WEATHER: 13C in London and 18.5C in Paris
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Looking out the taxi window and seeing the Eiffel Tower in all her glory
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not feeling so great – itchy throat and blocked / runny nose
BUYS OF THE DAY: My Eurostar ticket for 140GBP – now that is not a bargain let me tell you
WORD OF THE DAY: Bonjour – hello
MOVIES WATCHED: The Tourist and Just Go With It
WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:
Traditional quiche with bacon and cheese, served with a fresh salad bouquet
Cream of potatoes with egg custard, leek and green beans
Pink roasted roast beef with Bordelaise sauce, spring vegetables and baked oven potatoes
Honeycomb ice cream with raspberry sauce
After trying to pack my bag yesterday, I had a few items left over that I had to try an squeeze in somewhere this morning, so I got a little earlier to get all that sorted out. The problem is I have packed dresses for the cruise and with my new jacket, socks, beanie and ski pants for Antarctica this has taken up valuable room in my backpack. I packed and stuffed everything I could in, hoping the zips would hold and then I had to pull out one of my Intrepid cloth bags to be able to fit the last of my stuff in. Not ideal when I am about to travel on the London Tube with 4 bags, but I just had no option. I also had to go through the bags that I left 4 months ago at the hotel. I have left a fair bit of stuff right down to my original toiletry bag I bought back in Brisbane (new one is smaller) some makeup and around 8 tops, 2 skirts and a bunch of other stuff that wouldn’t fit in or I just didn’t need. Hopefully the cleaner will be able to snap some of the stuff up.
O at 8am, with my big backpack on, my handbag, my small backpack and the additional Intrepid bag I set off for the Tube Station and saying goodbye to London for the last time, well at least for the next 6 months at least. I do transit through here in a few weeks’ time heading to South America, but my time in the UK has now finished and once again I have had great weather here. I have been so lucky.
The Victoria and Circle tube lines have been closed all week-end, so I ended up catching the tube one stop to Elephant and Castle changing lines and then catching the Northern line to Kings Cross St Pancreas. I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people on a Sunday morning moving around on the tube and it wasn’t too bad. Every time I am on the tube, you see people struggling with bags and suitcases and I just didn’t want to get in the way or look like an idiot. I didn’t take my big bag off my back the whole time, I rekon that thing would have weighed 25kg, if it came off I am not sure I would have the room to get it back on.
It only took 45 minutes to get to St Pancreas and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. The station is massive though, but well sign posted. So I just followed the signs to the Eurostar office to purchase my ticket that I had tried to do online yesterday. I was just hoping that it was still the same exuberant prices of 140GBP. I should have booked these ticket weeks ago, but in my defence I had not internet, so I guess I didn’t have much options. Well the ticket was the same price, so armed with it I decided to grab a quick bite before heading into the Eurostar departure lounge. I had to choose an eating establishment where I didn’t have to take off my bag, so I ended up getting a Caesar wrap and pulled up a few seats out the front and proceeded to eat. You can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw SADIA walking up to me. RANDOM – it was amazing to see her and I know the first thing I had was a smile from ear to ear! She was at the station taking her sister to Kent I think, but man it was awesome and totally random seeing her there! So after 30 minutes catching up with her, it was time for me to get going and saying goodbye to an old friend and a promise of keeping in touch.
