A First Glimpse of Paris

After touring around Alsace for a couple of days in March of 2010, my friend, E., and I made our way to Paris.  It is an American myth that every place in Europe is just a hop, skip, and jump away from each other.  A little travel time is involved if you want to see different places.  Strasbourg is about a six hour drive from Paris.  Thankfully it only takes two and a half hours on the TGV, the high speed train.  E. and I opted for going quickly. 

The train ride was interesting.  It was the first time that I had been on the TGV.  It took us a few short minutes to figure out which cabin we were supposed to be in as well as the seating arrangement.  Just a note to anyone who would like to ride the TGV: be there on time and get on the train promptly.  The trains pull up, wait for about ten minutes for people to get on, then without much fanfare they pull away.  There is no dillydallying. 

We arrived in Paris on a Sunday and had almost all day to sightsee.  Our hotel was in the opera district which was fairly convenient to the major tourist attractions.  I don't mind saying that I was touristy in Paris because I certainly was.  I wasn't going to miss out on seeing the Eiffel Tower just so I could say that I was too cool to go see it. 

After dropping our luggage off at our hotel, we walked a few blocks and we were on the famed Avenue des Champs-Elysee.  There were no leaves on the trees yet and no flowers blooming but it was still gorgeous.  Shoppers were lining the streets but it was not so crowded as to be uncomfortable.  We didn't do anything but window shop that day.  We were making a bee line straight for the Arc de Triomphe.



I couldn't help but take a picture of the golden arches with the Arc de Triomphe behind them.