Day 6 - May 28, 2008 - Bon Jour Paris!

  Paris, Île-de-France, France
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sofia with the bags at Kings Cross station

After a two and a half hour ride on the fast train (Eurostar), we arrived in Paris. During the trip, Sofia slept soundly most of the way while I eavesdropped on a british family of 4 talk to each other in their cute british accent.

The difference between London and Paris couldn't be more obvious. London is more like New York. Fast paced, always on the move, small spaces, everyone keeps to themselves and minds their own business. But Paris has large spaces, people do things at their own pace, and often even invade your personal space. Oh and the language thing too.

View of Eiffel from our room

After waiting an hour in line for the cab, we were driven to our hotel. Let me just say that our hotel was bautiful. One of the tallest buildings in all of Paris, it is the Hotel Concorde La Fayette and it is walking distance from Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and even le Grand Louvre. Within 30 minutes or less, we could walk to any of the above places. Our room has a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and later on I would discover that this hotel is also featured in Rick Steves Best of Europe as having a view on the 33rd floor worth watching. BTW, the daytime picture of the Eiffel Tower that you see here was taken at 9p! Paris does not get dark until 10p. Thats amazing!!! Of course, for Sofia, who has trouble keeping track of time as it is, this does not bode well. She thinks its 5p when its 9p.

Our first day in Paris, we headed to a cafe close by called Cafe Aigle. I particularly liked their Croque.

By the Eiffel Tower

Later in the evening, we walked to the Eiffel Tower, and took a cruise along River Seine. It was a very refreshing one-hour ride that passes by some very important buildings and locations in Paris.

For a late night bite, we stopped at Cafe Molokoff right across from the Trocadero. The thing we loved about Paris is that you can get good food at every corner until at least midnight. There are many cafe's everywhere you go and it is something that we long for in Los Angeles. Our food was mediocre but my Creme Brulee was good. Sofia is saving her dessert eating for Portugal.