Over 7 years since my last interrail trip (it wasn't meant to be that long, but a minor delay caused by a worldwide pandemic put paid to it earlier) and I'm in Paris on the first leg of the journey to Zaragoza via Barcelona.
Up early this morning and feeling very pleased with myself that I hadn't had to sit on my suitcase and that my backpack is smaller than I had planned. Got the bus to the station with the familiar feeling of nervous excitement combined with "why am I doing this on my own, everything will go wrong", and then the train to St Pancs from Herne Hill was cancelled. No worries, had left plenty of time so caught another 20 minutes later. Got to the Eurostar terminal and almost burst into tears at the thought that this long-planned trip was finally happening.
Access to the train and luggage space was much easier than my last trip. I'd splashed out on Standard Premier to match my first class Interrail pass, which meant that I was also surprised by a second pastry on top of the Pret second breakfast I'd just indulged in. (Am now feeling the effects of a rather carb-heavy day).
The journey to Gare du Nord was smooth and timely, and I worked out the best route to my hotel near Nation. Sadly I managed to get on an Ouest bound RER train instead of Est bound (there's a pattern emerging here - I did the same in Brussels in 2015!), but realised my error immediately and just got off and on again at Auber. Bit of faffing about when I tried to exit the station, but was happy that my hotel was very close by and arrived to a very friendly welcome by a jolly man who didn't seem to mind that I needlessly wanted to speak French and promised to speak doucement.
He and his friend seemed very surprised by my asking if Bois de Vincennes was close by as I wanted to walk, but they helpfully produced a map and pointed me in the right direction. Had I had longer here, I would've made a return trip to Musee d'Orsay, but decided that with a long day sitting in prospect tomorrow, I should stretch my legs and clock up plenty of steps.
I was prepared for Paris to be expensive, and my 96 euros for one night room is clean and comfortable but extemely small! Showering is going to be interesting - I may need to sit on the toilet. Mirror accessible for haridryer position but not to look at....
I wandered in a more or less straight line to Bois de Vincennes, which is pretty and with some lovely trees and shrubs, and with natural paths everywhere. (It's desperately in need of a decent cafe like Dulwich or Crystal Palace though. Commercial opportunity going begging). The 12th arrondissement seems to be a pretty nice area - no sign either of the trash mountains I'd been warned about due to the strikes.
After a perambulation and an ice cream, I wandered back passing Parisians going about their day (including a woman with a baguette in her bicycle basket), enjoyed April in Paris blossom and steeled my willpower against many tempting food shops of the patisserie variety. Emily in Paris extreme fashion stylees have been nowhere in evidence. I stopped for coffee and a greedy tarte au citron in Nation (yep, 13 euros' worth) before having a lie-down in my tiny chambre, and woke myself up snoring like a train (I blame the cold I'm still shaking off.)
Venturing out for dinner, I ended up eating pizza and drinking Montepulciano in a restaurant a few minutes' walk away. I looked at others, but all so very meat-or moules-et-frites orientated. The pizza was pretty lousy - a besoin de plus de tomates, maid trop de fromage et jambon. And 35 euros for pizza, a large wine and a small coffee felt like quite a lot. Maybe I'll finally lose some weight this holiday....
I watched people getting around on the usual electric scooters but also on segways - not tourists on a sightseeing trip. There are lots of dogs, many more cycle lanes than I remember from my previous visit, and sadly homelessness the usual sorry sight in big cities. Here though, I've seen several guys who've set up camp with all their belongings in very public places, not hiding in the shadows. The man outside the now-closed HSBC bank even had a double mattress, and was sunbathing....
Early night for me as I need to get to Gare de Lyon (only one Metro stop) in good time for my train to Barcelona at 0934 tomorrow. That's going to be a long one. Slightly concerned that I my room may be adjacent to a couple having too much fun, but can't be 100% sure that's what the noises are....
A bientot.
