Paris – became capital of France in 987
Pondering how to spend the long weekend since Max had a day off, we decided to spend it in Paris. We have visited twice previously so the pressure to see all the sites would not be there, instead just the ability to enjoy the food, sites and most importantly – wine.
The question was how to get to Paris? Train or airplane. I have always wanted to cross the Chunnel or Channel Tunnel, but I assumed it would have a longer travel day. We compared prices, travel times including how long it would take to arrive into downtown Paris, and the amount of connections from trains, metros, and walking. After comparing prices between trains and flights, the murky winner was the Chunnel.
The Channel Tunnel or Chunnel connects Folkestone, England and Coquelles, France running 32 miles (50.5 km) and taking the trains approximately 35 minutes to cross. It originally opened to the public on May 6, 1994. The tunnel has a speed limit of 160 km/hr (99 mph). Of those 32 miles, 23.5 miles are under the English Channel, making it the longest undersea tunnel in the world. The deepest point of the Chunnel is 75 meters (roughly 246 feet) below the sea bed.
I booked the tickets making one very wrong assumption: that the train boarding process was similar to other trains in Europe. Previously, Max and I spent six weeks traveling Europe by train racking up 3,185 kilometers into six different countries. This made me assume I knew about international trains and how early one should arrive. In our previous European travels it is common to get to the train station no earlier than 30 minutes before departure since a platform will not be shown.
Originally our plan was to leave our house and catch a train into London giving us 30 minutes to make our way to the international train station. This is a quick walk across the street from Kings Cross Station where we arrived from Cambridge to St Pancras International. Luckily, Max got a tip that you should arrive at least 90 minutes prior to departure time to go through customs. I then noticed a recommended arrival time on our tickets – 75 minutes prior to departure.
Upon arrival to St Pancras, we made it to the Eurostar gate. First, you had to go through security with X-ray, but it was quicker than the airport since there are no limits on fluids that you can take through. You can also leave all your large electronics in the bag. Next were two sets of customs agents, the first for leaving the United Kingdom, the second to enter France. It did take us about 40 minutes to make it through security, so I am thankful we changed to a later Eurostar train because we would have missed our train.
The one clear sign that you are in the Chunnel is the windows go black for a longer period of time than other tunnels. Overall, the train experience was smooth. We had reserved seats with ample luggage storage above our heads which fit our travel backpacks easily. Another perk of the train is it arrives in Gare du Nord which is in the 10th Arrondissement in Paris so there is not a long taxi or train ride into the city.
A major perk that I was unaware of prior to riding the train is the ability to purchase Navigo Easy cards in the dining car. The Navigo Easy Card is used for the transportation in Paris including the metro. We chose two Navigo Easy Cards with two trips preloaded allowing us to walk off of the train and immediately to the gates for the metro, bypassing the long line at the ticket booths at the Gare du Nord metro station. We utilized these Navigo cards throughout our weekend in Paris, and kept them to use on our next excursion to Paris since they are reloadable at any ticket station. The only downside of these cards is they are not laminated so I worry about getting them wet in the rain.
After checking into the hotel we ventured to a local brasserie or local French restaurant that typically serves delicious meals. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering different English book stores in the 5th Arrondissement.
My favorite of the three bookstores we visited was The Abbey Bookshop. We skipped the social media famous Shakespeare & Co which had a line at least an hour long. The Abbey Bookshop is further way from the main tourist street. For us, that meant fewer people to go around while navigating the small aisles between books. The amount of books available was overwhelming. Books were displayed from floor to ceiling on all sorts of bookshelves. Just when I thought I had seen it all, the owner pushed the bookshelves side to side on the ground floor and viola! Hundreds of additional choices. After a few purchases we found a quiet spot near the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens to read.
After a leisurely stroll around Paris, it was finally time for dinner. Dinner was close to the Eiffel Tower so we headed that way. Surprisingly, there were a lot of fences and gates still up from the summer 2024 Olympics making the walk to the Eiffel Tower more challenging than I remember.
The Eiffel Tower has its own level of tourism nightmare surrounding it. There are vendors hawking the small knick-knacks of different Eiffel Tower replicas, the bracelet guys very common in Europe trying to trap you, the lines to enter the Eiffel Tower, and people posing every which way taking photos. Overall, it is very overwhelming as you are just trying to walk around. In order to escape the madness we crossed the bridge over the Seine River which is now even more touristy since the Olympic Rings are still on display and loads of people line up to have their photo taken.
