GregWTravels

April In Paris: Eurostar (London St. Pancras – Paris Gare Du Nord) and Renaissance Paris Vendome




Prologue

Back in 2019, an American friend who was spending some time working over in London said that one of the things he wanted to do before heading back to the US was see a Grand Prix. We checked the F1 schedule for 2020 and our own schedules, and lo and behold, the Dutch Grand Prix, back on the calendar for the first time since 1985. And it was to be at Circuit Zandvoort, a track easily accessible by train from Amsterdam.

Hotel reserved, and Eurostar booked for our adventure for the first weekend in May. Oh, what a trip report that would have made! Eurostar to Amsterdam direct there and back, lovely hotel in Amsterdam, and exciting racing over 3 days.

I don’t need to tell you all what happened next. Like many companies, Eurostar didn’t refund our tickets, merely gave us a voucher to use at a later date. (As an aside, the F1 was only “postponed,” and we didn’t get a refund until after the end of the F1 season in 2021 when it was obvious they couldn’t run the GP). The expiration date on those Eurostar vouchers got push and push, but eventually at the end of 2021 Eurostar said that I had to either book something by December 31, 2021, or lose the voucher.

I had paid good money for the tickets, so I wasn’t going to let them expire. That said, I had no reasons to head to anywhere Eurostar went, so obviously I was going to have to just book something.

I love Paris. I first fell in love with Paris in 2005 when I was sent over for a work project as a consultant working out of Toronto. I was shuffling my time between Toronto (my home) and three offices of the client – Montreal, San Francisco and Paris. I’d never been to Paris before I first landed at CDG on the second of April 2005. I’d never had any interest in Europe as a travel destination. It always seemed as something I could do as a coach tour when I was in my 60s. As a youngster in his 30s, I wanted South America, Central America, Africa, Asia! Exciting, crazy locations. Futuristic and urban, or wild and untamed. Not the stogie, quaint “Old World.”

I spent 45 days in Paris in 2005, and fell in love with the city, and Europe as a place. Within 3 years, I was moving to Europe (the UK, due to language and visa ease rather than any special love for London – though London has grown on my now as well).

So if I was going to burn my Eurostar voucher, Paris seemed the obvious location. I hadn’t been since 2013 (a travesty!), and a visit was well overdue.

Then the only question was when. And the answer was obvious.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong know the best time to visit.
Pre-Trip Planning and Covid Requirements

I picked my dates and easily booked the Eurostar using the website, entering my voucher details.

For hotel, I decided to burn some Marriott points. I am a Titanium lifetime member with Marriott, but haven’t been travelling much and while I have a decent bank of Marriott points, and every year they become worth less and less, so I figured I might as well start using them. So perhaps it wasn’t the greatest deal to spend 222,000 points for 3 nights at this hotel, but what else am I going to do with them? Figure now I’m just going to use them before I lose them to inflation.

I booked the trip back in November, and as winter turn to spring, Covid requirements fell. By the time I took the trip on April 26, the only requirement was to show that I was fully vaccinated (initial course of vaccination, and then a booster). As I had my vaccinations on the NHS, I was able to download a PDF file including QR codes from the NHS app to demonstrate my adherence with this requirement.

I thought I might need to fill out a PLF, but when I started to do it, the website informed me that only passengers arriving by air need to fill out a form. As I was coming in via train, no need for anything other than the vaccination status.

In This Trip Report
Introduction and Pre-trip (which you’ve actually just read above)
St. Pancras Station, Eurostar London to Paris and arrival in Paris
Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel
Dining at L'écume St. Honoré and Beliner Das Original
Jardin Tuileries, Notre Dame Cathedral and lunch at Cafe De L'Epoque
Balagan bar (at Renaissance Paris Vendome) and dinner at Cafe de Paris
Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum and lunch at Restaurant le Moličre
Wander around Marais and dinner at Udon Jubey
Gare du Nord station, and Eurostar return Paris to London

GregWTravels

St. Pancras Station, Eurostar London to Paris and arrival in Paris

Tuesday the 26 of April started with work, but bags were packed the night before and waiting by the door for me to sign off and head out the door. A short ride on the Piccadilly line to King’s Cross-St. Pancras Station, through the maze which is that station and up the escalators into St. Pancras.

St. Pancras station was opened in 1868 for a terminus of the Midland railway. A grand hotel was built at the site, and a giant space underneath the tracks was built to store beer that was brought down from breweries in Burton. Through the years though, the station and hotel both saw decline, and by the 1980s the hotel was closed and the station only saw a few trains an hour. The whole area around King’s Cross was quite downtrodden, with drugs and prostitution common.

