Calais

The wind here is so strong that our clothes dried in minutes after hanging them. It is also so windy that any heat from the sun is blown away. It was nice enough for me to wear shorts though. From our van we could see the huge ferries docking and taking off every 1 hour or so. As Julie pointed out, we could also hear them sound their horn during the night too. We ended up getting an 8am ferry for 70 euros on Sea France. So instead of staying another night in the campsite we stayed in a parking area for a small fee.

Forges-les-Eaux

We slept in this morning and it did help to recuperate us. The spot we slept in was free for one night only, so we pressed on to Calais. Since we aren’t sure of the ferry times or prices, and we have laundry to do, we decided to spend two days in Calais only campsite.

Chateaux Versaille

As you may have noticed, Paris took us 3 days, not our planned 2. So we are spending another night in the campground so we can go visit Chateaux Versaille. The Chateaux is only 2 km from the campsite so we decided to walk it. My knee is still as sore (if not worse) as before. Usually a 2km walk would take us 30 – 45 minutes, this time it took us 1 ½ hours, again attesting to how tired we are (and how sore I am). When we walked along the main street leading up to the castle we saw numerous places to park our van, thus making our walk shorter, but since we were already 1 km into the walk we decided to just leave the van and get this over and done with. The chateaux itself is rather unimpressive from the exterior. Where its glamour lies is in the interior state rooms, where the rooms are lavishly decorated to the point of absurdity. The gardens are supposed to be very impressive as well, though they cost extra to visit so we skipped them. When we were in the famous “Room of Mirrors” I was half way through the giant hall before realizing it was the room of mirrors. It was not what I expected. Like everything in Paris (and Versaille) the place was crowded with tourists which made it hard to enjoy properly and at times impossible to take a photo. Chateaux Versaille cost us 27 euros to get in and it was hardly worth the fee.

Paris Day 3 (26,201 steps, 20.3km)

Once again we found ourselves getting off at St Michel’s square. This time we are heading to Centre Pompidou. This stop can be skipped, in our opinion. The building is supposed to be radical and amazing (the inside is on the out). We found it to be very ugly and not impressing. I’m not sure what I did, but I am now walking with a limp. My knee is so badly hurt that now I have to fight to keep the wince off my face. That being said, we have a huge day in front of us. The walk to Pompidou did prove to be not totally wasted, as we stopped at a Starbucks for a pick-me-up. We then walked to the Conciergerie and Ste-Chapelle. The conciergerie was the prison during the Reign of Terror and where Marie Antonette had stayed (not worth it). Ste-Chapelle was said to be an impressive gothic church, it took us more than 20 minutes to get in and only 2 minutes to leave, nuff’ said. From here we continued south on our journey to pass by the Pantheon and then finally the Catacombs. I guess if you have seen a bone chapel, then this won’t impress you either. It was said to be a maze made of bones underneath the city. It was under the city, and there were bones lining the walkway, but when there is only one route to walk, it can hardly be called a maze. We then caught the subway to the Arc de Triomphe to have a better view of it, and then we walked down the Champs Elysees and headed toward the Louvre. It’s Friday, and Julie gets in for free after 6pm. We figured we would have to wait in line, but as it turns out, everything moves rather quickly. Once inside we decided our path and it wasn’t before long that I called a halt. My knee was bothering me so much that I could only justify visiting the main areas. These being the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the wedding at Cana and on the way up the stairs we passed the winged victory at Samothrace statue (Luke recommended it). Everyone says the Mona Lisa is small, so naturally I found it to be bigger than expected. The Venus de Milo was nice as well. The Louvre is huge, and I would suggest visiting it first when you have the energy and the health to do it justice. In Paris we walked a total of 78,024 steps which according to Julie’s pedometer is roughly 60.4km. Maybe that’s why I have a busted knee.

Paris Day 2 (19,905 steps, 15.4km)

