Oh, have I always dreamt of coming to Paris with a special someone. Never has it crossed my mind to go here solo. But lo, and behold. Some things just happen. For my first solo travel, I went to the city of lights and love to find myself and the light at the end of the tunnel.
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| St. Pancras International Station |
ST. PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL STATION
I booked a return ticket to Paris for £65 from Eurostar. I left my flat at around 6 in a Thursday morning and arrived at London St. Pancras International Station after 40 minutes. I need only be at the departure lounge at least 45 minutes before the travel time, so I arrived earlier than necessary.
Opinion: I think it is cheaper and way more convenient to travel to Paris via Eurostar. Not only are the ticket prices cheaper than when flying, the trains are relatively brand new and thus, you're guaranteed to have a comfortable trip. They do not have weight restrictions for your baggage, and you're allowed as many as 2 large pieces of luggage. They also don't have the same policy for the things that you can and cannot bring as compared to when you're flying and are not as strict. The check-in is a quick and easy process, and the departure lounge is comfortable, too.
I was surprised how the station was very accessible. It was easy to navigate once inside and find your way to the departure lounge. There are clean toilets and a food hall with lots of food choices situated immediately after entering the station.
It was fairly easy to check in at Eurostar. Firstly, you will have to scan your ticket to enter the gates, then go through a baggage scan. After that, there are 2 passport checks and then you're inside the Eurostar departure lounge. The whole process takes around 10 minutes, depending on the baggage scan and the passport check. Those with British passports obviously do not get much scrutiny from the officers, as evidenced by the fact that the immigration officer had to look at me and my passport photo twice and scanned the pages too.
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| Obligatory selfie in the train |
Inside the departure lounge, there are lots of seats, electric outlets, and even food stalls. They also have a travel information desk where you can purchase bus/tour tickets/transportation tickets to be used in Paris. I bought a carnet of tickets (10 tickets that can be used in all forms of public transportation in Paris) for 15 pounds since I already have an itinerary which consists of walking 90% of the time.
Travel tip: Transportation - if you would prefer to walk the City and use public transportation at least x2 a day, your practical choice would be to buy a carnet of tickets. A carnet of t+ tickets is equivalent to having 10 tickets at a reduced price - 14.50 euros (one ticket costs 1.90 euros). The tickets are valid in zones 1 and 2, and thus can be used to travel anywhere in Paris. But if you plan on using all forms of transportation at least 3-4x a day, I suggest you purchase the Navigo card, which has monthly and weekly package or the Mobilis, which is a single day pass. If you only plan to see the touristy spots, especially if you're on a tight schedule, I recommend you also consider the hop-on/hop-off bus tours or the Paris Pass, which is a combination of attraction+travel pass. There are lots of packages to choose from available online depending on your preference.
Boarding was 30 minutes before departure time, and the train that I boarded, which was one of the relatively new trains, had comfortable seats, which can be pre-selected, and electric sockets at each seat for charging, which was a big bonus on top of the free wifi of course.
The train left the station on time and had only 2 stops before Paris.
Upon arrival at Gare du Nord station, you just have to walk out of the platform and into the station. Turn left to go to the subway, which is underground. It was a bit disorientating as you literally have to go through throngs of people in queues waiting to board their trains before you can get to the stairs leading down to the subway.
I normally rely on Google Maps to tell me how to get to places. I got lost initially though trying to find the correct platform for me to board the correct train. The trains there have longer waiting times before the next available one as compared to the tube in London. I missed my train, so I had to wait for 14 minutes for the next one. I noted that there were lots of graffiti in the walls, and obviously, the instructions/announcements were in French, so I wasn't able to understand them and relied on the screens and on the signs on the trains.
From Gare du Nord, I took the train to Cite Universitaire to transfer to the tram and got off a stop near the hotel. So the trip costed me 2 tickets (one for the metro, and one for the tram). However, you can use the same t+ ticket if you are transferring from RER-RER, metro-metro or RER-metro within 2 hours after last validation of the ticket, and from bus-bus, tram-tram or bus-tram within 1.5 hours after last validation of the ticket. But you cannot use the same ticket when transferring from one form to another (i.e. metro-bus, metro-tram, RER-bus and RER-tram connections). Click here to read about the
Paris Transport Guide for tourists.
