2010 Trip: To Paris

5th June 2010

Another train journey was the order of the day! After saying goodbye to Elaine (who I think was rather sad not to be going travelling again herself) I headed into Hamburg and caught the train to Koln, then onto the Thalys high-speed service to Paris. This still took about eight hours, but it seems to be the quickest way other than flying to get there. We got up to 300km/h as we headed through Belgium and the straight down to Paris.

Suddenly we were there and I hopped out of the train to swelteringly humid weather. It took me a while trying to figure out the ticket system for the Paris metro system, which really wasnt helped by me being inside the ticket check area when I got off the train. I eventually figured it out and caught a couple of packed rush-hour trains to my hostel.

I have to admit that, more than anywhere else on the trip, my first experience of Paris was a culture shock. It was chaotic, hot, humid, rubbish everywhere, old trains, run-down stations, and a strong ethnic community (I did not see anyone white for about twenty minutes). Most of it was probably to do with having come just come from Germany, but wow, what a transition!

But this didn’t last long. I arrived at my slightly run-down, but very friendly, hostel. I grabbed some stuff from a supermarket across the road and had an artichoke with salad and a baguette for dinner. Delicious!