Europe Adventure Begins

 

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Vancouver Airport
We did not fly out until evening of Aug 19, 2007 so did not have to get up bright and early, but still kept busy getting ready doing last minute things. Family took us to the airport so that was nice. We had an uneventful, but long boring 9 hour flight to London. We left Vancouver at 1155 pm our time and arrived in London 5 pm the next day.

We tried to get money out of a bank machine and it kept the card, this was not a good start to our vacation, fortunately we had another card (but did not want to try it in that machine). We had to exchange some Canadian money at the money exchange at a very poor rate.

It took a while to find out where to get to the shuttle for the hotel and we had to wait almost an hour for the shuttle to come so we were very tired by the time we got to the Travelodge hotel. We were also hungry so had a not very great hamburger at the hotel.

Britain to Paris

Waterloo Station
It was a sunny day and we took the shuttle back to the airport and took the train to Victoria train station then a train to Waterloo train station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. I enjoyed looking at the country side from the train and was fascinated with all the different types of housing on the way to London from beautiful, huge home on acreages to duplexes to row houses and apartments. I found the multiple houses interesting where they were finished off differently on each side going right down the middle from the peak of the roof.



Eurostar Station
On France’s side the farms were bigger and the houses were different types of styles and brick, with a sprinkling of little villages each with a Church. As we got closer to Paris there were more houses and then apartments and high rise buildings.


When we got to the train station in Paris we got a bus pass which was good for 6 days (passes run Monday to Monday and we came on a Tuesday). Getting the pass turned into an interesting endeavour because we needed a picture for the pass. First we had to get some change, which the stores and shops will not give unless you buy something, but a gentleman hearing me try to get change gave me some. Next there was one of those booths where you can take pictures but of course all the instructions are in French. The first picture we took was way too big so we picked another choice which was smaller but it was like a post card where you were in a prison cell. I took that one and the lady doing the passes thought it was quite funny but said it would be okay she could just cut it down to size.

Street Hotel is on

Hotel Leveque

We managed to get the passes and took subway to the Hotel Leveque. It was like a movie set or one of those huge casinos in Las Vegas that look like you are outside when we were walking down the street to the hotel with all old brick buildings and lots of cafes with outdoor tables and little shops and bakeries along the way (no franchise stores in sight).

They park their cars really close together

The hotel had the cutest little glass elevator Ches and I could just fit in by snuggling up together.

After we settled in we walked down the street and checked some of the menus to decide where to eat, of course they were all in French so that made it a bit difficult. We finally picked one and there was a waitress that spoke English and translated the menu for us and we had some very good pasta. After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to bed as were still pretty tired and still trying to adjust to the time change.

Paris-Louve and city

We had a free breakfast because we had a Rick Steeves travel book which is what I used to organize this whole trip and why I picked this hotel.


Money
We tried to find a place that sold international phone cards that you call numbers and don’t need to be inserted into a phone, very difficult to do things with the language barrier but finally found one and bought the cheapest which was 7.50 Euro (about $10 and we found out later it only works in France so left it at next B & B in England to give to someone going to France). We were able to call our bank and explain the problem that the bank machine kept our ATM card and they arranged to send us another card and said that the ATM card should have worked. When we got the new card we tried it in a bank machine across from the hotel and it worked with no problem so that solved our money situation.



We took the subway or tube downtown and went to the Louve, unfortunately it was packed. We managed to get in where you get the tickets but the line just to buy tickets was so long we decided not to bother.

Louve

We took several buses and just looked at the buildings and scenary.

this is a toilet on the street, we never tried them

We had supper near the hotel and bought some wine, very inexpensive equivalent of $3.00 a bottle and you can buy it in the grocery store down the street from the hotel.

Versailles

Palace of Versailles

There are 2 small palaces on grounds called the Grand and Petite Trianon, these were where the royal family could be more relaxed. There is also a chapel, theatre, grotto, and orangery. There is also a village and farm but I followed the signs and the winding paths but could not find it.

Chapel

Grotto

Petite Trianon

The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV beginning in 1669. He used it as a little lodge as a secret refuge for his amorous trysts with the lovely Louise de la Valliere and built a fairy tale park around it. Jules Hardouin Mansart, the king's principal architect, drew the plans to enlarge what was turning more and more into a palace from A Thousand and One Nights. The terrace that overlooked the gardens was removed to make way for the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the Galarie de Glaces. It is here from which the king radiated his power and where the destiny of Europe was decided over a century. The French classical architecture was complemented by extensive gardens.

Grande Trianon

Grounds of Versailles

It stopped raining and we went out to see the grounds. The grounds are huge and fantastic. We paid to take a tram to 3 different spots on the grounds, the Grand Trianon, the Petite Trianon, and the Lagoon. Since the tram goes in a circle and you can get on and off we went to the last stop and saw the lagoon first. The site looking back at the Palace with the ponds and lawn and gardens in front was just fantastic. When we got on the tram it went back to the beginning and told everyone to get off, in not particularly pleasant voice and said the ride was over. I said I wanted to go to the first 2 stops because we were told we could get on and off when we wanted and he just kept saying “finis.” we went back to the next tram to leave and had a discussion with the person there who did not want to let us back on but with a refusal to leave he did let us on again and we did the next 2 stops in order this time.

These are just a few pictures, Versailles is huge and must be seen to be appreciated

Paris-Caranvalet Museum-Notre Dame Cathedral

Caranvalet Museum

It was a rainy day so we went to the Carnavalet Museum which portrays the history of Paris from Prehistoric to modern times in a Marais mansion. The building itself was interesting. There are sculptures and objects from prehistoric. I enjoyed the rooms set up with furniture and dishes and ornaments for the different time periods. There were lots of paintings and artefacts.

Notre Dame Cathedral

After lunch we walked over to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The church is certainly impressive with it’s size and ornamentation. There are many beautiful statues inside the church. I went through the treasury, which had gorgeous clerical outfits and lots of gold church objects. It would have been nice to climb to the top of the 200 foot tower, but it had a very long line up

The Church Treasury

Eiffel Tower
We rode the city bus around looking at the sights and there are spectacular historic buildings everywhere. We got off the bus and went to a park that overlooks the Eiffel tower. It was so exciting to actually see it in real life. Of course we had to take our picture with the Eiffel tower in the background. We were too tired to walk down closer the Eiffel tower and went back to the hotel to rest and have supper.