I had to drop by Arty Paris Hotel first to check in and leave my baggage, the hotel is in Rue des Morillons, and the closest tram station is Brancion, which is about a 5 minute walk.
The hotel was very hipster and artsy fartsy. It has a very comfortable and welcoming lounge and dining/kitchen area. The staff are very hospitable, and on top of that, the reception area has a foosball table, guitars, lockers, electric outlets, comfy chairs, computers, maps, magazines and books, and a vending machine. I booked 3 nights in a 4-bed female dormitory, and my bed was not yet available when I checked in, so I just left my luggage in their secure left luggage area, and then headed back to Brancion tram station to go back to Cite Universitaire and then take the metro to St. Michel Notre Dame.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL -> PONT NEUF
My first stop was to just walk by the front of Notre Dame Cathedral before proceeding to Pont Neuf, where the love locks are. I bought my first baguette from a cafe in front of Pont Neuf for 13 euros, and enjoyed such while sitting on one of the benches in Pont Neuf while watching the boats that pass by the rivers on both sides.
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Paul Restaurant at Place Dauphine - where Emilia Clarke in Me Before You sat as she read the letter in the movie
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There are men selling padlocks in front of the love locks, but I reserved doing that when I'm back in Paris again with a special someone.
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| Love Locks at Pont Neuf |
MUSEE D'ORSAY
I then walked to Musee d'Orsay. My entrance was free of charge since I was a 25-year old resident from the UK. Regular admission fee is 11 euros. I spent about 2 hours in the Museum which houses collections of impressionism. This was actually the top must-do in Paris as rated by Trip Advisor. My favorites inside were the exceptional marble works on display in the GF, Van Gogh's self-portrait and his works at the 2F, the spectacular view of the museum's architecture from the 5F,
the Whistler - which is the famous painting that Mr. Bean accidentally damaged in the funny series, and one of the wallpapers in Macbook laptops, Claude Monet's
Coquelicots. There is also a spot at the top floor of the museum where you can view the beautiful city of Paris through the building's clock.
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| Musee d'Orsay |
EIFFEL TOWER
From Musee d'Orsay, I then took the RER to Tour Eiffel and walked towards the Eiffel Tower. I immediately was captivated by the beauty of the iconic French landmark. It gave me goosebumps looking up at the magnificent tower. My plan was just to see the tower and take photos of it at nighttime, and then come back the next day and take photos of it at daytime.
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| Eiffel Tower |
RUE CLER
So after taking photos, I then walked to Rue Cler to have my dinner at Le Petit Cler. It was about 15-minute walk from Eiffel Tower. The Rue Cler is a street famous for food choices, and Le Petit Cler is among the top ranked restaurants. The place was simply decorated, but very comfortable and welcoming. I ordered the French version of Bulalo (a.k.a. Pot au feu) worth 12.50 euros, and coke for 6 euros, which was quite an expensive price for a drink if I may say. The bulalo was heavenly though, especially since it was cold that night. The soup was savory and the meat was tender and melts in your mouth.
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| Clock Tower - Musee d'Orsay |
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| At Rue Cler |
After dinner, I then took bus 92 to Duroc then bus 89 to Brancion-Morillons to head back to the hotel and retire for the night.
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| Dinner at Le Petit Cler |
The room had a comfortable size with 2 bunk beds, each having their own beddings, a locker for private/personal stuff, and electric outlets. The view from the room was that of a typical but stylish Parisian street. The bathroom was clean and has a walk-in shower. The only thing that disappointed me was that there was no towel nor toiletries provided. Good thing I brought my Aquazorb towel and bag of toiletries with me.
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| Arty Paris Hostel Reception Area |
I have no problems staying at a hostel/dormitory. I was sharing the room with 3 other guests: 2 Koreans who were traveling together, and an American. They were all friendly and conversant. And that's one of the things I really like about staying at a hostel/dormitory - you get to meet different people.
Opinion: I think that if you are traveling solo, it is more practical to stay at a hostel/dormitory so that you get to save, and at the same time, you have an opportunity to meet people, but only if you are comfortable with that.
Day Expenses:
- 15 pounds: carnet of tickets
- 2.50 euros: city tax (collected at hotel)
- 13 euros: lunch
- 19 euros: dinner
Total = 34.5 euros
