Hazel & Ted in Europe

June 2017

A 10-day adventure by Hazel and Ted's Journeys Read more

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Hazel and Ted's Journeys Hazel & Ted in Europe
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- Jun 21, 2017, 10:10pm
- 🌙 25 °C
- Altitude: 571 ft
- France Île-de-France Montenils 48.833312, 3.49090648°49’60” N 3°29’27” E
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Day 9
And so .... back to Paris
June 21, 2017 in France ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
Second breakfast watching the funicular go up and down and then re-packing and check out of Hotel du Theatre. And .... my goodness was it hot at only 10 am! Almost up to 30 degrees I'm sure but, time to waste so a coffee, and tea for Ted, was in order watching the world, or more correctly, the trams go by from the cafe outside the HBF. Then platform 15 for the 11.34 to Paris, Gare de Lyon. A little disappointed with our seat reservation which had a very small amount of window and a large amount of wall, not good for the view. Intrepidly, we decided to go back a row as these did not have the red reserved sticker on. We further decided to then move the red reserved sticker to our new seats so that the originals were then free for poor fools who had obviously not had the forethought to make a reservation. This seemed to have gone well until a pushy American couple got on at Basel and said our seats were theirs! What could we do as there were the red reserved tickets on them .......! Fortunately for us, the "poor fools" who had been sitting in our original seats had got off at Basel so we were able to retake our original seats, although the American couple obviously thought we were "poor fools"!!!!!! I must say I was also disappointed with the TGV buffet which is not well set out and nothing very appetising on sale. I ended up having a glass of wine (standard!), a bag of honey roasted peanuts and a piece of fruit cake. Not a patch on OBB's Munich to Zurich run. Arrival into Gare de Lyon was like getting into an oven .... it was baking!! We took a taxi to Horel Le Mareuil. The room is lovely-standard but modern, colourful and blissfully cool! In fact, I almost felt too cold! We walked to Place de la Republique which is not a place I have been to before, as far as I can remember. We ate in the Cafe de Republique and the whole place was buzzing. Lots of people, lots of traffic and lots to entertain us. The recently broken foot is swollen as usual at the end of the day so time to put it to bed!
PS temperature forecast is 36 tomorrow!!!Read more
South America on Speed It sounds just like home. I always get a small piece of window and I've never been impressed with the catering. I suppose the message is bring your own. I don't think Megan Blissett travels by train without a cooling bottle of Prosecco, a couple of glasses and a bag of snacks! I don't think that you bother about the view out of the window then!
6/21/17Reply
Hazel and Ted's Journeys Ha, ha! True!
6/21/17Reply
Megan Blissett Very true mother!It's surprising how pleasant the most challenging train journeys can be with the addition of chilled fizz & a few nibbles!
6/22/17Reply
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Hazel and Ted's Journeys Hazel & Ted in Europe
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- Jun 23, 2017, 12:29am
- 🌙 15 °C
- Altitude: 46 ft
- England Wyre District Poulton le Fylde 53.844375, -2.98484853°50’40” N 2°59’5” W
Day 11
The Homeward Road
June 23, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
A pleasant if somewhat noisy (riotous revellers outside) night but deliciously cool. Lulled into a false sense of security since it climbed up to 36 degrees C in Paris today when we left the hotel! Our first task was to avoid the over zealous, determined to be jolly, innuendo-constant joke cracking and frankly, a little annoying concierge Arnaud! This was impossible because, yes, there he was laying in wait for us at reception. Left our bags with him and tried for the minimum of conversation whilst edging towards the front door! So full of advice was Arnaud that he completely failed to inform us that today was "Save the Environment Day" or something similar which meant one could purchase all-day, unlimited journeys to anywhere on the Paris Metro for a mere 3 euros something per person. This we duly did and made our way to Montmartre, choosing to take the furnicular up there which the metro tickets were also good for-a bargain all round! It was extremely hot but we toiled up the steps and took a selfie in front of the basilica but did not attempt the queue up to go in. People had umbrellas up to protect them from the sun and it was still only half past 10. Had breakfast in a cafe overlooking the main square but skilfully avoided the artists who want to sketch you. So, 35 years ago was the last time we were in Montmartre together for our honeymoon and we had a meal (included with the package tour at the time) at a restaurant called Auberge de la Bonne Franquette..... lo and behold, there it still was although now called just La Bonne Franquette and looking very smart! After this trip down memory lane, and again being a little disconcerted by seeing an army presence again, we actually walked back to Place de La Republique, near our hotel, in the boiling heat! It was soon time to retrieve our luggage from Arnaud (yes, he was lurking in reception awaiting our return!) and we retraced our steps on the Metro for the second time today to Gare du Nord. The Eurostar back was quite enjoyable although our seats were again backward facing! Had a pleasant meal at St Pancras before trotting along to grubby Euston for the last grinding bit of the journey to Preston, from where it was the replacement bus service to PLF! Home Sweet a Home.Read more
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