With the promise of summer just around the corner I jumped at the chance of a day trip to Paris. I’d been assured that it was indeed possible to visit the capital of romance for a single day and see some of the most famous sites without the need of an overnight stay.
With a booking on the 6:15 from Ebbsfleet International, an early wake up call was a necessity. However, the quick fifteen minutes drive from Eynsford to the new Eurostar terminal meant that our start time wasn’t as brutal as it would have been had we been travelling to Paris from the old Waterloo terminal.
Ebbsfleet is not the most exotic destination in the world, but as the sun rose over the shiny new station near Gravesend my friend and I were excited about the promised two-hour five minute trip from North Kent to Paris. And with tickets priced at just £59 per person we agreed the idea was ‘Formidable!’
Comfortably ensconced in wide seats on the spacious train, my companion and I managed to cobble: “un demi litre de bier s’il vous plaît et un pain au chocolat.”
As we pulled into Gare Du Nord we agreed to forgo further transport and ‘walk the city’. And so, with a spring in our step we headed south from the station. First stop, the Opera House. Built in the mid 19th century, the building is now regarded as one of the masterpieces of the period. As the sunbeams hit the roof of the Opera House we were dazzled by the lavish gold statuary perched on the roof high above us.
We continued on to Le Place de Vendome, home to Chanel and Dior. The stylish square screamed ‘old world Paris’ glamour, filled as it was with stylish women and, rather bizarrely, a giant white poodle. Just down the road, Le Place de la Concorde is home to Le Louvre, but we decided against losing an afternoon looking for La Giaconda and agreed instead to a trip up the Eiffel Tower.
We joined the groovy people jogging and roller blading along the left bank and followed the Seine to the foot of arguably the world’s most famous landmark completed in 1889 for the Universal Exhibition in celebration of the French Revolution.
