As promised, here is the Paris blog.... written by Kris Willis:
Guest blogger Willis here. Sorry it's a day late - I'm still recovering from my Absinthe stupor!
We started off really early lugging our very full & heavy suitcases onto the crowded tube system to catch our Eurostar train to Paris. Arrived at the Gare du Nord and were immediately accosted by gypsies and taxi drivers, but we fought them all off and were able to walk the few blocks to our hotel, where we stored our bags for a later check in and took off to hit the streets. We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off tour bus because we were so short on time - a little miserable as it was rainy and extremely cold up on the open top, but we had an unobstructed view! We finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower. We decided to brave the cold and the height and bought tickets to go all the way to the top. The mulled wine was delicious as we watched the sun set over the Paris skyline. Turns out the top sways quite a bit, though, so we took our photos and left.
Back to the hotel to check in to our triple room with three single beds... only to open the door and see one double bed. Oops! Turned out to be a mistake through Expedia, so the hotel comped us girls a larger room with two single beds and Damian kept the original room - finally enjoying some time to himself.
Dinner was an adventure. We wanted French cuisine, but it was hard to find a place that was 1) affordable and 2) had decent vegetarian options for Danielle. We liked our choice and tried lots of new foods - liked them all! Topped it all off with crepes; mine was on fire - literally! On the way back, Damian was very impressed with the public urinals - a freestanding circle of three with only side privacy guards. He wants to write to Hollywood leaders with this ingenious invention!
Speaking of adventure, one of our goals was to try Absinthe, so we were off to the Anthony Bourdain recommended bar, Cantada II. Turns out it's pretty delicious! And also pretty strong! Damian and I enjoyed several varieties. Danielle didn't care for it and had other drinks, but she did get to enjoy the local wildlife when a drunk Frenchman decided to hit on her! With some help from our new BFF bartender, tho, she was able to rebuff him and we all celebrated with free shots of Creme de Menthe - hooray!
It was a rough start this morning, as you can imagine, but we made it to our bus. The day was sunny, but very cold again. This time we exited at Champs Élysées and walked all the way to the top, enjoying the Christmas market along the way. We tried gallettes, kinda like crepes, but thicker and with egg & cheese inside. Damian and I tried Andouille sausage in ours - I did NOT like the consistency and had to spit it out. Damian ate all of his before googling what it's made of - the entire digestive system of a pig! Eww!
After a couple photos at the Arc de Triomphe, we hopped back on the bus and saw what there was to see until we exited again at Notre Dame. A quick walk through the cathedral was followed by drinks and some shopping. We had to hurry after that, but the buses were so slow! We ended up making it back to our hotel, grabbing our bags, and speed-walking back to the train station. We made it through the UK border control in time, though, and were safely in our train seats in time for the ride back.
Last night in London tonight. Luckily our hotel is at the airport. Enjoying our last ciders before heading home tomorrow. Quite a great trip!
Photos courtesy of Damian
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