Once you escape all that insanity you can take the stairs down to the river bed and walk the banks – which is my favorite location to view the Eiffel Tower. There were fewer people down there and room to spread out and just take it all in. Little did I know that this is the prime spot for engagements to occur. We saw at least five different people setting up engagements all along the banks, from a large cargo van unloading several suitcases to people showing up with one shopping bag worth of items. There is a nice selection if you want to choose a Parisian proposal since they were all different companies. Some were very over the top with a huge flower heart arch, roses lining the red carpet, and literal candles that they were individually lighting. There was one with a large Marry Me sign in white with lights inside. Surprisingly, there were no LED candles that I could see, which did not make practical sense. They will not blow out in the wind and will not cause a fire if knocked over, can be set on a timer or have a remote to turn them all on at the same time. Seems like a win all around to me especially since it would be an easy investment for the company. At the end of the stroll we hit the budget proposal area, about ten candles and one bouquet of roses. So I guess if you are considering a proposal make sure to bring them the correct way down the river. If they see the over the top proposals, and then get the budget version, they may not say yes.
I had booked our favorite restaurant from last time we visited Paris. Les Marches is less than a five minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and the best low-key steak place with delicious wine. It is a very relaxed atmosphere with red checkered table cloths. I found it last time when it was approaching 9:30 pm the witching hour of my utmost hangry and I still had not had a chance to eat dinner. I was beyond hangry at that point when I stumbled upon the restaurant while doom scrolling Google Maps looking for inexpensive restaurants. So we wanted to go back to see if it lived up to the previous hype. Answer – yes it was delicious and worth it. I could even make a reservation online, which was amazing so I didn’t have to call and try to muddle through with my terrible French.
The following morning was what I was most excited about – croissant class! We spent the first hour and a half in a private class since our classmates showed up late, for a three hour class. The class is on a well-confused street that is thirty minutes away by public transportation. We learned the techniques to make the dough, roll it out and get the 12 layers of dough and butter, then how to shape croissants and pain au chocolat.
It is important to use good quality butter in order to get the flakiness of the pastry dough. They recommended Kerrygold for the butter if in the USA. Also important tip: after every rolling of the dough, make sure to use a brush to get off excess flour which will change the dough’s consistency.
Our creations turned out delicious and we got to take everything home that we were unable to finish in class! Now comes the difficult task to replicate it in our own kitchen. The flour was a finer flour than all purpose flour available in the United States, so we will use either a mixture of cake flour and all purpose flour, or pizza flour to best replicate the texture.
We spent the rest of the day visiting the Musée d’Orsay which is in a former train station. Previously we were unable to get timed tickets so we never attempted a visit, but I was able to schedule them for this visit. Upon arrival I found out you can get in without a timed entry ticket you just have to wait in a pretty long line. The fifth floor housed the impressionists which was great but where the majority of people were.
One thing I never understand is why people feel the need to take individual photos of every work of art, or even a video of every painting. What is it for? Are they going to be at home in their living room reliving every work of art? Or is it to show a slideshow of they visited and want people to watch? By the end I started refusing to move so someone could get the perfect in front of the painting photo as I was reading the information on the paintings.
My favorite part of the museum was the wall showcasing the different works of art by Claude Monet and Édouard Manet. Previously I will admit when I saw Manet I just assumed they spelled Monet with an a. This helped me wrap my mind around the two similar but very different artists.
Our final day we climbed the Arc de Triomphe again even though I have not been up the Eiffel Tower yet. I have avoided the Eiffel Tower due to crowd levels and difficulty to obtain tickets. The Arc de Triomphe is my favorite lookout spot in Paris even with its 284 steps because it gives a great view of Paris. You can see the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, Parisian rooflines, and all the traffic going around. You can book an advance ticket online, which I did the morning of. We had a later time but got there right when it opened at 10 am and had no trouble immediately walking through security and getting in.
Luckily for us it was a race day so we were able to watch runners in the streets. They even had a band with dancers at one of the turns. After some investigation, it was the Vredestein 20K race which runs through a large garden then back up the Seine ending at the Eiffel Tower. The course looks like a really fun race that we may do the next year. By we, I mean Max – I will follow along with tasty treats from boulangeries along the race course.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Paris, popping into boulangeries and shops before it was time to catch the train back home. The customs was a lot quicker on the Paris side because it was only trains going to London. From London, both Paris and Brussels train passengers had to go through, making the line longer. Something I will keep in mind when we use the Chunnel on our next trip.