Paris - Day 1

Well, I didn't quite get this post up yesterday like I had hoped, but at last, more about our adventures in Paris. First though, in response to a question from adj, I should say a word about getting to Paris via the Channel Tunnel, aka the Chunnel. It was our first trip with Eurostar, the train that makes the trek from London to Paris through a tunnel under the English Channel. Now, most of you already know about how I feel about train travel versus air travel, so I won't go into that again. Other than being awesome on that front, the travel through the tunnel was actually a little anti-climatic...I guess it would be described best as dark and a little chilly. I would, however, highly recommend traveling with Eurostar over flying any day.

Now, on to Day 1 in Paris. We began our trip with a jam packed schedule. The day started with a bike tour of of the city. The tour was done by a small company called Bike About Tours and they were fantastic! This was one of my favorite parts about the trip - it is a must for any trip to Paris. We were in a small group of only 8 people (including the tour guide).

He was great - very knowledgeable about both the history of the city as well as some great local neighborhoods, sites, and restaurants to visit. The tour lasted three hours, so we saw way too much to list here. We did make one stop for a great photo opportunity in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Aren't those the craziest bikes you've ever seen? I was a little skeptical, but they were great in terms of being quickly adjustable to almost any size person (Jason of course is a bit of an anomaly, so he has to deal with a little discomfort sometimes in situations like these...).

We also passed through the Louvre courtyard, but I chose not to take my camera out due to a bit of a storm that popped up. John bravely snapped this as we sped toward cover:

We also got to learn all about a great new system Paris has implemented in an effort to fight traffic and pollution. Velib (roughly translating to free bicycle or bicycle freedom), a scheme where they have installed bicycle stalls roughly every quarter of a mile throughout the city:

For 3o Euros (less than $50) people can get a yearly pass that grants them unlimited use of these bicycles for commuting and getting around the city. The bikes can be rented from one stall and returned to any other stall through out the city. Brilliant!

After we finished our bike tour, our next stop was at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It was absolutely amazing.

In addition to touring around the main sanctuary area, we also climbed the 400 steps up the cathedral tower. The views from the top were breathtaking. I especially like this one with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

And, the gargoyles were pretty neat too!

It was a bit of a squeeze for Jason, but we climbed into the bell tower while we were up there too.


Even after our 3 hour bike trip and our 400 step climb, we still hadn't had enough! So, it was on to Sainte Chapelle. Inside were the most beautiful domes and floor to ceiling stained glass windows I've ever seen!

Finally, after a dinner break, it was on to an evening cruise to see the sites of Paris at night. It was really fun to see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the island bridges all lite up. It was a little chilly that night, so we had to get all bundled up, but it was worth it!