The hotel did provide a good place to record videos, if one was so inclined.
Wannabe – Spice Girls

What saved the station, hotel and the area in general was "The Chunnel." With the channel tunnel train link opening, a terminus in London was sought. Many options were considered, but I’ll save you the story here from A to Z, but in the end St. Pancras was chosen to be the terminus. That prompted the hotel to be refurbished and reopened, and was one of the key events in triggering a much wider regeneration of the entire area around St. Pancras and King’s Cross. The whole area is still under a lot of development, but it’s a whole different area than the 80s, or even when I lived in the area in 2008.

But enough history. Let’s get on with the holidays. And how does one start a holiday. Champers!



St. Pancras has a champagne bar on the upper level which claims to be Europe’s longest champagne bar. I’ve always thought it’s an odd claim. I’ve googled to try and find other long champagne bars, and as far as I can tell, only St. Pancras makes any claims about the length of their champagne bar. If no other bar in the world is claiming to be the world’s longest champagne bar, why not stump up for that title?

Regardless, I enjoyed the glass of champagne, that if I was a better trip report writer I would have documented what the brand and vintage was, but I didn’t. But it was champagne.

Eurostar Security, Immigration and Lounge

Champagne done, I headed down a level to catch my train. As it is an international train requiring immigration and security, you are requested to show up 45 minutes before departure. I hate to be rushed, so headed down to the Eurostar lounge with an hour before my train. Eurostar has already sent me an email with my tickets and barcodes for the scanners, so I could head right to the queue to enter the secure lounge.

Eurostar requires masks in their stations and on their trains, so despite everyone walking around St. Pancras without masks, as soon as you get into the Eurostar queue, masks need to go on.

First order of business is to approach an e-gate, and scan the barcode on your ticket. I had mine via email, but you can also go to the check-in desks and get paper tickets. The first time I took Eurostar from St. Pancras (it used to leave from Waterloo, but that is another story), a friend who had taken it a few times said, “You’ll put your ticket down to scan. And nothing will happen. And you’ll think it didn’t scan. And then suddenly the gate will open. It always takes longer than you feel it should.” This is great advice, and I have always thought of it every time I approach those first e-gates at St. Pancras. It takes longer than you think it should, but those gates will open.

Next up is security. It’s a lot like airport security, in that you have to put your bags, coats, and empty your pockets (and take off your belt) to be put through a scanner. Trays are provided (this may seem a trivial detail, but this is what we authors call foreshadowing for my return trip from Gare du Nord). Unlike airports, you don’t need to take your computer or liquids out.

After security is a new experience since the last time I took the Eurostar. The man with the QR code scanner asking for your vaccine passport. I’d saved the PDF to my phone, so quickly popped that up and after scanning the QR code for my booster, I was waved on.

This is where things get a bit different than airports. If I fly out of the UK, the UK doesn’t seem to care at all to track that I am doing that. Maybe they get all the data from the airlines, and don’t need to check, but for Eurostar, they have a passport check to do.

So walk up to the booth, present your passport, remove your mask so the agent can see your face. Approved, off you go. But don’t forget to put your mask back on before the next queue.

And that queue is for the French immigration. One you get to one of the e-gate scanners, you scan your passport, the man trap enters and you enter. The door behind you closes while the door in front of you remains closed until your face is scanned. To do that, you pop off your mask, wait for the computer / human looking at the photo matches it to you photo, and then you are released.

Mask back on, though, as the next thing is a human being to give you a passport stamp. Before the UK left the EU, we didn’t get passport stamps going to France. Now we do.

And with that, security and immigration procedures done! While it seems onerous, it was less than 10 minutes, so arriving 60 minutes before my train, I still had more than 50 minutes to relax in the lounge.

Ummmm….




Every time I have left from St. Pancras, this lounge has been heaving. It has always been a 10 minute search to try and find any seating. In 2008, when I first took the Eurostar from St. Pancras, it has only been in St. Pancras less than a year, and the lounge was rammed. It hasn’t gotten any better.

After fifteen minutes I was able to spot a seat crammed into a corner of one of the food outlets, behind a pillar. Beer in hand, I squeezed myself in.



And waited for the train to be called.



About 20 minutes before our train, we were invited up to start boarding.

Eurostar Train 9024 – London St. Pancras – Paris Gare du Nord

Date: April 26, 2022
Departure: 12:31
Arrival: 15:47
Coach: 10 Seat: 61

The platforms are above the lounge. You can either take a lift (elevator) up, or go up a travellator. From there, you go and find your coach. The train is 18 cars long (excluding the engines), and is 220 metres long, so if you are at the far end of the train, it can take a few minutes to get to your coach.



