European Adventure Day 11- Versailles and Another Side of Paris

Friday morning brought overcast skies and cooler temperatures.  Susan and I were scheduled to switch hotels to somewhere we chose ourselves, but that was in the opposite corner of the city.  After a leisurely morning with breakfast in the room (cereal…we’re classy after all) and accessing the internet in the lobby, we departed for the Metro.  The Paris metro is right up there with London and NYC for having close access to nearly everything but being very crowded.  Our hotel move involved moving from the northeast portion of the city to pretty much the Southwest corner so it took some time.  After metros and walking, we were checked in to the new hotel (Timotel in Boulogne-Billancourt) which was in a much quieter, residential area just outside the hubbub of Paris. 

From there we walked back to the metro (which is a little longer walk) and stopped at a café for some salads that were delicious.  Then we continued on to Montparnasse, the modern area of downtown Paris with an enormous high rise office building and a train station just beneath.  At the Gare (station) we caught a suburban line to Versailles.  Around 2:40 we were in the Versailles residential district and walking to the palace.  Upon arrival we caught some signs saying Marie Antoinette’s chambers would close at 4.  Since that’s not what I came to see I didn’t think much of it and we continued on and grabbed tickets for the palace. 

Lunch

View of the palace and gates

Us with the palace

The palace interior was a beehive of activity…maybe closer to a zoo.  However it lives up to the hype so is worth the cost of admission.  The hall of mirrors, a room I’ve seen in photographs hundreds of times, is much more spectacular in person since you just can’t imagine the true size of the room (look at the height of the ceilings) from a picture.  Also, many of the royal chambers that are still in the restored state are incredible.  Some areas were displaying modern art incorporated with the historic palace.  I was torn on this since I do like to see such a vast space put to use, but at the same time the historical beauty was more than enough to stand alone.

Jeff in the Hall of Mirrors

The Queen’s Bedroom (the door just to the left of her bed is how she escaped during the revolution)

Modern art hanging with classic art

Once we left the palace it was time to check out the gardens and it appeared the sun was going to make an appearance just in time.  Unfortunately (the word of the last few days) there was a Friday night festival/gathering in the gardens so they kicked everyone out at 4pm.  This was the area of the palace I was much more interested in so I wish I had known in advance to prioritize the gardens.

The only picture we have of the gardens.. Taken from a window in the palace..

A hard lesson learned, Susan and I made our way back to the train station, stopping only at the most charming secondhand book and antique store I’ve ever seen.  If I could have understood a single book there I’d have bought 20 at least.  Finally back on the train we immediately fell asleep in the laps of the locals across the aisle from us (it was a full train). 

The store had this record so clearly it was an awesome place

Antiques and books

Back at Montparnasse we realized we didn’t want too much more of Paris, so returned to our quiet nook of the city to the Hotel.  After some planning and a couple hours downtime, we wandered back out for dinner at a small bar/café where the bartender didn’t know much English at all.  He was very friendly, and with a lot of teamwork we made our way through dinner.  The only missteps were my ordering of curry chicken with macaroni and cheese (instead of rice) and Susan attempting to get the check and instead ordering another round of drinks.  If you’re wondering…curry chicken + mac n cheese is delicious and may just be the next big thing in the States.  Despite being a little off the grid of the metro network, Boulogne-Billancourt is a much more relaxing area to take Paris in from.  After dinner we took a night stroll over to the river and sat on a bridge for a little bit before wandering home.

Dinnertime

The Seine

Jeff taking in the views

Today we realized we are getting worn down by big cities and that Paris is a tough city to be a backpacker in…too many tourists and high prices.  For that reason we are moving on tomorrow to give ourselves somewhat of a vacation from our vacation…

European Adventure Day 10–Heating up the Ile de France

The overnight train was a 13 hour affair, but time passed quickly since almost 8 hours of it was spent sleeping and another hour or so was laying in the couchette.  Sleeping was not quite like being in a bed, but was cool (maybe a little chilly) and quiet except when another train passed…much easier than sleeping on a plane.  Our roommates, two Australian men, were heading to Belgium and were planning to follow the Tour de France for the first 10 stages, cycling ahead of the riders for each stage.  I was a little jealous of their cycling trip.  They were friendly and hopefully we will cross paths with them again if we decide to visit Le Tour later on.

Finally out of the train, we arrived in Paris.  Since Berlin did not provide us much (anything) in the way of Wi-Fi we had no opportunity to plan ahead of our arrival so found a café for breakfast that offered Wi-Fi and began to Hostel hunt.  We were unsuccessful.  Paris is an expensive and busy city this time of year apparently.  After accepting our failure, we visited the tourist info desk in the train station where we were booked in the last room in a small hotel nearby.  The walk from the station took us down some questionable streets, but at least it was midday.  Luckily we were in a much more comfortable area by the time we arrived at the hotel, near Republic Square and a large metro stop in the 10th Arrondissement.  Our room was not ready, but they let us check our bags for the time being.