It was very hard to get up this morning. We were so tired that we opted on buying our breakfast instead of making it. So we stopped at a bakery/pastry shop. We both had a croissant, a pain au chocolat, and a chocolate éclair. Not the breakfast of champions, but we both felt more Parisian for buying it (being tired and grumpy added to the feeling). We started our day at the same stop as yesterday, the St Michel plaza. Only this time we crossed the Pont de Notre Dame. The Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris is famous due to Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Touring the inside of the church took no time at all. It was pretty remarkable, but I felt jipped, as I expected the church to be bigger. Julie however, found it to be the exact size she pictured (liar). Once we did our walk around the inside of the church it was time to see the roof (Julie couldn’t believe how loud everyone was inside the church). We then realized that we had to exit the church in order to go to the roof. So we stood in a very long line to climb up to the top of the church. It would have been a very boring wait if it wasn’t for a street performer. A guy wore an ugly mask and would walk around the crowds of people bustling by and try to scare them. He was very good at what he did. A group of girls actually sprinted off screaming, most women though just screamed, then laughed. It was very entertaining. On fresh legs the climb to the top would be a cinch, but because we were walked out it was a very long climb up. It was however worth it. The gargoyles are amazing up close and the views are nice as well. We were lucky enough to be up there when the church bells rang and before long we were on our way to our next stop, The Paris Opera house. The Paris Opera House is the setting for Julie’s favourite play “The Phantom of the Opera” and Gaston Leroux novel. The inside is pretty elegant and I asked Julie about 30 times if she was sure she didn’t want to see a play that night. We found the box seat that the “phantom” always reserved for himself, then took some photos and were off. On the way to the Opera House I managed to loose a piece of the camera, thus making our makeshift button practically useless. We then switched to Julie’s key ring. It was easier to use and I was actually enjoying taking photos again. After the Opera house we went to find the tourist office to pick up some info and a map. I unfortunately left the new button for the camera on a seat in the tourist office and only realized this after we got off the subway. Julie and I were very tired from the previous day and our day wasn’t working out right. My left knee is also causing me some pain and I felt that resting it would do it some good. The day was taking too long and I had already lost two things. We therefore made the decision to make the Rodin museum the last stop for the day. The Rodin museum has sculptures outside in a garden, one of them being the “thinker”. This museum was thankfully cheap, only 1 euro each. The line up was ridiculous and according to a lady that Julie was talking to it was not the norm for there to be a line up here at all. We left quickly after viewing the “Thinker” and made our way back home on the train. That night we rested and posted all our pictures and updated our blog.

Paris Day 1 (32,918 steps, 25.5km)

It wasn’t a particularly early morning for us (around 9), but we moved like it was. We needed to be in town to meet the free tour at 11am in St Michael’s square. The train ride in took only about 30 minutes. Although Julie and I couldn’t help but think that we could have purchased an unlimited daily trip ticket, rather than the one way with return tickets we bought. We aren’t planning on using the subways or busses in Paris so we weren’t too concerned. The market square we entered was very busy and lined with streets and restaurants. Once up the steps we could easily spot the free tour guides, as they were amongst the very large group, but that didn’t stop people from being friendly. We met two guys from the US. Luke, our guide, was pretty good at summing up all of France’s often bloody history and how Paris itself fit into it. We started the tour off in St Michael’s square which had a huge fountain for the Saint, but we were also shown how Napoleon placed his mark on it. We would see this on many of the buildings in Paris. We then crossed over to the Ile de la Cite that Notre Dame and the Louvre are on, amongst other attractions, using the Pont au Change. The Ile de la Cite is where the first settlement of Paris was, in the 3rd century BC. From the bridge we could see the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris and we were also shown the building that held Marie Antoinette before she lost her head. Apparently she was treated so poorly during her imprisonment that her hair turned white and she looked to have aged 10 years. One torment that stuck out to me was when they placed her best friends head on a stake outside her cell so that was all she could see when she looked outside. We then walked along the Seine River and from this vantage point we got a great look at the Pont Neuf (oldest bridge in Paris, 1607). As the story goes, Henry the III dedicated this bridge to his friends and nobles, but he wanted it funny so he threw a party for all his friends where they proceeded to get sloshed. Then he had all the artists and stone sculptures come into the party and sketch portraits of all his inebriated friends. One of the faces looks like he wouldn’t make it to the bathroom in time. We then made our way over to the Louvre and entered the Jardin du Carrousel. From here we went north to the Jardin du Palais Royal where the French Revolution started. After a quick bite to eat at what Luke referred to as a “traditional” French restaurant (they served sandwiches on baguettes) we made our way through the Jardin des Tuileries. The gardens are large and beautiful so it was nice to walk through them rather than along a city street. From here we then went to Place de la Concorde where all the beheadings took place during the French revolution. Apparently they had two platforms in this large open area (it also happens to be in the middle of a very large roundabout) and when Napoleon came into power he had the area cleaned (because over 38 beheadings took place each day during the Revolution and no one cleaned up, could you imagine the smell?). In place of the platforms he stuck to very large and beautiful fountains which are unique because they shoot water into the centre of the fountain, rather than the water coming from the centre. He also placed the gift he received from Egypt here, an Obelisk. We then heard a story about a safe sex promotion and how they made a huge condom to go over the Obelisk. We were also told that one of the two buildings on the north side of the plaza was the most expensive hotels in Paris (both buildings looked alike; the other was a government building). On a side note, the campsite we are staying at offers WiFi and since we arrived we had been trying to download NOFX’s Champs-Elysees song and have had no luck. Alas, Julie and I didn’t get to listen to the song before or after we took our stroll on the 2km road called the Champs-Elysees. Our first stroll was just after the Place de la Concorde. The section we walked along was wide and “park” like. Our guide told us that when we were to cross the road, if we stopped in the middle we could see the Arc de Triomphe and have a great photo opportunity. It did offer just what he said. But with the street being as busy as it is, all 30 of us were crammed like sardines at the middle of a small crosswalk, avoiding the passing cars (the Parisian drivers didn’t seem to mind if they hit us or not). It’s a shame we couldn’t get a photo of the tour group stuck in the middle of the Champs-Eylsees. From here we stopped in front of the Petit Palais which sat directly across from the Grand Palais (both have exhibitions, though the Petit Palais has permanent collection too) and also provided us with a view of Hotel des Invalides where Napoleon is buried for the end of our tour. From here we had an option, either to head to the grave site of Napoleon and see how he designed his own grave or visit the Eiffel tower. We chose the Eiffel tower (during the tour we were able to see it the entire time, almost), as we decided to meet another free tour provided by the same company.
The extremely long climb (700 steps) was very strenuous for us but that was probably because we had already walked for a good portion of the day. The views from on top of the tower are worth it though, but Julie and I wished they had more ticket booths open, as we wouldn’t have had to queue for so long. The Eiffel tower is really worth while to see and spend the 4 euros to climb the steps, but don’t expect to be blown away by it. With everything we had just done, you would figure the day to be finished. But we are hoping to finish Paris in just 2 days, and that includes the Louvre. So we had a quick bite to eat from a snack shop at the Eiffel tower (where Julie lost 40 euros, we didn’t find out until much later) and figured out where exactly we were and how to get to where we needed to be. The tour started at 6 and was of the areas known as Montmartre and Pigalle. Pigalle is a red light district, and is where the Moulin rouge is located. Montmartre is home to many artists and was home to Picasso. It is also where the Basillique du Sacre Coeur is. The tour was interesting, but not at all like the first tour of the day. We started off in front of the Moulin Rouge and then proceeded to walk up the hill towards Montmartre. We saw where Picasso lived, clarified the ear story and then proceeded to the Basilica. When we arrived at the main entrance we could hear music playing. On the steps below the basilica’s main entrance was a guy playing in front of an audience of bystanders. The music was good, the view of the city was fantastic, and the sun was just starting to set. The tour ended a little further down the hill but still in front of the Basilica. During the tour I had been talking to a couple of Canadian guys (one from Calgary, the other from Quebec) and I had hoped to join them for a few drinks, but with us loosing the 40 euros earlier, and it being such a long day, Julie made the decision to call it a night. For whatever reason, we decided not to take the subway back to St Michels, but to walk. This was the longest walk of the day yet. We did however get the train back to the campsite only remembering on the way that we did not know the punch code for the gate into the campsite (we didn’t know it because we weren’t checked in the proper way earlier so nothing was explained to us). Luckily two other couples were heading towards the campsite as well, but as we were so tired from the walk, we couldn’t keep up with the older couples. It didn’t matter though, the gates weren’t closed up and we were able to just walk right in. Tomorrow we have a huge day, and then we have to see the Louvre too.

