Skeggsy’s Blog

Paris Weekend Trip.

Got up at 7:45am for a very nice continental breakfast at Hotel Astor.
Took tram to La Defense, got off to see The Grande Arch which is 110m high.
Took metro to Charles de Gaulle-Etoile and got off to see the Arc de Triomphe.
Took metro to Concorde and then changed and got off metro at Solferino. Walked to Musee d’Orsay arriving at about 9:45am. The Musee d’Orsay is a splendidly converted railway station and is home to many famous works by Monet, Manet, Cezane, Degas, Renoir.
Afterwards headed to the station to catch our train home.
The Eurostar departed Paris 13:43 arrived 15:25 London Waterloo.

Yamini in front of The Grande Arche

Paris weekend break.
Got up 5:00am and left house at 5:45am. Arrived Waterloo approx 6:30am.
Eurostar departed 07:39 from London Waterloo arrived 11:23 (local time) Paris Gare du Nord. Journey time 3 hours.
Withdrew 200 euros from a cash machine and then followed Dino’s instructions to Ganesh Corner, stopping at VS Co Supermarket on the way to stock up on sambar powder. Had to settle for samosas as they had run out of cutlets. Also had a meat roti which was nice and hot.
Took metro from Gare Du Nord to Cite, to see Notre Dame Cathedral from outside and also the outside of the Palais du Justice.
In the bitter cold we walked for ages towards the Musee D’Orsay. This took longer than was hoping and found Louvre first so went in there. Entered via the pyramid. Got a map and circled the areas we wanted to see. Headed for the Italian paintings and scultures on the first floor. After seeing Mona Lisa walked around the Italian section but too tired to look for other highlights, the museum is huge.
Then walked towards the place du concorde and got a tram to the Eiffel tower. Decided not to go up as queues were huge.
Headed to the Hotel to check in. The Hotel Astor in Suresnes is 5 minutes by tram from La Defense.
Hotel is 2 star, rooms must be partitioned with cardboard but otherwise very comfortable.
Had a nap for about an hour and then set off to meet Dino. He took us for an Italian meal and then we headed back to the hotel intent on an early start on Sunday.