Unburdened we grabbed some of the food we intended to have for dinner/snack on the train and headed toward the city center.  Finding a nice shady bench next to the Seine in front of the Louvre, we stopped and dined comfortably for a bit.  After lunch, we walked along the river toward Notre Dame before turning away from the river and heading to Center Georges Pompidou (which is maybe the ugliest building I’ve ever seen) and to Place de la Bastille, which is now a monument and a modern Opera house.

Our lunch spot

The Louvre
   
Centre de Pompidou     &     Place de la Bastille
Packed in like sardines

By this point, it was mid afternoon and it was HOT…a mixture of it being summer and Paris being an urban heat trap overrun with tourists.  Our room was set to be ready so we returned to the hotel for an afternoon recovery session (and much overdue showering) before heading out for the evening.

Rested and cleaner we ventured back out to the Paris afternoon, catching a metro to Montmartre brought us to the base of the hill to Sacre Coeur.  The white church and the hillside park leading up to it were beautiful and littered with tourists and souvenir salesmen (plus some guys selling Heineken bottles from a case).  Cloud cover and a light breeze had moved in and made the climb much more enjoyable than our city hiking earlier in the day.  After visiting the church where mass was again underway, we settled on the steps overlooking the city skyline and watched a street performer do some dancing and tricks with a soccer ball.

Susan towering over Paris

Jeff with Sacre Couer

Talented street performer

As evening rolled around we descended from our perch and caught another metro over to the Arc de Triumph.  Once we snapped some pictures and looked down all the 13 avenues that feed into the traffic circle around the Arc, we strolled down the Champs Elysees but avoided shopping at the high end stores, before veering down a side street to the river.  Following along the river brought us near the Eiffel Tower where Susan grabbed some daytime photos (at 8:15pm) from a pedestrian bridge.  Then we found a small Italian café for dinner a few blocks from the tower for dinner. 

Susan feeling triumphant

The Champs Elysees with the Arc in the background

First shot with the Tower

Since the sun was still setting when we left the restaurant we moved over to the park next to the Eiffel Tower for some sunset/evening photos.  Looking beneath the tower we also spotted the Hyundai Eurocup fan park (they are in all the major cities) and it was buzzing with activity since the Germany Italy game was just getting into the second half.  Curious to see the action we moved to the park which was packed and tried to find a place to watch.  We couldn’t get any unobstructed lawn space without blocking the views of other fans and I wasn’t about to cross European “football” fans.  We left before the end of the game (but later found out Italy pulled off the upset) and stopped at a stand for ice cream to eat as we strolled along the river back to our Metro station. 

Eiffel Tower at dusk

With the tower at sunset

The fan park with the tower in the background

Ice Cream for our scenic walk

Tomorrow brings another day in Paris…

European Adventure Day 9–Rain, Cranes, and Overnight Trains

Wednesday started early as most of our travel days have, with a walk and a metro hop to the train station.  We caught the 8:30am train to Berlin (via Dresden).  Our train had us in Berlin by around lunch time where we tried to take in as much as possible before evening.  For this reason, we stocked up on food before departing and had lunch on the train.

Mmm..  Prepackaged subs..

Arriving in the station, Berlin was looking a bit gloomy under overcast skies, but there was no rain as we walked into the city.  Our first stop was the Reichstag since it sits just across the river from the station.  It is the German parliament and has a new(er) glass dome that tourists can ascend.  Unfortunately we were unaware that to do this requires 3 days advanced reservation.  After snapping some photos of the exterior we moved on to the Brandenburg Gate, famous throughout German history but most recently as part of the Berlin Wall.  It is where President Reagan uttered the famous “tear down this wall” line.  Ironically, we were unable to pass through the gate properly since they had barriers for a Eurocup watching festival.  I felt very oppressed being unable to pass freely through the gate.

In front of the Reichstag

Jeff says, “Tear down this wall, EuroCup 2012!”

Moving further south, we stopped at the Memorial to the Jews killed in the Holocaust, a nice memorial with an even more moving exhibit housed below ground.  Further along we checked out the Sony Center, a very modern new shopping/entertainment complex located near the old US territory of West Berlin.  There were some wall fragments near the street outside, but most of the area at the Potsdam Platz (where the Sony Center was) was new and shiny.

Memorial above ground

Words from a victim of the Holocaust

The roof of the Sony Center

Susan by the wall

As the day wore on, we moved West across the city to the Historic District and Museum Island.  As we arrived the rain started and we checked out the possibility of taking in a museum only to find out this also required time specific tickets and many of the museums were under construction.  With out short schedule we didn’t want to push it since Museum Island is across town from the train station.  Instead we retreated to a café at the German History Museum and grabbed a drink.  Susan had what our guidebook said was a Berlin specialty, beer with a raspberry syrup added (Wiesbier mitte some other German word for raspberries). 

Susan’s refreshing brew

Exiting the café and museum we started working our way back to the station passing the State Opera house (under construction), the Guggenheim museum, the Mercedes Gallery, and the National Library.  We didn’t stop to take in the sights for long since the rain was falling pretty steadily.  To get out of the chilly wet conditions we did some light shopping on the main shopping street, Frederickstrasse, before moving back to where we started…the train station.

The opera house, complete with faux walls and cranes

Jeff’s new car?