Versaille

We intended to visit the city of Rouen today. This city is mostly famous for its cathedral and it is where they burned Joan of Arc on the stake. However, the city was crazy to drive around and we were running out of gas. We could not find a place to park and when we started to look for gas stations they were all underground and thus, had a height restriction of 2 meters. Julie was not up to spending the money to stay at the campsite in Rouen after spending a half hour driving around the modern city. So we headed off to our next stop. Les Andelys is a small town with a ruined castle. The castle was nice enough to walk around, but it was closed because it was a Tuesday. So we saved some money, because I didn’t think going inside the castle would have been worth the 3 euros entry. It being closed convinced Julie.

The drive to Versaille was a long one. We originally wanted to split up this long drive, but since we didn’t stay in Rouen, we needed to move on to the campsite in Versaille. We intend to use this campsite as a base for exploring Paris. When we arrived at the campsite, one of the employees was really excited that we were from Canada. Apparently the chain of campgrounds has a few sites in Quebec. On our way back to the van we saw street signs pointing to what they considered “Canadien” style lodges. They had wooden floors with waterproof canvas sides and ceiling. You can have a look at them online. We had already put our Canadian flag on the front window and before we even had a chance to sit down a boy came by to say high. He is on exchange for two months and had come to Versaille to see Paris with his host family. He said he was from Barrie and that the host family told him he shouldn’t go over to the van to say “Hi”. His response to them, was “Canadian’s are the nicest people in the world and not to worry about it.” Once he was off, one of our new neighbors returned and the lady asked us if we were really Canadians or American’s pretending to be Canadians. Peggy and Bruce are from Nevada on tour for the summer. They purchased their van from a dealer in Amsterdam, and strange as it is, they were driving a Volkswagen LT28. We chatted for quite some time before calling it a night. Julie said to me later, that the flag had already paid for itself.