We're off to Paris

Monday 07/05/2012 - We are in Paris and I am sitting here writing this and looking out my window at the Eiffel Tower all lit up!  A very surreal moment as even though you expect to see this when you visit Paris actually staying within walking and seeing distance is the stuff of many daydreams.  And here we are in Paris living the dream!

We started our day in Little Leighs and soon after breakfast were on our way to Heathrow to return the hire car.  The  courtesy shuttle took us back to terminal 4 where we caught  the underground train to St Pancras station. 

We had a couple of hours to wait until our train left for Paris but we filled this time in nicely with lunch and a drink at the famous Champagne bar.  My strawberry Bellini was lovely.

We boarded the train and had a very easy ride across the Chanel, arriving at Gare Du Nord at almost 7.00pm.  We jumped in a taxi and were brought to our hotel which we just booked through wot if the night before.

The Le Walt Tour Eiffel  is just a 15 min walk from the tower and has a good view of the surrounding district, a lot of which seems residential.  Can't wait to get out and explore properly.  Once unpacked we went across the road to pick up some necessities and soon after were out again having dinner at a cafe on the opposite corner.  Very nice.

After dinner we walked through the local streets and very soon came across the main attraction.  The Eiffel Tower was front and centre and all lit up now.  There were people everywhere most with cameras and the whole area was just a spectacular place to be.  I had my little camera and of course joined in the photo frenzy but Bill had left his at the hotel.  We walked back to get it and returned a little while later.  This time there were not so many people making it easier to choose a spot to take some timed exposures.  We stayed for about an hour as just as we were about to leave at Midnight the whole tower started to sparkle.  An amazing sight with flashing lights that lasted for about 10 mins.  

We left then to walk home and were quite surprised at the number of people still out and about, cafes open though slowing down, all in all a lovely place to stay and look around.  Once home it wasn't long before we were tucked up in bed and just as I was about to close the eyes I had one last look out the window just in time to see the tower sparkling again but this time all the other lights had been turned off.   Obviously the Grand Finale for the night as all went dark then.  Wow, what a sight to see on our first night in Paris.

Can't talk anymore time for sleep, see you tomorrow......