Trains To and In Paris

Today we are leaving Amsterdam by the Thalys fast train to Paris. It leaves about 6 times a day and we have chosen the 10.20 departure that should get us in to Paris by 2.30.

And in case you are wondering, Peter does not travel lightly!!!!

Our carriage was the first-class one, and it was full of Australians. 

The scenery between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris leaves a lot to be desired...

so best take advantage of the onboard snacks and then the lunchtime meal provided. It was a cold pasta salad, with watermelon for dessert.

Since my kidney stone episode in Zurich I've not touched coffee, so I was able to have green mint tea with my lunch. This tea seems to be available everywhere in Europe. I'm finding it very refreshing and haven't missed coffee at all over the last two weeks. 

One thing we did on the train was obtain a voucher for a priority taxi in Paris. As the terminus is Gare de Nord, this is also the terminus for the Chunnel trains and many others, hence we were told by friends in Amsterdam, here are frequently VERY long waits for a taxi. For us, we walked 50 feet from the train to the taxi service and obtained an immediate taxi. All went swimmingly until we discovered he was a Spaniard with very little English or French, his TWO GPS systems could not locate our hotel - and as a result we saw a great deal of Paris. Fortunately he was very apologetic when we finally arrived and he reduced the charges considerably. Just another little adventure to make the holiday more interesting. In fact you could say that we were living a French Farce!

We've been to Paris four times in 10 years and we always stay at the Hotel Britannique, 20 Avenue Victoria. It's so centrally placed that we can walk or train it to everywhere. Look it up on the map. It has 24 hour reception and about 40 rooms. Spotlessly clean, nice breakfast and friendly staff who speak both English and French very well.

The view from our balcony...

Having settled in overnight it's now morning and time to see our first site - the Orient Express Exhibition.  This has several renovated and new cars on display in the forecourt of the Arab Museum, just a short walk from Notre Dame. Don't forget your umbrella as it's raining and there is the promise of at least 3 more days of rain.

The Exhibition also has extensive memorabilia inside the Museum including posters, recreated rooms, tickets, etc...

Now it's back outside for a 30 minute wait in the rain for our scheduled viewing time...

Mata Hari's compartment...

Until last weekend you could actually dine here and have the authentic Orient Express evening meal. Unfortunately that offer finished last weekend as of course, everyone in France has now gone on holiday for a month. It would have been a wonderful experience - perhaps soon we'll get to do an actual train trip somewhere.

My next blog will begin to show how beautiful this lovely city of Paris really is. With a sturdy umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other we'll show you the Paris beyond the well-known landmarks. We've seen the best of the sites on previous visits so this holiday is about the backstreets and the quintessential heart of this city.