For those interested parties, I’ve uploaded all of my Paris photos to Flickr and some edited ones to the Photo Gallery.
I thought I’d make a start on writing this post whilst sitting on the train as I wait in Calais. I’ve just been rather amused by the fact that the third person I saw in France was wearing a beret. Brilliant! 
My day started very early with the 4:50 train from Bedford to St Pancras. It was just my luck that I’d got on the train that stopped in every little station along the way, but I was still in London with plenty of time to spare. Once at the station I headed straight for customs, and despite the fact I asked the chap whether or not I needed to take off my belt, the alarm still went off as I walked through the metal detector. I therefore had to put up with a completely unnecessary frisking from a fellow who seemed to be enjoying himself far too much for my liking!
As soon as I’d got through to the departure area I realised my mistake. There’s not a lot on the other side of those barriers, especially when you compare it to the quite frankly gorgeous-looking St Pancras. So I grabbed a coffee and sat staring at the wall for an hour whilst I waited for my train.
And that’s it so far. We made it through the Tunnel in no time and we’re now on the move again to Paris. I will just point out that at the minute the weather’s not looking very nice at all. It’s extremely foggy and the sky is a miserable grey. The day I have planned is completely outdoors, so I really do need it to clear up.
I’ll be adding more about my day either later on, or possibly tomorrow. Of course, you’ll be reading this as one post, so it won’t make the slightest difference to you!
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Just approaching Paris and the sun has finally popped out to say hello. 
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I begin writing again as the train pulls out of the Gare du Nord for the journey home. What a superb day!
I’ll start off by saying I absolutely love Paris and would be back tomorrow if I could. I wanted to say that now, just in case I say anything negative further down, because nowhere’s perfect. But let’s see if I can do this chronologically and I’ll make any necessary points as I go along.
Right. The Gare du Nord is a dump. Plain and simple. It’s old, horrendously designed and pales in comparison to St Pancras. If I were French I’d be completely embarrassed when getting off the train there. The Metro system is also somehow worse than the Underground, which I didn’t think was possible. Somehow dirtier and entirely confusing, though I eventually started to see more useful signs as the day wore on. I think it’s just the Gare du Nord being less than helpful again.
Enough of the negatives – let’s get above ground where it all falls in to place. My day really kicked off once I left the Metro for the Tour Eiffel. I ambled out of the station and started fiddling with my camera. I look up for an instant and it’s there, towering over me – I’d somehow managed to not spot it on my approach!
I know you’ve all seen it before, but I hadn’t. I was completely shocked by the enormity of the thing – I knew it was big, but that was something else! Another shocking thing about the place was the number of fully-armed policemen swarming around with huge automatic weapons. Definitely not used to that!
I didn’t go up in the end as the queues were ridiculous.
Then it was over to the Palais de Chaillot for an iconic picture of the Eiffel Tower, followed by a cheese and ham crepe.
After that I took a stroll (after originally losing my way) down Avenue Kleber towards the gorgeous Arc de Triomphe. I’d imagine a structure like that wouldn’t work in somewhere like London – impressive in its own right, the structure really comes alive when seen in the wide-open expanse of the Place Charles de Gaulle. London would only have squashed it in between other buildings and ruined the look. After taking a few snaps, I moved to the centre of the island and stood watching the cars attempt to annihilate each other on the roundabout, where the only rule appeared to be to cause as much carnage as you possibly can.
This was followed by a stroll down the Champs-Elysees, though not being a huge fan of shopping I found this be the least exciting part of the day. I turned off at the Avenue Winston Churchill, passing in front of the Petite Palais and down for a walk by the River Seine. Absolutely stunning.
I left the river once I reached The Louvre. Wow. That pretty much sums up the exterior! I even felt the Pyramid worked in person, despite seeing it in pictures and finding its location laughable. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see inside as it appears they close it on Tuesdays! Never mind – there’s always next time.
This was followed by a completely random wander, allowing me to discover the little book stalls which set-up next to the river. An ingenious idea if you ask me!
My little walk took me towards Notre Dame, and after a couple of photos I opted for a break in a small cafe. A huge salmon and goat’s cheese salad (the name of which I forget) and a cold beer. It was far too hot and I was far too tired for wine.
Having my plan to visit the Louvre taken away from me, I decided to follow @Glitterboots‘ advice and head over to Montmartre and up the hill to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. What a view! Definitely made the effort to get up the hill all worthwhile. If there’s one place you must go in Paris, it’s the top of that hill. I could have stood and looked out at the world all day. But unfortunately by that point it was time to head back to the Gare du Nord for my train home.
I’ll be putting some more photos in the Gallery and on Flickr in due course.
I’ve never been abroad. I think my parents were always more comfortable holidaying in England when I was growing up, despite the fact they could have probably gone somewhere foreign for much less. So ever since then I’ve always been put off going. Probably through a fear of the unknown, possibly because I’ve always thought it would be an expensive venture for something that wouldn’t last very long and something which I’d have nothing to show after I’d been.
But I’ve had a change of heart. Where I am at the minute in life leaves me with no obstacles whatsoever, so I’ve booked to go away to a couple of places. I aim to go to at least three foreign places by the end of the year, and I’ve already paid for two of them.
They’re both just day-trips to cut down on expensive hotel bills and to see whether I like the idea of travelling at all.
The first is a cheap flight to Dublin. How cheap, I hear you ask? 1p there and 1p back. Doesn’t get much cheaper than that! It’ll mean a very early morning and a very late night in order to take real advantage of it, but I’m hoping it’ll be worth it once I’m there.
My second trip is a little more expensive as I’m treating myself to a return to Paris on the Eurostar. I like train travel as a rule and I’ll be treating the two and a half hour journey as one of the highlights of the trip. Plus it’s not that expensive when you consider that it’s much cheaper than a return to Birmingham!
I’ll be taking my camera along on both trips as my only piece of luggage and hoping to take some good pics.
The next step is a trip to Cambridge tomorrow to get a guide book for each city and probably a French phrase book too.
