Rob’s European Vacation 2009

So Monday started off fairly ok.  Got up way early and tried not too make too much noise for my hostel roommate Marcus.  Left the hostel at 05:45 and made my way to the Underground.   I hopped on the District line and got to St. Pancras with about ten minutes to spare before they opened the doors up to get onto the Eurostar trains.

Got onto the train and each side has four seats with two facing the other two.  Thankfully I changed my seats to face the way we were going otherwise I would have been ill.  But I got stuck with three older French women and the lady next to me was super fidgety and kept hitting my arms…so I got absolutely no rest on that trip.  But within 2.5 hours I was in Paris!

Grabbed the Metro to get to my hostel.  Thankfully I ran into two Aussies who were going to the same hostel and had been there before.  I don’t think I would have found it without their help!  Got to the hostel and checked in.  Again couldn’t fully check in because it wasn’t 2pm so I dropped off my big bag and headed to the Metro station again to go down to central Paris.  On the way I picked up a baguette and a chocolate pastry…yumm.

Got off and headed towards the Louvre.  Wow…I had only seen the Louvre previously from the top of the Eiffel Tower so standing there was way cool.  As I stood in line to go down the stairs I met a group of people from Amherst and West Seneca.  I kind of found it funny that all this way and here I was talking about the Sabres.  So anyways I go inside of the Louvre and wow…just MASSIVE.  I have heard how big it is but you just don’t get it till you’re actually there.  It’s HUGE.  (that’s what she said)

So I went off to the side and got a Paris Museum Pass which will get me into most of the museums and save me some money.  So far I haven’t really used it to its potential but whatever, it was worth it just for bypassing all the lines!  So I walk up to the Denon wing…I already knew I wanted to do a quick tour through…I was tired and had listened to an audioguide from Rick Steves that went through the Denon wing.  Anyways almost immediately I was lost.  It took me some time to figure things out but once I did I was rolling through.  Wow, what an impressive museum.  So many great great works.  Titian, Monet, Da Vinci, Raphael, Michalangelo, and so so so many others.  I saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus Di Milo and Winged Victory.  I also saw one of the largest canvases in the world..Napoleon’s coronation.  Amazing work…just amazing.  After breezing through most of the galleries and only spending 3 hours there …yes breezing took three hours thats how HUGE this place is…I walked out of the Louvre and headed towards the Seine.  I walked along the Seine until I came upon the Notre Dame.  I walked in and once again admired the beauty of the church.  I walked out to hit up the tower of the Notre Dame however the line was really long and the Crypt was closed.  About this time I was getting tired so I took a little stroll along Seine and the Pont Neuf and grabbed the Metro back to my hostel.

Once back at the hostel, I checked in and got to my room.  Got situated a bit and went down for dinner.  It was nice to have a good working wifi in the hostel.  I missed getting the news regularly and contacting some of my friends.  I called my mom and A.

So I ordered the dinner from the hostel which was only about 6 euros and waited till 7.  At 7 I was seated on the side and soon joined by several others.  This is where I met a great Aussie couple, and new friends Kristin, Char and Warner.  Warner was a hilarious dude from New Hampshire. Had a good dinner and just chilled out till about 11 since it was POURING outside.  Seriously I would have hated to go out, it was raining massively.  So after dinner and conversation I headed to bed but before I did, I chatted with A some more who was at work.

Day 2 and Day 3 in Paris yet to come…

Tags: 1, Europe, Travel

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