A Duck Walks Into a Pub: Day 4: Paris - 180 mph and the best 40 euros ever spent

After an easy night knocking a few pints back in the hotel lobby and chatting with a few of the trip groupmates, we woke up bright and early for a final ride across London to the high speed rail station. After a brief security clearance, in which our suitemate had his nightstick confiscated by the French authorities, we were aboard a train headed toward Paris, the city of love. The train bulleted us across the English countryside and under the English channel at 180 mph, pretty freaking sweet I must say. After just 2 1/2 hours we had left the English speaking world behind and entered the world of Napoleon and Charlemagne.

(promptly switch accent from drunk English football player to dirty French waiter)

Upon our arrival in Paris we were greated by much warmer weather and much more elegant architecture. At check in we found that we had the best view and a balcony as large as our room in the hotel, way up on the 13th floor. A view of western Paris to the left, Eiffel tower to the right and the skyscrapers of the business district, La Defense, behind us. After a quick turn around we were back on the Metro into the heart of old Paris and had a walking tour of the Palace of the People with huge screens of the French Open playing on the square in front, Notre Dame, and the holding place of Marie Antoinette before her demise. When all was said and done we had a few hours to burn before meeting back up with the group at 8pm for a 4 course dinner (more on that little escapade later).

With our free time we hopped on the Metro and traversed the ridiculously confusing streets up to the mount in the northwest part of the city which is home to Sacre Coeur, a huge church with a sweeping view of The city below. We picked up some bottles of wine, bread and cheese and sat on the steps and just sat and talked and sang along to music played by a man who couldn't quite hit the notes right but still had the crowd going. Easily my favorite place on the trip so far, and really got us into the vibe of Paris and the French way of life, which apparently is a lot of sitting and talking and not doing much.

After such a great start to this leg of our journey we hopped back on the subway across town to the Latin Quarter for a dinner our tour guide, Mike, had set up for our group which included 4 courses and as much wine as we could drink for 40 euros. Probably the most I have ever spent on a meal, but the key phrase here is "as much as we could drink". Our table was a group of thrill seekers, as almost everyone chose escargot for their starter. At first I was a little hesitant, but as the saying goes, "when in Rome..." (which Russell is exuberant about wanting to say when we are actually there in a week or so). The snails were actually very good, with about the same consistency and taste of steamed mussels. Next the entrees chosen were either poached salmon (most likely the best I've ever tasted) and veal. After a good while we moved on to the third course, a cheese plate, which wasn't nearly as popular as the first two items, but it didn't matter at this point as the wine was definitely flowing from the quickly refilled carafes. Finally dinner ended with dessert and an accordion serenade to the whole group in which everyone was singing and swaying in their chairs to.

Also, as a side note, at this point our accents became interchangeable between American, British (which we seem to have mastered, or think we have) and some version of a drunk Pepe le Pieu. After enjoying ourselves thoroughly, we then left the restaurant and headed to a nearby bar/club for a bit before headed back to the hotel. Needless to say the wine got the better of us, and after a long and eventful Metro ride back we were safely snug in our beds ready to wake up the next morning for another full day starting at 9am.

We have gotten a day behind with the blog, but no worries Russell and I will catch things up tomorrow night.

Au revoir!

Josh