Riding the TGV

My Mom and I arrived in Vancouver safe and sound last night, but before I get into to that, let me finish off with our adventures in the south of France.  On Monday we took a TGV from Paris to Marseille, and then another from Marseille to Nice.  (Note: You can take a TGV directly from Paris to Nice.  The short reason that we made a change is that raileurope.ca sucks.  The long answer is available upon request).

This was my first TGV ride and my Mom's first big train travel day.  I have to say that travelling along at 300 km/hour is pretty impressive.  The scenery goes by so quickly it's almost nauseating at times (in a good way!) and you pass traffic on freeways as if it is standing still.

A few shots from our travel day.

Ready to go!

The nice view from the Marseille train station when we popped out during our quick stopover.

Where is that train anyway?

We covered the 783 kilometres from Paris to Marseille in just under four hours, and then it was another 2 and a half hours on a slower track to Nice.  Not bad for a day's work!

Yes, Nice is Nice

It's one of the oldest jokes in the book, but Nice is a nice little town. We made it down here on the TGV on Monday afternoon and have filled our days with shopping, exploring the old town, climbing to the top of various hills for the views, and promenading with the other tourists. We also did day trips to Monaco and Cannes to see how the other half lives.

The one thing Nice doesn't have is a wireless connection friendly to my laptop so I can upload some of our many photos; those will have to wait until I'm home on Saturday. It's hard to believe that our first two and a half months are over tomorrow! It's been an amazing time but Chad and I are looking forward to a summer exploring vistas closer to home before heading for South America in the fall. That's all from France - see many of you soon!

The Sights of Paris

My Mom and I leave Paris for Nice tomorrow, and it is hard to believe how quickly our four days here have flown by.  We have managed to cram more sightseeing and shopping and eating and wandering and fun into these four days than I would have imagined possible.  We were slowed down a bit yesterday by jet lag (for Mom) and today by a cold (for me) plus a relentless rain all day today, but nonetheless managed to squeeze as much fun as possible out of Paris before tomorrow's departure.  So what have we been up to?  Scroll down to relive our adventures with us.

My Mom is now a maestro of the Paris metro system.  The Paris metro system is claimed to be the best in the world, and I can see why - it ridiculously easy to access and cheap to ride.

Not sure who this guy is or why he's so angry.  Maybe it's the bird on his head?

We braved the 284 steps and climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for some fantastic views, despite the threat of rain.

We shopped the Champs-Elysees with minimal damage to our bank accounts, and wound up at the Place de la Concorde.

We dined at a typical French brasserie with waiters in bow ties who brought me 'vegetarian' food that I managed to order in French ('vegetarian' because I'm pretty sure that wasn't vegetable broth in that lentil stew... Luckily I didn't have the vocabulary or inclination to ask!)

We wandered the Seine some more and entertained ourselves on the Ile St-Louis.

My Mom tried the ice cream from the famous Maison Berthillon.  She chose salted butter caramel and says "best ice cream I've ever had"!

We finished Day 2 by heading to Trocadero to watch the Eiffel Tower light up.  And on June 22, that doesn't happen until late.  The lighting up around 10 pm is pretty.  The flashing light show starting at 11 pm is almost seizure inducing.

The next day we took the train out to Versailles to visit the palace.  This place is huge and outrageously ornate.  It was also jam packed with tourists, despite the fact we got there at a reasonably early hour.

There's an art exhibition going on right now that has modern art placed throughout the palace.  My Mom wasn't convinced she liked it, but I thought it was kind of a neat juxtaposition of very modern versus very old.

Maybe she looks a little TOO at home in the palace...

This was a piece of the modern art we both thought was pretty cool.  There are actually two of these shoes, and they are made of pots and lids.

We didn't get to visit the gardens, as they were shut down for a special event that day.  But they looked lovely from the outside!  And with that, we hightailed it back to Paris.

We found a book market in the Latin Quarter, but sadly it was only books en francais.

My Mom tried out fruit jellies from one of Paris's many chocolatieres.  The verdict?  Delicious!

The lovely Place des Vosges.  We had dinner at an equally lovely cafe nearby, where the locals entertained us with their enthusiasm for the game of Hearts and were gracious enough to wait until we finished eating to smoke.  People in Paris are much friendlier than their reputation gives them credit for.

