafe across the other side of the Place we enjoyed a generous serving of pasta and a drink for an hour or so. By now Emily was in full flight as a translator and language teacher!

Our room is on the second floor and the thought of lugging three heavy cases up the spiral staircase did not appeal. Thankfully the Concierge pointed us in the direction of the elevator. Time for a rest, so we got ourselves organised and than enjoyed a snooze for a couple of hours.

We headed out for a drink and snack for dinner. There are numerous bars, restaurants and cafes in the area of the Marais. By now they were all pretty full with people enjoying the warm Parisian evening. We stopped by a local Carrefore (Woolworths) for a bottle of red, a block of chocolate and.... washing powder. Back at the room Kerry caught up on her hand-washing while Emily and I enjoyed the red from Bordeaux on the balcony. Very pleasant indeed. Must remember to by a corkscrew tomorrow. Tomorrow it's the Palace of Versailles.