The Eurostar process was pretty steam lined. You scanned your ticket at the main entrance like an airline gate and that got you through to the security screening where all your bags were screened and this was the first time my backpack come off my back in 1 hour and 45 minutes! Once through the screening there were 2 booths for immigration which was done in 2 minutes flat and then you found yourself in the departures lounge. They had a gazillion TV screens with a list of the departures on them. Seriously when I sat down I could see at least 5 screens looking at me from where I was! Maybe they are worried people will miss the train? Anyway the backpack came off again for the second time and I did what I knew I was not supposed to do and I left my 3 bags unattended and went and used the ATM I could see and got out some Euro’s for my week in France. I could see my bags from where I was using the machine and then I saw a security guy swoop on the area and pull out his walkie talkie, so I hoofed it back and let him know they were my bags to which he nodded and walked on. The boarding call came 20 minutes prior to departure and we all had to heft our bags up the escalators and then find the appropriate carriage number and seat number. The first carriage at the top of the escalators was 8, so it was a 50-50 chance in which way the numbers went, so I chose straight ahead and found myself at carriage 9, so I had to swim against the current and head back the other way to 5. There was plenty of baggage room at the entrance, so I left my big backpack there and took my other 3 bags with me into the carriage. Well as it worked out my seat number 88 was right next to the doors, down the other end of the carriage. That would be right; well I certainly wasn’t going to be moving my big backpack, with only one stop on the way I had little doubt that the 25kg brick would be stolen!!!
I had a very nice lady next to me for the 2.5 hour journey and I managed to pump out a blog entry and then enjoy the last 40 minutes of the French countryside as we pulled into Paris du Nord station. I did find the channel crossing a little precious on my ears due to my cold/cough thing the I had to keep trying to pop my ears due to the pressure but I love train travel and it is a great mode of transport and for me made a nice change after 24 flights and over 20,000km in the last 2 months on the road.
Once exiting the station the taxi line up was 150 people deep. But it is one of those things that firstly I didn; t have any other option and secondly the line moved surprisingly fast and I was only in line for 20 minutes before getting into one. I had my Uniworld voucher at the ready with the address on it, as my French is nonexistent, and the taxi driver seemed to know where he was going. After 35 minutes we found ourselves at a port, but I could for the life of me see the river boat. I wasn’t getting out of the taxi till I knew I was at the right place. The taxi driver was telling me this was it, but with no ship in the port, I’m telling you this is NOT it. So we did a lap, which obviously cost me, we stopped and asked a canal restaurant and then we stumbled onto the ship further along the quay costing me an additional 5EUR!!! Anyway I was here now, and I had to pinch myself as we had driven past the Louve and with the Eiffel Tower to my right, man I was in PARIS!!!!! This city is amazing and I would love to come back with that some-one special one day. It does have that romantic vibe about it.
As my taxi pulled up out the front of the ship, 2 young men came over to take my bags for me and deposit them directly to my room as I checked in and handed over my passport to reception. I was given my room keycard and Ellie came from nowhere to escort me to my cabin and my home for the next 7 nights. My cabin is actually in a pretty good location. It is the closest one to the restaurant which is on the same floor and right near the steps that has reception at the top and then the lounge just past there. Keeping in mind there are ship only holds 120 passengers, I guess everything is going to be pretty close to everything.
So I had a free few hours, so I walked around the ship and took some photos and then went back to my cabin for a rest and watched a few movies till 6.15pm, where we were required to attend the Monet Lounge for a welcome and safety briefing by our Captain, Hotel Manager and Cruise Manager. They went through the basics of the cruise, what their duties were and then we headed down to the Van Gough Restaurant for dinner.
Dinner is an ala carte menu each night with a choice of 3 options for starters, soup and entrée (main meal) Uniworld have a sit anywhere option each night, so I just had to pick a table that had a few spare seats and asked if I could join them and then dinner was served. My first introduction to the passengers was a mother-daughter team from South Carolina and Barbara and Ron. There will probably always be a spare seat, as I am travelling on my own, so there was just the 5 of us and I have to say I had a very enjoyable evening. It is also quite handy that the wine over dinner is FREE, yes people FREE, so this is an extra bonus in the evening over dinner. FREE WINE!!!!!
After dinner I went straight back to my cabin, watched another movie and was tucked up in bed by 11pm. The cabin itself is a little on the small side. I would hate to have 2 people in here, as the storage is not what you would expect, but in saying that the cabins are beautifully appointed and all the fixtures are all shiny and new, this is going to be just what the doctor ordered, with me not feeling 100% I will use this time to re-cooperate and recharge my batteries.
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