Relaxed and ready to explore
Leaving Bali we were feeling very relaxed. Sounds a little paradoxical. To be leaving somewhere so chaotic in a relaxed frame of mind. But we did get to spend two hours in the bathhouse at Samanvaya in the village of Sideman. We had the place to ourselves and spent the time circling between the steam room, the sauna, the ice bath and the warm plunge pool. A perfect way to spend a morning in Bali.
Arriving in Paris on a warm spring afternoon we still luxuriated in this relaxed feeling. Which was good as we were to walk many many steps whilst exploring the City of Light. The Emirates chauffeur collected us at Charles de Gaulles airport and dropped us at our hotel in the city. A hotel that advertised our room as having a “view of the tower”. This was true. It is just how you define “view”.
Paris, explored
Paris is a city that I had visited once before, many years ago, so this felt like a first visit. It was definitely Victoria’s first visit. It was a city that I never thought I would get her to. She always had this pre-conceived notion that she didn’t like Paris. A notion that was thoroughly dispelled over the three days we spent exploring.
Hotel 12 was located in the 8th Arrondissement and our room with balcony did indeed have a view of the tower. Sat outside on the balcony, with a glass of French red and a baguette felt very “French”. Some may say cliched. We were here for the cliches. Which is why on day three, exploring Montmartre, we had onion soup and steak frites for lunch. Can you get more French?!
French is what we were here for. Travelling from Australia, or even Bali, to the UK is a long haul. Literally. Breaking it up with a stop in Europe makes sense and so we found ourselves in Paris. An iconic city with iconic sights. And over the three days we walked the length and breadth of the city. The queues and the price to enter were both enough to ensure we stayed outside the glass pyramid. Giving Victoria a chance to try and lift it up.
Travelling on a budget
The travel budget also prevented us from shopping along the famed Champs Elysees although we did stroll up and visit the Arc de Triomphe. How drivers navigate the dizzying array of options on what could be the world’s largest roundabout is beyond me. I need a glass of Cotes du Rhones just thinking about it.
One of our first stops just had to be the Eiffel Tower. We may have been able to see it from our hotel but it was still a heck of a walk. All good practice for the Camino that we would be walking in a couple of weeks. We got there and took a lot of the obligatory photos and made all the obligatory jokes about it being Blackpool Tower.
Whilst there, Paris, not Blackpool, we noticed there were food markets and so headed back on our final evening to kill two birds with one stone. Get dinner at the markets and see the tower illuminated. Vik had the biggest, and most expensive hot dog, she has ever had. A raclette and ham sandwich for me.
When in France…
Way before dinner, on our first morning, we had one job. Find our “go to” breakfast spot whilst in France. Paul’s is a chain of bakeries that served us so well on our 2022/2023 travels. We breakfast light in Europe and knew from past experience that we could pick up a coffee and a couple of croissants on the cheap at Paul’s. As luck would have it there was a large branch with indoor seats just a few minutes from the hotel.
With caffeine and food sorted we went exploring this amazing city. A visit to Notre Dame was high on our to do list and then across the Seine to Shakespeare & Co bookstore. Possibly the most famous bookstore in the world. Just walking amongst the shelves of the store created by Sylvia Beach I could feel the spirits of all the writers that had passed through.
In the footsteps of Hemingway
Before coming to Paris I re-read Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, an account of his time as a struggling, unknown writer living in Paris with his wife and child. Hemingway would often visit Shakespeare & Co. and Sylvia Beach would loan him books to read.
It wasn’t just the ghost of Hemingway that haunted us on our Parisian visit. Walking to the tower we came across a small memorial to the late Princess Diana who tragically died in Paris in August back in 1997. Speeding through the Pont de l’Alma tunnel her driver crashed into a pillar and the bridge now becomes the place that people leave flowers every August.
We leave Paris tired and energised. Big vibrant cities have a way of doing that to you. A change of pace is on the horizon as we head on the train, then bus to Paris-Beauvais airport. Used by Ryanair it couldn’t be any further away from the city before it would need a name change.
Our next stop will be the UK and will give us a chance to use our shiny new UK passports. Passports we had to buy whilst in Australia due to the UK immigration rule changes that now prevent us arriving in the country on our Australian passports. Sometimes you just have to scratch your heads and get on with it.
See you in Yorkshire.
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