When you’re a newly fledged traveler, you sometimes jump out of the nest and try to fly before your baby wings are fully capable.
Although I had been considering a day trip to Paris while I was in London for weeks, I never actually bought a ticket. I didn’t even research how long it would take to get there. My thought process was something along the lines of, “People say it’s a fast daytrip by train, I’ll just buy a ticket the day before I feel like going!”
I was so naive.
When I went down to my hotel lobby in a panic, because I had just seen the next day’s remaining train prices, the desk clerk confirmed my fears. Very kindly, it was suggested I go to the train station at 6:00am, find the cluster of tour guides, and essentially beg for any last-minute slot or cancelled ticket. No promises.
At 5:00am I had already approached three people with clipboards and tiny flags on a stick.
6:45am, I was approached by a tour guide announcing, “You’re in luck.”
6:50am, I was withdrawing nearly 300£ from the ATM because a lady wanted full price for her absent mother’s already nonrefundable ticket (nowadays I applaud her for seizing an opportunity).
7:00am, I was on the EuroStar bound for Gare du Nord, surrounded by a family of nineteen Texans.
That Texas family would join me for every activity that day. Which was a bit awkward; the lone penny-pinching, fast-walking New Yorker amongst an obviously wealthy more sedentary group. My favorite moment was overhearing a heavily accented, “Where’s the bathroom,” to a very confused Parisian who pointed the way after my quiet, “Où les toilettes?”
The whole day was a surprise for me, because I signed up sans details.
At first we drove around and our guide pointed famous locations out the window of the moving vehicle. While cool to see things in person, the window still felt too much like seeing things through a screen. I’ll admit I was disappointed to think that’s all we would be doing.
Fortunately, it wasn’t!
Eiffel Tower
Most would assume a tour in Paris involved the Eiffel Tower in some way. I was still très joyeux to learn I was getting to do it myself. And of course when they told me I could climb the Eiffel Tower, I was gonna climb the Eiffel Tower.
Cruise on the Seine
My first cruise! Far from what I had ever envisioned, but I can’t say I had any specific picture in my head. It took about an hour to circle the Seine River. Each seat came equipped with headsets so if you didn’t understand the French tour, you could flip to your pre-recorded language of choice. You could buy a high quality photo of you boarding, but since they were nice enough to deliberately look the other way while showing you your sample, I walked away with the smuggled version.
Musee du Louvre
Everybody says the Louvre is a colossal massive mammoth of a building. I had heard this, but I still underestimated how difficult it would be to navigate. It took me two maps, four museum workers, a tour guide, an obnoxious amount of multi-lingual signage, and forty five minutes to find the Mona Lisa. Honestly? I wasn’t that impressed. The Venus de Milo was cooler to see in person, maybe because I could get close enough to actually see details?
Jardin des Tuileries
Being the beautiful spring day it was, I left the Louvre early to leisurely stroll around the neighboring garden. The statues, fountains, and flower beds were much more relaxing than the frenetic energy of a thousand tourists all clamoring for a closeup with a single painting.
Pyramide Inversée
While not technically an exhibit, after the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, my uncultured self was more interested in having fun with the architecture than trying to hunt down another painting in the largest museum on Earth.
When back in England, I had fun with British architecture too.
Crêpes!
In my starving artist diet of potatoes and rice, I had never eaten a crêpe. Standing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, I decided this was the perfect place to eat my first. When I first watched the television adaptation of Pratchett and Gaiman’s Good Omens, I cackled at how much value was given to crêpes made fresh in Paris.
We didn’t go to Notre Dame, which was disheartening enough to consider breaking away from the group and figuring out how to get there on my own. After some serious contemplation, I reminded myself what spontaneous planning had done for me within the last 24 hours and decided to stay close. At least I glimpsed the cathedral from the cruise!
If I had planned ahead, I could have done this all faster, cheaper, and with more time. But hey, I got to go to Paris for eight hours on a whim with absolutely zero planning.
You can start to plan for yourself here:
- EuroStar
- The Louvre
- Access to the Pyramide Inversée is through the Louvre.
- Jardin des Tuileries is free and generally open sunrise to sunset.
- Lots of companies can help arrange for a tour up the Eiffel Tower or a cruise along the Seine. Do your research and pick one that works for you, or ask your hotel/hostel desk for their recommendation. Chances are good they know somebody who knows somebody who can plan much better than I did!
- The crêpes I bought were from a food cart directly in front of the Eiffel Tower. It’s probably still there.
Kaitlin’s Adventure in Paris was on April 27, 2015