We shortened our Berlin stay in order to experience an overnight train.  This is calling an audible on our plans prior to this morning, but that was part of the point of not making a true itinerary.  We leave Berlin not feeling like we missed out on a lot by only devoting a few hours to it.  I’m sure it has plenty of additional charm outside the central city and that it is much more appealing in sunshine, but with its tumultuous past much of it has been rebuilt (out of necessity) and it just didn’t do a whole lot to differentiate itself from a modern American city in my mind.  Either way, our legs are sore from being such avid pedestrians so some time on trains and a shorter day of sight-seeing represents a sort of pit-stop in the middle of the trip.

Walking in the rain

Our digs for the night

Tonight, we sleep on couchettes which are small bunk beds in a room shared with a couple Australian gentlemen.  Tomorrow we start fresh in a new city…

European Adventure Day 8–Prague Castle, Picnics, and Poor Logistics

After a couple travel days, Susan and I took advantage of our comfortable and quiet Prague accommodations to sleep in some and take the morning at a more leisurely pace.  After breakfast (leftover pizza from yesterday’s lunch and coffee) at the hostel, we set off around 10 am to walk to the Prague castle.  It sits on a hilltop at the bend in the Vtlava river across from Old Town and was about a half mile walk straight north for us.  En route, we stopped at St. Nicolas Church, a huge Baroque style church where we paid the small admission to wander the corridors for a bit.  It was a beautiful church with tons of detail on the statues and paintings in the main nave and altar, the side chapels, and the enormous dome.  We were even able to go up into one of the upper galleries to view the church from a different angle.

Jeff’s got babies on his mind.  Large, faceless babies.

Some graffiti to decorate the streets
 
St. Nicolas Church

Back on the road we began the ascent of the long stairway to the castle grounds, window (and real) shopping along the way.  Once at the top, we checked out the views from the Rampart Gardens before entering the inner courtyard.  Upon emerging in the courtyard we were once again among the throngs of tourists milling about around the huge gothic St. Vitus’ Cathedral.  We did not dare brave the lines to enter the church, but were still impressed by its size and exterior detail.  This is where the Czech royalty were coronated and where many of the past rulers are buried.  It dwarfs many of the other palaces and structures in the castle grounds.

A view down the steps to the castle grounds

A shot out the arrow slits

Overlooking the city

St. Vatus Cathedral

From the Cathedral we started working our way down the narrow corridors past various smaller churches and points of interest, all of which had their own small entrance fee that led us to pass them by.  At the south gate we stopped to take in the view before descending the much more lively main staircase to Lesser Town.  This time the stairs were littered with musicians and art for sale. 

Just below the castle grounds

At the bottom we grabbed some fruit to fuel on the go before making our way back south in the direction of the hostel.  However, the midday plan was to head up the hills to our East after grabbing food and beverage and to live like a local with a picnic in the park.  Our picnic consisted of cheese, sausage, bread crackers, some pastries and (of course) Czech beer.  This lunch spread cost us all of about $13.50 including the funicular ride to the top of the hillside park.

A view down the funicular

Rose garden at the top of the hill

Once sated, we descended the hilltop some since it was too forested to provide views and sunshine before settling on some grassy area of the lower slopes where we took in the view of the city, read books, and relaxed on the lawn until late afternoon.  Returning to the hostel had us turned around some, but eventually we made it home where we rested and cleaned ourselves (and some clothes) before venturing out again for the evening.

At our hang out spot for the afternoon

Unfortunately the evening was a mess all around.  We had initially planned to take a shot at grabbing last second opera tickets which we heard was a possibility if you show up 30 minutes ahead of time.  However, we knew where the National Theatre was, but not necessarily the opera house.  Additionally we weren’t really sure we had appropriate clothes for opera since we only packed casual, lightweight gear.

After the opera fail, we wandered to another theatre where we decided to pass on the evening’s show, a ballet “recital” of sorts but not a true ballet.  From there we thought it would be fun to check out a new area away from the traditional touristy Prague, so went to the TV tower.  This is a unique modern structure clearly visible in the skyline that according to tourist books and magazines had restaurants and bars in its upper pods.  We arrived to not much of a crowd…not a good sign.  Then as we approached the tower we noticed baby statues, identical to those we saw this morning outside the museum, climbing the side of the tower…that was more strange than bad news.  Finally, we went in the lobby to learn the restaurant and part of the tower was closed for reconstruction….Bummer.

Babies on the TV Tower

Here’s where things really took a turn.  I was low of Czech Koruna (cash), but had some Euros and a bank card.  However, for the subway back to town we needed Czech coins.  So, we began walking toward downtown looking for an ATM.  We walked…and walked…and walked.  Finally an ATM was found as we reached tourist central again and I got some cash before realizing it wouldn’t solve my problem of needing coins.  After all the trouble we basically ended up walking to the hostel (about 3.5 miles) with only a pit stop for Susan to grab a bratwurst and another to sit down for Jeff to have goulash with an angry waitress on the side.

Tomorrow we depart Prague…not holding a grudge after our disappointing last evening.

Our Farewell Shot of Prague at Night (Castle on left, Charles Bridge center, Old Town on right)