My trip today was a non-stop to Paris. Before Covid, I don’t remember non-stops being common, usually we would have a stop on the English side (Ebbsfleet or Ashford) and a stop maybe in Lille.


Since I last took the Eurostar, they have rolled out new rolling stock, and this was my first time on this on it. The seats seem roomier and the tray tables not as imposing. After I sat down, a woman came and sat beside me, but just as we were departing, there was an empty row next to us so she moved before we left St. Pancras. That was lucky as the seat map made the train look quite full.




The train left on time, at 12:31:19 according to the platform clocks at St. Pancras.

As I previously stated, masks are required at all time at this point on Eurostar. It is slightly strange as they aren’t required in most if not all places in either London or Paris, but we all masked up for our journey.



The train spends a bit of time in tunnels through London before coming out into the sunlight. As we wind our way through the county of Kent, though, there isn’t much to see. To limit impact on the visual and audio impact on the English countryside, we mostly travel along at speed in a ditch, with a nice grass verge to look at but not much. When we do pop up enough to see something, it is usually a motorway or a massive junction.



This trainset itself is nicer than the previous versions I have taken. The toilet was functional but a bit roomier than most train toilets. Always hard to get a decent photo of a toilet.



There are two buffet cars on the 18 coach long train, and one was just a coach over from me, so I grabbed the double up beer deal (two beers for Ł7 / €8.90).




On the trainset we were on, I found that the new buffet car had much less space to hang about in. I recalled that the old cars had tables to stand around and perch against a table. I put this to the attendant at the bar, though with typical French assuredness the attendant told me I was wrong about that. "Never any tables."

I would find on the way back that there were (and are) trainsets with spaces to perch, but can see perhaps the argument that they aren’t “tables.” But that’s more of an Omni debate.

Back at the seat and approaching the Folkstone and the entrance into the Channel tunnel.



I remember the first time I took the Eurostar. I was so excited to see the tunnel. Thing is, it’s a tunnel. It’s a bit anti-climatic when you first do it. Not much to see but reflections in the window.



It is still impressive to think about it, when not too long after entering, you come out and up into France.

You see a lot more of French countryside because the French run their trains not in ditches but just straight across the countryside. I love trains, but think the English may have this one right.



Free WiFi is standard onboard. I used it in England and through the tunnel as so many bits underground are without 4G signal, but once in France I just switched over to 4G, as my current plan allows me to use my data plan in the EU for free, and the 4G seemed faster than the Wifi.

New since 2020, Eurostar announced customs checks at Gare du Nord if you needed it. Brexit. However saw no evidence of a customs check so not sure where you would even do it.

Soon enough we were in Paris Gare du Nord, and flooding off the train. As we had passed immigration checks in London, it was similar to leaving a domestic train. Disembark, and head out into the Parisian afternoon.






Transit to the Hotel

It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk to the hotel. It’s about 2 miles from Gare du Nord, and took about 45 minute walk.

Last time I stayed at this hotel was 2008 and didn't have a smart phone to guide me. As such I got lost trying to follow the tourist map. Now though, with Citymapper changed over to Paris, easy walking directions were proffered and I found the hotel without issue.

One reason I chose to walk is that I love the streets of Paris.

Paris is gritty and urban, but also elegant and lovely. I'm used to it now. A constant mix. Homeless, high end restaurants, massage parlours, hipster cafes, downtrodden brasseries, high end retails outlets, kids smoking on scooters.







And soon enough I was at the Renaissance Paris Vendome.

GregWTravels

Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel

The Renaissance Paris Vendome is located on a small side street just a street north of the Jardine Tuileries and east of Place Vendôme. As I said previously, I had booked 3 nights using my bank of Marriott points.



Check In

Upon walking into the hotel, the check-in desks are just to the left. Sitting down at the desk across from front desk agent, she started the process. She thanked me for being a loyal Marriott Titanium member, and had upgraded me to Balcony room.

Then the snag. For some reason, my credit card was declined. I called my bank, and they said that the reason the card was being declined was that the information being sent was incomplete, and that the hotel needed to speak to their card processing supplier to resolve the issue. The hotel didn’t get what the problem was, and eventually the front desk agent said she would try again later, and gave me the room key.

My credit card did work fine anywhere else I used it that weekend, so it was an issue specific with the hotel. It didn’t impact my stay, as the credit card would have just been for incidental costs as I had paid with points, and in the end I didn’t have any incidental costs.

Room

My room was on the fifth floor at the corner of the hotel. Judging my the size of my balcony versus others, it was larger than the other rooms with balconies on the same floor.

For a European hotel I found the room spacious, and certainly was large enough for me.





Beside the bed on both sides of the double bed, and also at the desk were electrical plugs with two USB ports for charging, so in total 6 USB charging points without needing to get out the international power converter.




