City Post: Paris

Whew! What a start to the trip! We got into Paris just after 9 in the morning and hopped to it. We kicked it off with an annoying amount of admin with our Eurail pass, which involved us standing in line FOREVER with our bags. We eventually got that sorted (for now) and had the overly ambitious idea to see ALL of the "must see" things in one afternoon so we could see other things the next day. Well, 11+ miles later we did just that. We were exhausted, so we grabbed pizza (one each, because we couldn't agree on toppings) and went to bed.

The next day, we used ChatGPT to plan our day (see our blog entry). It didn't do too bad of a job. We got to see some interesting neighbourhoods, parks, and restaurants, and got semi-acquainted with the game of Boule (although we couldn't quite figure out the rules outside of the ball closest to the jack wins the round). Notre Dame was still under renovation, so we could only get so close, but we discovered Le Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation behind Notre Dame. This memorial was a (free) memorial to the Holocaust victims deported from France. It was excellently put together, and really communicates the tragedy perpetrated by the Nazi regime. (Sadly, it was vandalized that night by protestors in Paris :-( ).

On the final day, we stashed our bags at the train station and set off to the Musee de l'Histoire de la Ville de Paris, a (free) museum tracing the history of Paris. Some of the exhibits in the museum have been in there for over a hundred years! We also hit up the Luxembourg Garden near the train station (where we may or may not have taken a nap under the trees) before heading back to the station to board our train to Bordeaux.

Overall, it was a whirlwind start to the trip. Both of our feet were hurting, but it was great to have Paris as the start to the trip. We quickly learned that meal times would be things we look forward to each day. Meals in Europe are much more relaxed than we are used to from the U.S., and we really enjoyed sitting at our small table, facing out into the city, and sipping espresso while observing everyday life in Paris.

Where we stayed: Hosho Hostel Paris

Jo's favourite: The water fountain!

Jack's favourite: Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation

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