Monday, February 3 – transit from London to Paris

I’m on the 10:31 Eurostar to Paris this morning. It’s very convenient getting to the train station, as the Metropolitan line runs straight through from Harrow on the Hill to St. Pancras. I’d like to get there with some time to spare however, so I left the flat fairly early…

…and it’s a good thing I did, because when I arrived at the tube station the platform was jammed packed with people! And not just the typical morning commute crowd. Apparently there are some delays on the Met line. Oh Oh! I guess I should have checked that before I headed out!

Fortunately a train eventually did arrive and I stuffed myself into the car with everyone else!

I booked a 1st class seat for the trip to Paris. Basically that was because the price difference versus the standard class was insignificant. And that was due to the fact that I didn’t book far enough in advance to get the inexpensive seats! (the round trip fare was $285)

The meal was nice; even had some wine!

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but it’s kind of an interesting aspect of the train journey between London and Paris: When departing St. Pancras, passengers go through both UK departure passport control and France entry passport control before boarding the train, one right after the other. Very convenient! And the identical process (in reverse) occurs at Gare du Nord as well.

One of the reasons I chose this hotel is its proximity to the train station. It was about a 30 minute walk (you know how much I hate using taxis!).

As you can see, it was a beautiful afternoon in Paris, so I had to get out for a walk!

Spoiler Alert! Today’s weather will be the best that I encountered during my stay…

Tuesday, February 4 – Paris

Big day! I have a reservation to enter Notre Dame at 9am. However, I noticed from their website that the cathedral actually opens at 7:50am for services. I’m going to get down there early to see if I can enter then.

It’s about a 1 hour walk from my hotel to the cathedral, so I’m out the door a little after 6:30. (no taxis!)

When I arrived at the cathedral there was a line of people just beginning to enter. However, since I had a reservation (even though it was at 9am), I was able to bypass the queue and go right in. Perfect!

The cathedral looks amazing, right? What a wonderful restoration! To arrive at this place after such an absolute low point in 2019 is inspirational. (I still remember where I was when Kait messaged me with the gut-wrenching news)

Below are several additional photos from my visit…Enjoy!

I went back through the photos from my previous visits to Paris, to see if I had an interior picture of Notre Dame that I could use as a comparison to the current, post-restoration condition.

I know the lighting is better now, but wow, what a difference!

And you’ll notice that the stained glass windows are missing. They are still being restored. And some proposed replacements are causing a little bit of a controversy. You can read about it here.

My next stop is the Les Salles du Carrousel, to attend the preview of the RM Sotheby’s car auction.

I won’t bore you with a bunch of car photos, but here are a few highlights…

The star of the auction! 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti; the overall winner of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. (sold for €34,880,000!! / $36,344,960!!)

Okay, that was fun! I’m now off to one of my favorite spots in Paris, Angelina’s.

I spent the rest of day revisiting some of my favorite sights in the city. The weather wasn’t very picturesque however, and I’m sure you’ve seen most of it before, so I won’t bore you with too many photos!

I thought it would be fun to go up in the tower, into the clouds; sadly, the top was closed to visitors (kind of makes sense, I guess).

I circled back to Notre Dame before returning to the hotel. You can see a line of people waiting to enter in the center of the courtyard.

This was a busy day. And I ended up walking a ton – 35.4k steps!

Travel Note: Today’s step count is a new one-day world record! (well, a new high point for me since I started these winter escapes – tops the previous high of 34.9k steps in Barbados from 2023.)

Wednesday, February 5 – Paris

More automotive adventures today, I’m afraid. Feel free to scroll rapidly through this section!

Off to another auction preview this morning. This time it’s Bonhams at The Grande Palais.

Front: Scale Model of a Ferrari boat – Arno XI – Speed record holder since 1953 (sold for €12,800)

Back: Lucien Boucher (1889-1971) Air France – Large planisphere (sold for €19,200)

Now off to the Porte de Versailles to attend the massive automotive gathering called Retromobile!

Essentially Retromobile is a place to interact with vendors hawking everything conceivable that is associated with the classic car industry (and other stuff too!). I’ll post a few pictures here to give you a feel for the atmosphere…

A person could spend hours going through this exhibition! After about 2 1/2 though I was pretty much overwhelmed and called it a day.

As I make my way back to the hotel, here are a couple non-auto-related images for you!

Another productive steps day: 26.9K!

Thursday, February 6 – Paris

I’m finding that I seem to have less tolerance for tourists lately (okay, boomer!). So today I have two goals: Go somewhere that is a) off the beaten path, and b) a place I’ve never been before. After a little research, I’ve decided to head north to Saint-Denis, mainly to see their basilica, but also to check out a couple venues from the recent Olympics.

It’ll be about a 90 minute walk from the hotel to Saint-Denis, and I was looking forward to seeing the sights outside of central Paris. But it was pretty much a letdown – mainly industrial and kind of rundown.

The basilica contains the tombs of nearly every king of France from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century.

I’m happy I made the journey to visit this basilica. A true gem on the outskirts of Paris! (the entry fee was €11; well worth it!)

During the Olympics, Saint-Denis was the center of activity. Located here are the Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Center, and the Athletes’ Village. I stopped by the Tourist Center (a few steps from Town Hall) and spoke to the workers about their experiences during that time. Amazing memories for them!

I had a fun (interesting) encounter while taking this picture. An older gentleman was walking by and stopped to talk to me. I tried to explain that I did not speak French, but he persisted! It seemed like he was venting about a couple things: the fact that the Aquatic Center has been shut down (fact check: apparently it is going to reopen in June of this year), and b) locals could not afford to attend any Olympic events. I can sympathize monsieur…

On my way back to the hotel, I had to take one more stroll by Sacre Coeur…

Another healthy steps day: 24.2k

Friday, February 7 – transit from Paris to London

My train doesn’t depart until early afternoon, so I just had a leisurely morning at the hotel.

A couple observations from my visit:

• It’s surprising (to me) how many people still smoke in Paris. And they’re young too. Crazy! There are cigarette butts everywhere, littering the sidewalks and streets. A shame.
• Another surprise: All of the construction taking place in Paris, both buildings and roads. My perception was that major improvements took place in a city prior to hosting an Olympics, not after. Guess not!
• I referred to this earlier; I’m finding it more difficult to deal with tourists (like in London and Paris). Even at this time of year. Sounds kind of snobbish, I’m sure. I think living in these cities would be a challenge. I can understand why places like Venice and Barcelona are fighting back against tourism.

Here are a some parting pictures from Gare du Nord…

This was a fun trip! Notre Dame was amazing. The weather could have been a little more picturesque, and warmer, but at least it was dry! I shouldn’t be greedy!

I got back to the flat around 4pm, and Mary reminded me that there was a Harrow School play taking place this evening. Great idea! And tickets were still available, I’m in!

A funny performance. And very British! The actor who played Wooster was impressive.

Monday, February 10 – Harrow on the Hill

Steps Update: I’m about 1/3 of the way through the trip, and I’m currently averaging 16.8k steps per day (thank you Paris!). If I can keep up this pace it would top my previous high of 16.2k from Hawaii in 2022. Will it happen? Probably not; I still have a long way (literally and figuratively) to go!

Travel Update: I’m back on the road again tomorrow, traveling to Gibraltar, Morocco, and Tunisia. I’ll be back on the 25th. No laptop again, so you can look forward to a massive update when I get back!