The bed was comfortable, as long as the fact that you had a photo of a woman staring down at you from the ceiling all night doesn't freak you out.. It’s probably quite hip and stylish, but I’d never think to hang my art on my ceiling.



There was a large fish-eye mirror above the bed, so I was able to get a shot showing the whole room.



There were two floor-to-ceiling French doors that opened out onto the small balcony, which included a small table with a couple of chairs, and mostly view of the construction going on in the building across the street.



The TV only had a few of channels in English - BBC World News, Sky, CNN, France24 – basically if you wanted news you were covered, otherwise, non. However, you can connect your device to the TV and watch from your device, which probably covers most people nowadays.

As an elite I received free enhanced internet. It worked without issue. I even did a video conference call during my time at the hotel, and it was absolutely fine.

Bathroom

Bathroom was large with both a tub and a shower unit.








I have read in some reviews that there were problems with the shower volume and temperature, however I had no issues when I showered each morning, which was usually sometime between 7 and 9 AM. Toiletries were TokyoMilk by Margot Elena.

Breakfast

There is no lounge, so for elites breakfast is served in the restaurant. There was a selection of pastries, cured meats, smoked fish, salads, cheeses & breads, plus you can get eggs to order. Coffee and tea are made to order, plus fruit juice and water.

Evening Cocktail Hour

When checking in they let me know that they did a free cocktail from 6 to 7 each evening in the lobby. I headed down at 6 on the first day to try it out. Each evening the cocktail on offer was the same, a creation called “The Green Beast,” consisting of absinthe, lemon, cucumber and water. It was light, and not very alcoholic tasting. I’m guessing it wasn’t too heavy on the absinthe and probably a lot more cucumber water.






Restaurant and Room Service

I didn't try the restaurant or room service outside of breakfast, but it is a middle eastern restaurant, so the dishes on both the room service menu and the restaurant are reflective of that. You can check it out at Balagan.

GregWTravels

Dining at L'écume St. Honoré and Beliner Das Original

After finishing off my cocktail, I headed out to do a bit of exploring. Before that, though, I realised how peckish I was feeling. I had been up since 3:00AM (UK time), so going on 15 hours awake and had only had one meal. It was still a little early for dinner, though, but luckily just around the corner from the hotel I stumbled on just what I needed.




L'écume St. Honoré is a little fish shop and restaurant, and their chalk board announced a set meal of 6 oysters, bread and a glass of wine for €15.90. An excellent little pick-me-up before I explored for a bit.






After polishing off my oysters and glass of wine, I went on an unplanned wander. I’ve been to Paris numerous times, and have done most of the tourist sites (sometimes multiple times). This trip, other than a few things planned, I really just was looking forward to wandering around and soaking in the atmosphere of Paris.







Soon enough the sun was setting, I’d been up 17 hours and ready for a quick bite and bed. A quick donner kebab from Beliner Das Original was exactly what I was craving at that point.




After that, back to the hotel, and into bed, ready to recharge for my first full day in Paris tomorrow.

GregWTravels

Jardin des Tuileries, Notre Dame Cathedral and lunch at Cafe De L'Epoque

Jardin des Tuileries

I work early morning shifts, so I tend to be up early, and Wednesday morning was no exception. It does mean that I had time to get out and go for a quick run before the Renaissance started serving breakfast.

The hotel is less than a minute walk from Jardin des Tuileries, and made a nice place for a morning run, sharing the large park with only some other runners, a couple maintenance guys, and somebody walking around smoking a cigar at 7:30 in the morning.










I did two circuits of the gardens, which worked out to just over 2 miles.

After my run, I headed back to the hotel for a shower, and then down to breakfast. I was a bit of a glutton, but I figured with the run, and all the walking I was planning for the day I would burn off all those pastries.

Walk to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Headquarters of the FIA

After breakfast, I headed out for a walk past the Louvre and along the Seine to see Notre Dame. I haven't been to Paris since the fire there in 2019, and wanted to see what progress had been made. While it still looks like it has some work to be done, it is good to see a lot of work taking place, and colourful panels explaining what's underway.









My wander back was along the south side of the Seine, and along the way I passed one of two of Paris' Canadian themed pubs. When I was first in Paris on an extended work trip back in 2005, I did try them both out (or oot, as we say in Canada).




After a quick rest stop at the hotel, I headed over to Place de Concorde to see the headquarters of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA is the governing body of motor sport and promotes safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across the world.


While I've watch Formula One and other racing series on and off since I was young, it's only in the past few years I've really started following the off-track and business side of the sport, and realised the roles different groups play in managing Formula 1. The FIA sanctions the Formula One series, and sets the rules, while the Formula One Group promotes the series, sets the calendar and handles determining where the races take place.



