Wednesday August 7

Moving to Paris, Catacombs, Very Long Walk

We got up and relaxed in the garden.  We had an 11:30 a.m. train out of Bruges, so we paid up and left the hotel at 10:30, giving ourselves lots of time to navigate the cobblestones with suitcases.  We bought a brie sandwich on baguette at the station, and got on the first train to Brussels.  Clockwork.  We then transferred platforms in Brussels and got on the train from Brussels to Paris.  This one was delayed 15 minutes.  On this train I was able to buy a couple of bottles (small) of red wine so we could dine on our baguette in style.

When we got to Paris we took the Metro, with one transfer, to where the apartment is.  There was a long wait to get tickets at the train station as one machine wasn't working.  This created the second delay, so we were about 15 minutes late in arriving to where the 'greeter' was supposed to meet us.  I went across the street to pick up some wifi, where I could see a message on airbnb telling me to phone a number to let the greeter know when we arrived.  Damn.  There went my record.  I didn't have time to work out how to alter the phone number in Whatsapp, so I turned on my roaming.  Our cell phone provider lets us roam in Europe for $12/day.  If I really wanted to use the phone and data I'd buy chips here, but we've mostly done well enough with wifi in our apartments.  Oh well.  If I stay on flight mode for all but one day I've done alright.

Megan Sitting In Living Room-Pont de Grenelle Cadets de Saumer With Statue of Liberty Below

We were then taken up to the apartment.  It's got by far the best view of any of our places.  It is a little quirky.  The bed doesn't even feel like double-may be a bit smaller.   There is an odd little smell that takes a little getting used to.  And those chairs in the sitting area are pretty broken down (in rough shape).  But that view!

As soon as we settled in, we started our longest walk yet.  And it was tiring as it was all crushed into just a few hours.  We walked across our side of Paris-the left bank, to get to where the Catacombs are.  I had read that the line is shorter very late in the day.  It is, as the line can be 4 hours long during the day and it was only 1 1/2 to 2 hours long, but the anxiety is that they tell you that you might not make it in as they stop letting people in right at 7:30.  It was 5:50 as we got in line.  We stuck with it (I snuck out to get us a bottle of water at a nearby Monoprix) and we were in at about 7:15. It was a very fascinating tour.  It's unimaginable how many people were moved from different cemeteries to this spot.  A smart solution to a tough problem if you look at the history. 

Catacombs-Walk Through Tunnels

At Start of Bones

When we came up out of the tour, we found that we had covered over 3 km underground.  We headed back down Boulevard Raspail towards the Seine.  We should have stopped at the first restaurant we hit, but I had it in my mind to eat closer to the river and away from a busy street.  We tried to get into a little Lebanese restaurant and the waiter said 'we're done'.  Megan said 'you're done!'.  It sounded to me like she was talking to me!  Thank goodness there was a great little Italian place just up the street a bit!  We had a great meal with a roasted vegetable salad and cannelloni, a little bottle of chianti and a dessert of tiramisu.  Having recovered, we walked along the river home.  When we passed the Eiffel Tower it was twinkling.  Here's a video!