This morning was the first day it rained - and I mean really, really rained - all day.  Luckily we had planned a morning at the Louvre.  The waterproof camera was enough to capture these obligatory proof we were at the Louvre shots:

The upside down companion to the pyramid atop the main Louvre entrance.

I think you all know who this is... in real life, this painting is much smaller than one would expect.  There were just as many people here to visit it as there were when I pushed my way in to see it 12 years ago.

Venus de Milo

A gigantic sphinx, though not the biggest there was to see.

The jugs they're carrying are full of beer!

Our plan for the rest of the day was to visit Sacre Coeur Cathedral and wander Montmartre.  This was compromised by the rain, so we were forced to seek shelter and drink grog for part of the afternoon.

And that's our visit to Paris!  We leave tomorrow morning for Nice on the TGV, so stay tuned for more adventures from the south of France.

A Birthday in Paris

My Mom is the awesomest person in the world - so awesome that she deserves a word of her own (see previously, re: 'awesomest').  Example: she showed up in Paris on Wednesday afternoon with a suitcase full of fresh new clothes for me to wear.  After 10 weeks on the road, this was the best gift ever!  Anyway, I'm thrilled that she's joined me in Paris, where we will spend five days before heading to Nice for another four.

It's especially exciting because yesterday was her birthday, so we got to celebrate Parisian style.  We had a fantastic day and covered a lot of ground - it's funny how time just slips away from you here.  We keep looking at our watches and saying "how is it THAT time already!?".  Here's some highlights from our day.

"I'm in Paris!  That's the Louvre!"

We didn't go to the Louvre yet, but wandered through on our way down to the Seine to catch a boat along the river.  You'll note the puddles on the sidewalk - it rained for part of the day, unfortunately.  

Heading for the Seine.

Instead of taking a boat cruise, we decided to buy two day tickets for the Batobus, which has eight stops up and down the river from the Eiffel Tower to the Jardin des Plantes.  It turned out to be a great idea - a nice way to see the city, and a perfect opportunity for resting our sore feet during the day!

Birthday breakfast at a cafe along the Seine.

Love locks on a Paris bridge. 

Awaiting the Batobus -  we had terrible timing and kept missing the boat by about a minute and having to wait for the next one.  

A rare sunny moment heading down the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.

After seeing the two hour line up to go to the top (one of the two elevators was out of order) we decided that the view from the bottom was pretty decent.

I finally found a decent selection of French beer (at La Grande Epicerie at the Bon Marche).  Unfortunately it was too little too late for Chad.

I couldn't resist taking my Mom to picnic in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  After lunch I convinced her to try one of the reclining chairs, which she loved - especially when I gave her my jacket to use as a pillow.  Our timing was also brilliant, as we picnicked in the sun before a serious rain storm began.

Hiding from the rain.  And the hail.  It rained so hard that it was raining through my umbrella, which wasn't the best birthday present for my Mom!  We ducked into this cafe... Okay, I'll admit it.  It's a Starbucks.  When it's raining through your shared umbrella on your Mom's birthday, you don't worry about looking for an authentic Paris experience.  Instead we had tasty raspberry blackcurrant frappucinos (I guess it's good these aren't available in Canada, as I would probably have to get a job just to feed my habit) and chatted with an Indian guy visiting from Ireland until the rain stopped.

Next up was a visit to Notre Dame.  It was, of course, lovely - and when we went by today there were about five times as many people there so we definitely picked the right day for our visit.

My new favourite model at the Jardin du Plantes.

My Mom's one Paris birthday request was to have champagne on the Left Bank.  So we headed for the Latin Quarter where she had champagne and I couldn't resist ordering a frambois beer.  So tasty!

Birthday beef bourgenion.

We finished a day of sightseeing, shopping, picnicking, garden wandering, and exploring with dinner at a place in the Latin Quarter.  The place was jam packed with people wandering and kids running around with silly putting harassing their poor parents and each other.  Our waiter told us that it happened to be the busiest day of the year, the day of La Fete de Musique.  He looked very sad while telling us about how the Latin Quarter used to be busy like this more often until the recession started.  As we walked back to our hotel we saw that it wasn't just the Latin Quarter that was packed - there were people everywhere and tons of music in the streets.  Very cool.

Happy birthday to my amazing Mom!  I don't know how we're going to match this day next year.