I noted that they have a hall of fame there, but tours need to be arranged in advance so I will save that for a future trip to Paris.

Also got a glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe away in the distance while I was in the Place de la Concorde.




Lunch at Café De L’Epoque

All that walking built up an appetite, so I headed out in search of lunch. Stopped at Cafe De L'Epoque on Rue Du Bouloi.






I had one of their daily specials of Brandade du Morue, which is a like a cod fish cake without the breading on the outside, served with bread and a salad.




I sat outside, at one of those little small round tables that all French cafes seem to all have, facing out onto the street. I love sitting at those tables, sat facing outwards allowing you to eat your lunch or dinner or just sip a coffee or glass of wine while watching the world go by.

GregWTravels

Balagan bar (at Renaissance Paris Vendome) and dinner at Café de Paris

Evening Cocktails at the Renaissance and Balagan Bar

After lunch and a short wander around, I headed back to the hotel. I had a call scheduled later in the afternoon that I wanted to prepare for, and had also received a call in the morning just before lunch that I wanted to follow up on. So the afternoon was spent in the hotel in front of the computer.

Once my call was done, it was 6:00 and the cocktail hour had started. I headed downstairs for today's cocktail. I had initially assumed it would be a different cocktail each day, but it was the same as yesterday – The Green Beast – though served in a less fancy glass.



After finishing off my Green Beast, I headed into the bar at Balagan. I figured I would try it out, and get a proper cocktail in a fancy glass.

The bar is a dark with a lot of plush red velvet furniture. It has a certain Moulin Rouge / Belle Epoque vibe to it. The cocktail menu is unique. While it is sometimes daunting to take something you haven’t had before, I figured that they must take some pride in what’s on the menu for it to have made it there, and decided on taking something from the menu.

I had the Sassy Frenchie, made with Tequila, clear fruit brandy, absinthe and Suze (which is a type of French bitters). The cocktail was good, but packed quite a punch. I could already feel it going straight to my head, so after finishing my cocktail, I decided to head out to a brasserie for a couple beers. I figured that my head could be better able to handle a couple of beers on a near empty stomach more than it could another cocktail.



Dinner at Café de Paris

For dinner, went to Café de Paris. I took a seat out on the street, facing out towards the Vélib bike rental rack and on the busy rue de l’Échelle, which meant that there was a lot of good people watching to do while sipping on my drinks between courses.



I ordered Escargot with a beer as a starter. Beautifully done with a very garlicy butter.






For my main, I had steak frites with a glass of St. Emilion Bordeaux wine recommended by the waiter. The steak was very well prepared, the fries were crispy and lovely, and the wine paired very well with the steak.





I wasn’t going to have a desert, but the fresh fruit and mango sorbet caught my eye and I thought that might be nice and light. It was not – it was more a sundae than the scoop of sorbet and a few fresh fruits I assumed it would be. I had it along with a glass of white Lillet as recommended by the waiter. The Lillet was lovely and sweet, but was overpowered by the fruit and sorbet, so I finished as much of the dessert as I could before returning to the wine to finish the evening.

HawaiiFlyerDC8

How pleasant to read about a trip to Paris. Thanks for posting as I don;t know when I will get there next.

ohmark

Stayed a number of times at the Ren Vendome. Great location and nice breakfast. But a number of the rooms are so tiny you can barely turn around. Glad you received an upgrade.
Enjoyed your piece. Thanks for posting.
Mark

GregWTravels

Thanks. I hope you get a chance to get back sometime soon. It really seemed very lively, and there were a lot of American tourists there (certainly at the Marriott branded hotel).

Thank you. It is a great location, which is primarily why I chose it. I had stayed there once before. I'm glad I got an upgrade as well, as initially I booked thinking I didn't care about the room because I wasn't planning on being in it much, but then for a couple of reasons did wind up spending a few waking hours there, and it was nice to have a place where I could move around, and had a choice of lounging on the bed, sitting at the desk, sitting in the arm chair by the window, or outside on the small balcony.

GregWTravels

Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum and lunch at Restaurant le Moličre

I woke up early again on Thursday morning, but forego a run and instead lounged around in my hotel room until breakfast was starting to be served. I headed down at 7:30 and was the second guest in for breakfast to a restaurant that remained almost empty until 30 minutes later when I leaving. Despite the empty restaurant and it being a mostly self-serve, service seemed a bit scattered today. Even though I was only one of three people there, they forgot my eggs order until I reminded them. By 8 o’clock, more staff were working and things seemed to be going smoothly, so perhaps they just don’t expect that many people down early in the morning, and so make the B-team open the place so the others can get a lie in (though I did notice that the staff that started around 8 were the same people working in the restaurant and bar in the previous evening, so they obviously work long days).

