Week 1: Frankfurt and Paris

We've arrived in Europe!



Frankfurt



After a relatively easy flight, Scott and I arrived to a beautiful, cold day in Frankfurt. We walked down to the metro station below the airport and proceeded to stare blankly at the metro map. Unlike most other cities we've been to, tickets for Frankfurt's metro system appear to be based on districts/neighborhoods instead of metro stops. Finally, a kind woman pointed us in the right direction and walked us over to our train. Thank goodness for nice people in airports and train stations!



Our hotel, named Residence Hotel, was just off Zeil, a main shopping street. Scott remarked that it reminded him of Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. We walked down beautiful Zeil, picked up a large pretzel for lunch, then turned down the street on which our hotel was located. We were immediately overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a full-fledged red light district, just two minutes off of a main commercial street. Our hotel, though in the middle of all of this, was surprisingly comfortable and clean.



Exhausted, we slept all afternoon and woke up ready for a large dinner. The receptionist at the hotel recommended that we wander the sidestreets around Zeil looking for a restaurant, so we took her advice and found a pub with pictures of food on the menu. If the tourist-friendly menu weren't enough, we knew we'd stumbled upon a foreigner-friendly restaurant when the tables around us were filled with visiting businesspeople and travelers. We ordered a huge, steaming plate of sausage, potatoes, pork chops and sauerkraut along with two large beers. Our eyes proved to be larger than our stomachs, as after two hours sitting with the food (which was listed on the menu as being food for 2 people), we could only eat 2/3 of the plate. The large meal ensured that even after a long afternoon nap we were able to sleep through the night.



We woke up around noon, checked out, and wandered the city for 8 hours until our bus departed from the Frankfurt train station. We had breakfast at Goethe Square, where I enjoyed the most wonderful cup of Rooibos Vanilla tea. We then walked over the the main EU bank, where we took a picture in front of what must have been the world's largest Euro. Then we wandered across the river and back again to the Cathedral. Tired, we headed to the train station and waited for our bus.



Paris



We've done too much in Paris to describe in a single post, so I'll try to be brief.



We arrived at dawn, and took the metro into our hotel. Yet again Scott had booked us a hotel in the middle of the red light district. The other travellers we've met have told me that I should start to worry, and they've given me the names of the red light districts in other cities so I know what to look out for when I let Scott book hotels! Once again, our hotel was wonderful and clean. We dropped our bags off in the lobby as it was too early for check in, and we walked up the hill to the Sacre Coeur. We froze on the steps watching the sun rise, but it was magical. There were only two other people there, so it was as if we had a private audience with the dawn. When the cold became too much, we walked down the back of the hill to the Montmartre Cemetery. From there we took the metro to Pont Neuf and walked down Rue Rivoli across from the Louvre. We returned to the hotel to check in around noon, then slept until mid afternoon.



That night, we walked from our hotel to the Eiffel Tower. As the line for the elevator up to the first floor was long, we climbed the stairs. The view from the first floor was incredible! We were at eye level with the tops of the nearby buildings. The wind proved to be too much for us on the at the base of the next flight of stairs, so we took the elevator up to the second floor. When we looked out across Paris, it felt like we were hovering just above the city. We could see the main streets leading away from Trocadero to the Arc de Triomphe, and from there to the Louvre. We took the elevator up to the 3rd and final level, and were relieved that there is a heated room at the top. The view from the top surpasses anything else we have done in Paris. I'm not one for heights, and the mixture of fear at our altitude combined with awe at our view made for a once in a lifetime experience. We climbed up the stairs to the outside deck, and the rush of wind made us feel as though we were flying above the city. Unfortunately, the biting cold soon drove us back downstairs into the heated viewing room. From there, our stomachs led us back down the elevator and across the river to the Trocadero restaurants.



After wandering the area for a bit we splurged on a restaurant with a full view of the Eiffel Tower. As we sat down the 11 pm light show started, and the tower was lit from top to bottom with flashing white lights.



Our meal was the best we've eaten yet. We ordered a bottle of wine, and started with a charcuterie plate. Scott ordered duck confit, which came with potatoes and garlic, and I ordered onion soup. Both were out of this world, and I'll try to include pictures later.

Friday we picked up a crepe and walked to Notre Dame. The crown of thorns was on display, and we also saw part of a mass. We then walked across the street to the Deportation Memorial, which is one of the most striking memorials I've seen. We walked across the Seine to the Latin Quarter and had a coffee and pastry at Paul, a bakery chain in Paris. After that we checked into our new hostel, which was fun and pretty nice.

Saturday we walked from our hostel to Place de la Republique, Cemtiere Pere Lachaisse, and Place de la Bastille. That night we met three guys in our hostel and went out with them to a local bar, where we were the only tourists. It was quite fun, and we think the bartender liked having foreigners there as he treated us very well.

Sunday was busy, as we had to change hostels and many museums were free. We checked out of one hostel, left our bags at another, then took the metro to the Musee d'Orsay. It was jam-packed with people, but we enjoyed ourselves and wandered around. From there we walked to the Louvre. We spent about an hour in the Louvre, as we'd both been there before and were mostly interested in seeing Hamurabi's Code again. We tried to make it to the Pantheon before it closed, but we were only able to see the outside as we stopped at a wonderful creperie on the way. We took the metro to the Latin Quarter for dinner, and were amazed at the number of tourists.

Overall, the highlights have been the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Crepes, the food in Trocadero, and the quality of hotels and hostels. We leave for Spain tomorrow, so we're scrambling to find hostels in Madrid and either Barcelona or Lisbon. If you have any recommendations, send them along! I've opened up the comments, so you can comment without logging in. You can also email or facebook me.

I hope all is well with all of you!

Best,
Christina