Part 6 London and Paris 10 Day Getaway - Going from London to Paris

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We got to sleep in a bit again. Thank the cosmos! We got up, tried to pack all of our new UK gifts into our bags but couldn't come close. We had giant sweatshirts, fancy ties and loads and loads of Dr Who stuff. We ended up having to borrow a duffel bag from our friend because there was no way on Earth we could fit our stuff in just our carry-ons. It was a LIFE saver. We still had 4 days of Paris ahead and we knew we were going to buy some large items while there.

Quite possibly the most tasty drink I have ever had as we ate breakfast in Kent.

Andy took us to the downtown part of where he lives and we found a cafe to get some breakfast at. I had the most delicious white chocolate hot cocoa I have ever had in my life. We all got coffees and cakes to get us going. We also got some sandwiches for the road. After breakfast we walked the darling streets of town until we came to a fortress. This is stuff we have so little of in the US and that is precisely the reason I love visiting other countries. The sun was out and it was a cool, slightly crisp but still warm October morning. This was the day before my birthday too! We hiked up to the fort and took in the views of the surrounding city. I, of course, got silly for some photos because I am a 39 year old ham.

Is that a cannon or...?

The river was beautiful, the trees, the old stones in the fort and the guns were all old, well kept and wonderful to tour. We passed an incredible, gothic cathedral that was the town church. We had the grounds to both the cathedral and the castle all to ourselves. It was fun and a nice way to say our goodbyes.

The castle..

...and grounds.

We packed back into the car and Andy drove us to the Eurostar. It was tough saying goodbye but we were running a little late for our train, or so we thought so it was more of a....later! and a mad dash for the ticket booth as we left our good friend in the parking lot. After getting our tickets and finding the right place to wait for the train, we had a bit of time to relax after all. One of my biggest fears when traveling is getting on the wrong train. I have done it before and I was berated for it publicly. I never want to go through that again so instead I stress massively until we are on the train and it is moving in the proper direction. Once on the train though, I was able to nap as we crossed through the Chunnel to France.

Bonojour, Paris gare (train station)

A couple hours later and we were in Paris, France! Ahh the marvels of modern technology! We then took a sort of pricey taxi ride to our FABulous hotel, the Hotel Bersolys St Germain. This was a large room for a very affordable price in easy walking distance to the Louvre and the D'Orsay. I just loved our room. All the rooms in this hotel are named after Impressionist Artists. We had Gauguin. Our room looked out onto a very quiet street lined with typical Parisian buildings. Perfect perfect perfect.

Checking out the view from our room in Paris

The actual view from our hotel window. Nice and quiet. Further up this road is the Musee D'Orsay, my favorite museum!

Once we were in the hotel we freshened up then headed out to hit the streets of Paris. There were lots of statues and old stuff just like London. I love art and it was everywhere, even in the shop windows. We walked the short distance from our hotel, past the Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries and we walked along the shops of the Rue de Rivoli. We started to walk around to do some shopping. We had a few shops we needed to visit. One was a sports store called Decathlon and the other is Hermes. I know, huge difference but that is what is fun about traveling...variety! We found the first store and made our way to the swimming section to get some snorkel masks that we could only get at these shops. They were out!!! I used my first French of the trip to ask the employee to search all the stores in the area for me. He checked and told me there were no masks left in all of Paris. I was devastated. I  love swimming and snorkeling but I have a lot of trouble with the traditional masks. Spoiler alert...we found the masks a few days later but at the time I was very disheartened.

All sold out of the masks we came so far to get!

Back onto the streets of Paris we went to make our way to an Hermes store to buy my brother yet another tie. We walked from the sports store to the fancier part of town.  I normally don't care for fancy brand names. I despise companies like Coach and Dolce & Gabbana but Hermes, I can't help but like. I walked around, looking at all the pretty things then made my way to the ties. Hermes' trademark color is a beautiful orange. It is this reason I like the brand over other high end brands. Orange is my favorite color and you can get pretty much anything you want in the Hermes Orange. I found a nice tie in just that color for my brother. As I was shopping, no one came to help me pick anything out. This is something that I actually liked because I didn't need help picking out a tie at this store since I knew what I wanted.

A whole mess of Hermes ties!

Once I needed to purchase the tie, however, I couldn't find a sales person to help me. We wandered some more and I ended up in the perfume department. Turns out I didn't bring enough perfume for the trip. There was no way I was able to afford to buy some Hermes perfume for several hundred dollars an ounce but I wanted to put some on the test the varieties. Finally, a sales guy came up to me. He helped me buy the tie. I told him  my plight bout not having any perfume...in Paris for goodness sake!...for my own birthday so he loaded me up with tons and tons of little free sample bottles. I was a happy, happy birthday gal after that!

The sky lit up with the setting sun. Walking around Paris this evening was just awe inspiring.

Back onto the streets we went once again. This time to find something to eat. The sun was starting to set. The sky had been blue all day and now a few clouds came in just enough to make a rainbow. We tried to find a Mariage Freres to have some tea and a snack but we walked up and down the street where it was supposed to be and never found it. I resorted to a tripadvisor app on my phone to find some food. We found a sweet little cafe that had a gorgeous view of the sky, the setting sun lighting up the buildings and all the statues in the area. I had a Campari and soda and the bf had a Pina Colada of all things! I know, really French, right?

Drinks before dinner on the sidewalk outside a sweet little cafe.

The bf got some french onion soup and pizza and I got some Fois Gras. We shared a dessert that was a trio of something. What a lovely time we had. Perfect first day in Paris. We walked back to the hotel as all the lights of the City of Lights lit up. It was beautiful and romantic. We walked along the Seine to our hotel and had a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is my birthday!

One of the pretty sights as we strolled arm in arm back home.