After breakfast, I headed out for a walk along the Seine, heading the opposite direction to what I had done yesterday. After a 2 mile walk, including a quick cut through the open gardens at the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, I arrived at the Champ de Mars. And looked up… way up… at the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

As I’ve been up a couple times during past visits, I didn’t have any desire to pay to go up, but thought it would be a good way to start the morning to see the tower up close. It along with Notre Dame and Sacré-Cœur are the three symbols of Paris to me. Having seen Notre Dame up close yesterday, thought it would be the right thing to do to see the tower today.

One thing that surprised me was that you can no longer get under the tower at the base without paying. The entire thing is now surrounded by glass walls so you have to pay to get under it. Certainly the first time I visited in 2005 the base was open for pedestrians to walk through, and I was last at the tower in 2013 and don’t remember the glass walls then.


Garden at Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac


Garden at Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac


Eiffel Tower from below


Eiffel Tower from a bit along the Champ de Mars

After grabbing my snaps I had a 20 minute walk, passing Les Invalides along the way, to my next destination, The Rodin Museum.


Les Invalides from Avenue de Tourville

Rodin Museum

Le Musée Rodin (the Rodin Museum) is on the grounds of The Hôtel Biron, an 18th century mansion and grounds. The museum has 17 rooms of Auguste Rodin's paintings and sculptures, and another room devoted to the work of Camille Claudel, Rodin's former student and lover. Indoor exhibits include The Kiss.





One of Rodin’s paintings


Man on a deer?


Bust of Victor Hugo


The Kiss

The exhibits continue outside on the grounds of the estate, where a number of bronze sculptures are on display, including The Thinker.


Grounds of The Hôtel Biron


Fountain in The Hôtel Biron with Rodin sculpture in the centre


Monument to the Burghers of Calais


The Gates of Hell


Detail from The Gates of Hell


Detail from the Gates of Hell


The Three Shades, a work done as a test for inclusion in the Gates of Hell at the top of the gates. I giggled because I saw it and thought of Beyonce’s All The Single Ladies.


Tribute to Victor Hugo


The gardens with Les Invalides in the distance


Aphrodite


The Thinker (now this is what we came for!)

I hadn’t even realised the museum existed until a friend suggested I check it out when we had lunch a few weeks ago. I loved it, especially the outdoor exhibits, as that avoids one of the things that often bothers me about museums – everyone having to crowd around small things in small rooms. If someone was looking at something I wanted to get close to, I could take a little wander around the grounds of the estate and wait out the few moments in nature waiting for my time alone with the statue.



Entry if the museum is €13 if you show up on at the door, or €14 to pre-book that allows you to skip the queue. I took the chance that on a Thursday at 10:30AM there wouldn’t be a queue, and was right.

After the museum, I headed back to the hotel and had a bit of a rest after a busy morning before heading out to lunch. I wandered east for a bit before deciding to find a place to eat. I found myself near Les Halles, and spent some time looking at the lunch offerings of the various restaurants. There were many to choose from, both French fare and more exotic cuisines.

One thing jumped out at me from one of the specials board, and though I passed the restaurant by to see if anything else grabbed my fancy, nothing else could shake me from the hankering I got when I saw the words Poulet Rôti, or roast chicken to you and me.

Lunch at Restaurant le Moličre on Rue St. Honoré

The restaurant was Restaurant le Moličre on Rue St. Honoré (40 Rue St Honoré – they have no webpage). It was a busy day and it being just in the height of lunch for the nearby office workers, the outside space was packed. However, I was able to get an indoor table with a view out the door, which was propped open so almost like sitting outside, facing out to the street and people watching.

I had figured that as I was ordering a daily special, I wouldn’t be able to get it as part of the set menu, but when I got the menu at the table and read it more closely, I saw that the lunch set menu could use any of the daily specials as your main. With that, I ordered the set menu and a pint of Kronenbourg 1664.

My starter was a tomato and mozzarella salad. It was very good, nice fresh tomatoes, good drizzling of pesto and nice soft mozzarella. I also received the ubiquitous basket of bread.



The main was a portion of roast chicken, with potatoes and a side salad. The chicken and side salad were good. If the potatoes didn’t come out of a bag in the freezer and into the fryer, I would be surprised. However, for the price point of the lunch, I really can’t complain too much.



