I should've started this a while back, probably at least before we left, but better late than never. I'm in Paris in our hotel lobby typing this. Our trip kicked off on June 28th as we flew ahead to June 29th in Amsterdam, where we stayed 4 nights and then traveled by train to Bruge. I'll write about our stay at these cities in subsequent posts, but will focus this one on our journey to Paris from Bruge.
The day started out after a solid night's sleep in our Bruge hotel, Hotel Cordoeanier. Having not particularly enjoyed breakfast at this hotel before and wanting to finally taste a Belgian waffle, we skipped the hotel buffet and walked a couple blocks to a pastry shop and ordered warm waffles. Tasty and sweet!
After checking out, it was time to make our way to the Bruge train station. Public transit is so great everywhere we've been and Bruge was no exception. It was only a block or so to the bus stop and only a five minute wait for the bus. The bus ride is interesting in Bruge, as the bus navigates the very narrow streets with pedestrians and cyclists darting this way and that. We arrived in plenty of time and caught the Bruge to Brussels train. With only 15 minutes to spare for our connecting train to Paris, it was a close call. Thanks to a friendly lady on the train who ensured we ran thru the Brussels station, we made it. The train to Paris was a speedy and smooth TGV. The scenery was lovely, mostly farmland and small towns.
I forgot to print out the address for our Paris hotel, Hotel de Turenne, which made it a bit of a challenge to get directions at the Paris train station. Luckily, I knew approximately where it was on a map and the helpful attendant directed us to the appropriate metro subway trains.
A quick note about the Paris Nord train station. It's big and busy! I'm glad we weren't in a hurry.
The Paris subway goes everywhere and is reasonably priced (~1.60 euro/person). It's also crowded and a bit on the dirty and old side. It's pretty easy to navigate, but I'd recommend having a metro map and acquainting yourself with it first. Our subway dropped us off within a quarter mile or so of our hotel. As I mentioned though, I didn't have our hotel's address. I knew it was near the Rue Cler, which we found easily enough, but we didn't see our hotel. Luckily, we were helped by a generous worker at the corner post office who looked up the address on his computer. And, it turned out, our hotel was only a couple short blocks away. Hurray! Just in time as we were all running low on energy, having skipped lunch during the trip from Bruge.
After checking in, we took a stroll over to the Eiffel tower to see it up close and personal - it's only a few blocks from our hotel. We were too tired to wait in line for go up, but it's quite a sight. I overheard a guy in the lobby talking about some famous Parisian who hated the Eiffel tower. This guy said the best view of Paris was from the Eiffel tower because then you didn't have to see the Eiffel tower! We then strolled over to Rue Cler to find somewhere to eat. We found a lovely spot with nice outdoor seating, where we enjoyed a tasty dinner. I should also add that the service was very good.
The other highlight for us was learning to use a Paris laudrymat, which was conveniently right across the street from the hotel. It's a bit different, but as with many things we've encountered on our trip, pretty easy once you get acquainted with it.
We're all relaxing now after a day of traveling and getting acclimated to a new city. We're thinking of doing a bus tour tomorrow to get a better lay of the land. We'll let you know how it goes.
Au revoir until next time.
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