So we roused and dressed the kids, packed ourselves like mules and walked to the train station. From there we rode into the city, made a quick transfer on the tube, and then came up above ground again at London St. Pancras International Railway Station, where the Eurostar departs for Paris. We arrived in time thankfully, but without much to spare.
The Eurostar blows my mind. The route is directly from London to Paris via a massive tunnel beneath the English Channel. It travels at 186 mph, making the journey only two hours. We ate breakfast on the train and arrived at Gare du Nord at 10:30AM.
We left our baggage at the hotel and decided to find a place to eat. We chose a cafe close by and did our best to order in spite of not understanding the menu at all. But we had our first French baguette, which Mim devoured, and I think we were all pleased with our food.
Then we decided to just walk toward the Eiffel Tower.
Everything in Paris was bigger than I expected. The Eiffel Tower was so huge. Notre Dame was monumental. The Arc de Triomphe was massive. And the Louvre was like an entire city. More on those later but standing beneath the Eiffel Tower I was just so amazed that something so tall could have been built so long ago.
We found a nice place to eat and both tried something new- I wish I'd written down what we ate but of course I can't remember because it was in French. But let's just say the French do four things really well; cheese, bread, potatoes and meat. And dessert. What I mean to say is that the French really have mastered the art of cooking.
After dinner we went back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle at night. It was so pretty. So surreal.