Paris, France

Bonjour!

I had a great train ride from London to Paris, maxing out at about 200 mph. My brother met me at the Gare de Paris-Nord train station at about 5:30pm and I have to say, it was great to see him again after not seeing each other for over a year.

We took the subway to the Crimée station (which I pronounce "Creamy") and walked a few blocks to our hostel. It's a pretty busy place, with a coffee shop and full bar on premise. We checked into our two-twin-bed room and went out for a little walk our first night down a quaint little canal into a fascinating park...


The lift bridge and pedestrian bridge right outside the hostel. Perhaps we'll dine al fresco by the canal tonight.

And, looking down the other way from the bridge. Oh, hi, Mark!

 This park we kept weaving in and out of was pretty cool. Too bad we didn't find any information about it; I have no idea what the name of the park was or its significance. 

We went to a sushi bar for dinner last night (we couldn't find a French restaurant) and then headed to the bakery for some of this:

 

 And this, which we didn't actually buy. I just thought they looked like miniature travel pillows:

The great thing about bakeries here is that it seems the lines to buy things are at least 8 people deep at all hours of the day. Delicious!


So far today, we've done the touristy thing: 

Alright, a little more serious:

And the full shot:

It was a cloudy day, but I think that kept a lot of tourists at bay, which made me happy. It was only 4,50€ to take the stairs to the second level, so my brother and I set forth

 

to enjoy the following views:

  

  

They had a variety of cafes and food stands on the two floors we visited, but really, who wants to eat while you're trying to convince your mind and inner-ears that everything is okay? Regardless of the Eiffel Tower's ability to keep hunger at bay, it was a great time hanging out up there (especially after the 400+ stairs we climbed).

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe, something I've appreciated since being in the bicycle industry as le Tour de France circles around it a few times on the last leg of the race each year. Today, only a gaggle of cars were racing around it.

And here's the photo that pulls all of the days work together in one picture:

So far, Paris has been pretty pleasant. Tonight I'm hoping for some confit de canard (roast duck!), but really, I'm in Paris and will be happy with anything I'm served. Well, hold off on the escargot and caviar. But really, even an eau claire would suffice.

Au Revior for now!