Overall I would say that it worked as a perfectly functional lunch for a day exploring (or, as most the patrons were, getting out of the office for a bit for lunch). I wouldn’t explicitly seek it out again, but if I stumbled upon it at a time I was hungry for a meal, I wouldn’t turn it down.

glasman19

Thanks for posting. Really enjoyed the read. I sure do miss the Eurorail. I can tell you the glass fence went up between 15-17. In 15 it wasn’t there and in 17 while on Holiday for my youngest daughters college graduation it.

CosmosHuman

Les Invalides s one of my favorite places in Paris as I’m a military history junkie. It’s a shame of the charge for getting under the ET.

GregWTravels

Thanks for reading, and I do love the trains in Europe. And thanks for the confirmation on the glass around the Eiffel tower. I was sure it wasn't there when I was last there.

I like Les Invalides as well. I didn't visit this time, but definitely will next time. Not sure if it wasn't there last time I visited Les Invalides, or I just missed it, but the Museum of Relief Maps is just the kind of thing I love. I love maps, and I love models (especially loved doing model trains and the landscape around them when younger), and relief maps are the intersection of the two!

GregWTravels

Wander around Marais and dinner at Udon Jubey

After lunch I headed out into the lovely, sunny Thursday afternoon sun. The restaurant had been near Les Halles, and the reason I was heading out that way in the first place was because it was close to the place I first stayed when I came to Paris.

That was in 2005, and I was a consultant working on a project for a global company that was headquartered in Paris. I was based out of Toronto, but was spending my time travelling between Montreal, San Francisco and Paris, as well as my home in Toronto. The first trip to Paris there were a number of consultants and staff from the company were meeting at the company’s headquarters.

One of the marketing staff from the company I was consulting for (who was based in San Francisco) had just returned from a backpacking trip that included Paris, and so being the only one that had been before of the North Americans travelling over made the reservations for the hotel that was both central and easy to get to the office. We trusted him.

We really shouldn’t have.

I was writing a blog at the time, and will quote directly from it on the experience.

Despite the unique introduction to Paris, I did find the area called Le Marais good fun. It’s very central, and had lots of good bars to enjoy a few drinks after work or after dinner. Like London's Soho, it's where gay culture, club kids, retail, bars and restaurants all mix.

On the Thursday afternoon I visited, given the time of day, it was mainly the restaurants and retail outlets being frequented this time.


Centre Pompidou


Rainbow Umbrella canopy on Rue des Archives


Where the club kids are shopping


Dog statue outside one of the many Le BHV Marais complex

It was a long walk home, so needed to stop for some refreshments along the way.



After getting back, I stayed at the hotel a bit and rested before going down for the nightly cocktail. Surprise, surprise, it was the Green Beast yet again. I had one and headed out.

After a wander around and a few beers at a small brasserie, I went for dinner.

After eating a lot of French food, felt like something different. When searching for lunch today, I was tempted by a number of non-French cuisine restaurants, many which looked good. And while I couldn’t escape my hankering for roast chicken for lunch, it had planted a seed in my head for something a bit more eastern for dinner.

Dinner at Udon Jubey

I came across a crowded Japanese restaurant called Udon Jubey on Rue Sainte-Anne (39 Rue Sainte-Anne, no website).



I headed in, and was lucky enough to be able to get a single seat at a bar seating for the place. It was very busy, which is always a good sign.



After ordering a Japanese beer, I checked out the menu. It was jammed with lots of dishes, but one caught my eye called Jubey Udon. When a restaurant puts its name on one of the dishes, you have to assume they are proud of it, so I decided to go for that. The dish was listed on the menu as having soya milk, miso, pork, chrysanthemum, sesame and Chinese cabbage.



Very good udon. Udon is salty, and I found that addition of the soya milk made it quite creamy and cut the saltiness of the udon very well.



You can see from the picture I was so focused on the noodles I only had a couple sips of my beer while eating! After clearing out my bowl, I relaxed and finished my beer, and then headed back to the hotel for my last night sleeping in Paris.

GregWTravels

Gare du Nord station, and Eurostar return Paris to London

Woke up as usual early on Friday, and so did another couple miles running around the Jardin des Tuileries. After a shower I headed down to breakfast. Much more organised today, but also arrived after 9:00 so I think the later you show up the better the service is for breakfast.

Back up to the room, where I packed up and chilled for a few hours. My Eurostar wasn’t until 1PM, so waited until 11PM and standard check-out time before heading out. Check out was done on the Marriott App, and as I had no incidental charges to settle up, was just a case of dropping my key cards in the plastic box at reception on my way out of the hotel.

I did get a series of nice greetings from the door staff as I left. Over the days coming in and out of the hotel, I saw the door staff and the concierge many times, and they were always very nice in greeting me when I entered or left the hotel. I received a number of “hope to see you again,” from the staff, which was lovely.

