A short dream in Paris then a friendly welcome to Zurich
The second leg of our interrailing around Europe
A morning in Paris
We woke up in Paris.
I’d be more than happy to start most of my days like this however due to the time constraints of this trip we would only be doing it once this week.
It was a fairly quiet Tuesday morning, I got up a bit early and watched people going about their business from the room’s Juliet balcony.
Once we were both ready we grabbed our bags and headed out. Since we were taking the train not the plane, our luggage had no official weight restriction. My other half saw this as an opportunity to take as much as possible, this would prove a mistake. She’s not known for her strength and so having a bag almost as heavy as her proved a challenge.
I would like to note I did offer to carry it multiple times but she declined and powered through.
Due to this questionable decision making, we left our bags at the hotel, but not before the woman there got much enjoyment out of our comparison of my partner to a turtle; which I’ve got to say was pretty accurate.
Until our train to Zurich later that day we had no where we needed to be. Therefore chose to just wander slowly in Notre-Dame’s general direction. To my knowledge we were in a fairly standard part of Paris; Admittedly since this was booked only three days ago at this point I wasn’t sure. But despite this, and Paris being a major working city, it really does retain it’s charm even in the mundane.
The European approach to flats of 3-5 stories high and aiming for good quality isn’t really something we have in the UK. In the UK flats tend to be high rises or conversions and seen as ‘lesser’ than houses. They are almost seen as a necessary evil.
Paris really shows the error in that way. The moderate height but solid density makes the streets open and full of life without feeling suffocating. Add in the historic features and it really makes for an appealing atmosphere.
As we continued we checked our phone to see we were maybe 10% closer after 20 mins of walking. We live in a very small city and so may have underestimated the size of Paris. We therefore jumped on the Metro. The first station had no way to buy tickets as far as we could tell but the second did. We took a while to figure the maps out but after a min we got the hang of it and hopped aboard.
The station we emerged at was very industrial. It felt like we were emerging from a nuclear bunker more than a train line.
As we surfaced I was in need of a coffee so we searched out a cafe. We were well aware we would be gouged due to the location but it seemed better than caffeine withdrawal. We found a cute place where we could sit outside, suffered the €13 hit for two coffees and continued to Notre-Dame.
Notre-Dame
I saw Notre-Dame once before it burnt down on a school trip around 12 years ago but unfortunately did not go in. It’s rather sad seeing the amount of damage that has been done. There is a harrowing collection of photos on the wall outside the cathedral showing the damage inside. Apparently a lot of the sculptures inside were taken out for maintenance a few days before the fire by total chance. As you can see below the front is mostly intact at least.
From the rear and side the damage is more clear with it coated in a web of scaffolding.
It’s a rather strange thing to think that in a sense we saw Notre-Dame being built. Of course the initial construction started over 800 years ago but this current work is just as important and hopefully long standing. It’s rather a privilege to have visited in the very short modern time frame where you can say you saw Notre-Dame being built.
Onwards to the Eiffel Tower
We continued down the Seine river in search of a patisserie to buy some breakfast. On the way we passed some green boxes attached to the side of the river wall. I was aware these were small shops, generally of books. Most were closed, I imagine there is little business on a Tuesday. Still, they added such a quaint feel to the walk. Well that was until we passed one that was open. This illusion was a touch shattered by the fact the main thing on offer seemed to be rather explicit magazine. Each to their own but did rather break the wholesome vibe.
Soon we found a small patisserie, this time hunting in the side alleys to try and avoid quite as much of hole in our pockets. We soon succeeded and got two croissants for only €3! As well as being a great price, they were delicious.
As we left we saw the Eiffel tower waving at us in the distance. We had more than enough time so we jumped on the metro and headed over. When we got there it was predictably touristy, even on a rainy Tuesday.
Up until now everyone has blended in to the city, but the second we stepped out of the metro we could see the cameras on sticks and slightly lost crowds. I don’t think this is a bad thing really, as fun as it is to poke fun at this, it is what the Eiffel tower was built for.
It was built for the 1889 world fair which was an event to show off the country’s artistic and technical prowess. Particularly to those from abroad. The Eiffel tower continues to fulfil this purpose over 100 years later.
Around the park in which the tower sits, resides a fairly large amount of people selling memorabilia, generally Eiffel tower models and the such. On this day they seemed to out number the tourists. What I thought was odd was they all seemed to be selling almost identical goods. From a business perspective this seems unwise but also I wonder why this is. Do they all have the same supplier?
Other than this we had the classic petition scam but this was easily dealt with via a swift “Non”.
We opted not to go up the tower in part as it seems the worst view of Paris due to it being the one place you are guaranteed not to see the Eiffel tower.
To Zurich
We then headed back to grab our bags walking through the same serene streets.
Next to our hotel was a small restaurant where we popped in for lunch. It was intensely cozy and as was the case the night before, we were punished for our lacking French by having an English specials board placed next to our table. We both had their signature burger which was, as I’ve come to expect from any meal in France, divine.
After settling the bill we were sad to be leaving Paris so soon, but Zurich awaited us. We jumped on the Metro, now being able to navigate it like pros, and arrived at Gare de Lyon.
This station is split into halls, most are rather nice and open, there was even a rather ostentatious shopping hall. Our hall however was underground and rather more basic. It was very similar to an airport terminal but a bit darker. We unfortunately had to wait here a while as we arrived far too early by our own miscalculation but not so early it made sense to explore elsewhere.
On the upside at least there was a rather well done Harry Potter mural.
Mercifully the train arrived on time and we jumped on. It was a double decker train which I’m sure is mundane to most but we still find exciting! It was also really rather comfy. As with the Eurostar this was a train that needed to be booked coming to £52.90 for the both of us. In the spirit of this trip we handled this on the same day.
We were on a table seat with two people opposite us. One was a woman who I don’t think spoke English or at least didn’t seem too interested in conversion which is fair enough and the other was a Swiss fellow.
We sparked up a conversation and had a great time chatting all the way to Zurich. Perhaps too good of a time as half way someone did ask us to be a bit quieter; precisely he asked if we could be “louder” but we got the message.
Our new found friend too was born in the UK but his family had moved to Switzerland when young. We went on about bio-engineering, AI and even the number-plates of Liechtenstein (which are pretty cool by the way).
This is another amazing thing about travel. Meeting people who you would never usually cross paths with, and may never again. It widens your perspective and challenges any biases or assumptions you might have about how others live and what thoughts they have. And as well as that, it challenges how you feel you should live and view things.
When we arrived in Zurich our new friend helped us to buy day passes for the following day and even walked us to our hotel. He really was incredibly kind and the best possible ambassador for Switzerland.
Funnily enough, the reason we had to walk was a tram was cancelled, this is not the efficiency I was expecting in Zurich but did make me feel more at home.
With a hug we said good bye to our new friend. We grabbed some food and went to the hotel to rest for the next day when we could really get a chance to see Zurich. We stayed at an easyHotel for our first time which had self check in, bar the rather laborious task of filling all our details in it was fairly straight forward. The room was basic but clean and very functional. It came to £82.83 which for Zurich felt rather cheap. Happy with this choice we slept soundly.
Total costs
Train to Zurich: £ 54.90
Metro: £14.68
Lunch: £55.87
Croissants: £2.50
Breakfast coffee: £10.58
Dinner: £24.83
2x24 hour Zurich transport passes: £16.44
Hotel in Zurich: £82.83
Total: £262.63
Running total
Day One: £778.28
Day Two: £262.63
Total: £1040.91