As my spring break journey developed, so did the lessons I learned on navigating the terrain of travel. Last week I wrote about the hills and valleys of my time in southern France. This week, I invite you to join me on the next region of my trip: Paris.
The journey there began with a swift departure from southern France, trading in our overnight bus with a one-hour afternoon train. As the French countryside flashed by, I was comfortable and well-rested enough to fully let it sink in that I would be in Paris for the next three days.
I have always dreamed of going. I was that girl who had Eiffel-Tower-themed everything, from my notebooks to my room decor. I could not tell you why, maybe it was my Pepere always teaching me French words or my coinciding interest in fashion. Nonetheless, my childhood dream was coming true.
The half-hour bus ride from the train station was spent holding on for dear life to the bus rails and our bags as we were getting jostled back and forth and pushed around by the other passengers. To top it off, the driver went right by our stop as well as the three stops before it, not giving me a chance to hit the request button.
We spent some time in our Gentilly Airbnb before hitting up public transport again. The station was a 10-minute walk away, fully uphill. We had to do this walk multiple times a day for the duration of the trip as well as a half-hour metro ride every time we needed to get to and from the city center.
We had a big day planned for our first full day here: Wake up early, bus to Versailles to see the Palace, have lunch in old Royal hunting grounds, visit the Catacombs and see several of the widely known monuments.
I ruined our big day by planning ahead less than I should have. I did not realize until it was too late that I had to book tickets ahead for both the Palace of Versailles and the Catacombs. A change in weather and planning hiccups meant we had to shift our Tuesday plans completely.
We had to find activities that were cheap and did not require tickets ahead of time. We walked through the heart of the city, passing the Arc de Triomphe to get to the Champs-Elysees in the rain. Joe Dassin would say it is just as pleasant according to his song about the famous shopping street.
Going out to eat rarely takes much effort to plan, so we enjoyed stopping in a multitude of cafes and restaurants to try their coffee, pastries, bread, cheese and many more treats on the more affordable side.
We were able to obtain tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, but the very top was sold out. Nonetheless, the view from the second floor was still magnificent. I could have stayed up there with my camera all night if it weren’t for the intense wind and my sleepy eyes.
Wednesday was our museum day, ending in an early night at the Airbnb. We walked miles to see what the Musee D’Orsay and the Louvre had to offer using our free tickets from showing our Italian Visa.
Thursday morning at four, it was time to leave France. What we thought was a €27 two-hour ride to Beauvais turned out to be a 20-minute ride to its shuttle station. We spent another €30 to make it the rest of the way in an hour and a half. Three hours later, we landed in Bologna to catch a bus and two trains back to Florence.
France had its challenges– from planning what we could do on such short notice to actually getting there and back– It left us unbelievably exhausted. However, I will still look back on this trip with great gratitude and satisfaction, and look forward to my next time there.
Lillian Hendel can be contacted at
lhendel@kscequinox.com