As with my trip to the hotel, I decided to walk back to Gare du Nord. It was a bit chilly and cloudy when I set off, so had on a few layers, but soon it warmed up a bit and I was starting to get a bit sweaty. I had to stop and stuff a layer in my backpack to cool down a bit.

40 minutes later, I arrived at Gare du Nord.


Flying bear (?!?) statue at Gare du Nord


Gare du Nord entrance closest to the Eurostar, displaying one of many photos around the station by Brazilian photographer Angelica Dass, who looks to demonstrate and celebrate the diversity of Humanity in her exhibition Humanae. It represents skin tones as Pantone numbers.

Check-in, Security and Lounge at Gare du Nord

The Eurostar is on the upper level at Gare Du Nord. The escalator and stairs are off to the right hand side of the station (assuming you are looking at the station from the front of the station). You head over and head up.



The first step is the ticket check using Egates. As I had been sent my ticket details by email, I simply pulled up the email, found the right bar code and presented that to the scanner. There is a desk for check-ins for issues or those uncomfortable with technology.

Next up was a vaccine passport check. Sort of. A woman asked me to see my vaccine pass. There was no indication that you should have it ready, so I had already put my phone away in my pocket. I pulled my phone out, unlocked it and was swiping to the screen with the PDF of my vaccines when she asked me what my nationality was.

“British,” I replied.

She waved me through before I got my vaccine PDF up. Not sure if she was just bored waiting for me, or because of my nationality it didn’t matter, or some other reason, but my vaccine pass was never checked.

Next up was France border controls. There was an Egate scanner. Each Egate scanner is slightly different. In this one, you scan the passport to get the first door to open, enter the machine and the first door closed behind you, trapping you in. You take your mask off and look at the camera, and once verified, the second door opens and you can exit machine.

Get you mask back on and then get exit stamp from human.

Now, UK border controls. In this one, you enter machine first and the first door closed behind you. Then you take you mask off, scan passport, and once verified out the second door opens and you can exit. And put your mask back on

Next up is security to scan your bags and belongings. In Paris there are no trays so everything has to go in your bag. This is annoying that they can't provide trays, but I found the instruction clear and stuffed everything in the pockets of my backpack.

We soon learn the consequence of not putting everything in your bag, as this concept seemed to be beyond the grasp of some and thus the two scanners were being stopped every few minutes to retrieve a phone that had slipped between belts from the inner workings of the X-ray beast.

Despite the security issues, we were through in a little over 10 minutes. On the check-in, security and immigration process, I think London does it slightly better than Paris. But we soon find where Paris wins the game. The lounge.

The waiting lounge in Paris is larger with more seating than London. I have never not found a seat. It also has a wider selection of shops for those who want a last browse or a quick bite before boarding.



Unlike London, which is beneath the platforms, it is also above the platforms so you can look out and see the trains.



As I had a good 30 minutes before boarding would start, I bought a beer from one of the cafes and head up to the upper balcony where there was lots of seating, and power plugs for anyone who need to recharge their electronics.

Eurostar Train 9031 – Paris Gare du Nord – London St. Pancras

Date: April 29, 2022
Departure: 13:13
Arrival: 14:30
Coach: 16 Seat: 61

Boarding was called about 20 minutes before departure, and we queued up headed out onto the bridge over the tracks to head down to your tracks. There are travellators, lifts and stairs down to the platforms. With a backpack and carry-on roller bag, I opt for the stairs, as it is both closer to my carriage and I can grab a quick photo of the Eurostar loco.



I get on the train and see this is even a different class of train than I had on the way out. So two new trainsets in one trip!

The seat was good. Different in some ways but not really too dissimilar to the seat on the way out. Comfortable for the trip.





The toilet was set up differently. Smaller than the trip out, but still large enough for a train toilet. And the sink worked much better than the train out.



Went to the buffet car, which is laid out differently, with more spaces to perch to have a drink. Now, I would argue that that could be classified as a table, but who am I to define definitions of words…



Through the French countryside…



…through the tunnel, across Kent, under the Thames into Essex, and then London and before you know it, arriving at St. Pancras.

We arrived to London on time. As I was at the front of the train in Paris, it means I am at the back of the train in London. It can be a bit of a bottle neck getting down the travellators, which are the obvious way to get down being on the platform. But if you pass them, you can find stairs and lifts down. The stairs are often not very busy, and can be much quicker.

There are no border controls getting off at St. Pancras, but there is the possibility for customs and “border force,” so you pass by them. In most times, you’ll probably never be bothered by them. As I was today. And so I was out through the doors into the lower level of St. Pancras...

...and mask off…

...and Citymapper set to London..



...and onto the Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith and home.