Well, We finally took the train to Paris on the last weekend we could use our railpass. We had some difficulty with the local Tübingen D-Bahn office, seems they don’t know how to book the TGV (the fast train) that leaves from the BIG city (ie. Stuttgart). Jamie finally had to go to the office in Stuttgart to do this, but that whole rant is a another [post that I’m sure Jamie would just love to re-live…

Yes, Paris, City of Lights, Romance and Poets. I had high expectations as this was to be my first trip to this legendary city. After watching Ratatouille I figured I had acquired enough knowledge about the local customs navigate the intricacies of French Cuisine so, Loney Planet Guide in hand, we stepped abroad the TGV at Stuttgart station and nestled into cozy First Class seats.The train is half the fun, once you get into the straight-a-ways areas of the French Plateau that sucker gets up to about 180 mph. They also include a nice boxed lunch (or brekkie) with your ticket, and there’s nothing like cruising along at high speed with a little food and wine to pass the time. With the new service it’s only 3.5 hours from Stuttgart to Paris and it’s much better than flying.

Suffice to say Paris wasn’t exactly how I pictured it in both good and bad ways. I really took about a day to get in the rhythm and the city and find our way around. It really is a beautiful place - even when it’s about 4o degrees F out. Wide streets, many places to wander and eat, great coffee, and the Eiffel Tower is actually WAY bigger than you would think from photos..

We had to do the tower to check it off the list but it really was fun. We had a sunny day so we did the stairs up to the second level then took the lift the rest of the way (it’s the only option). I have to say I really don’t care for heights and the last bit of steps was a little freaky but the view from the top was well worth the effort and line-waiting that we had to do to get there (travelers tip: go during the week if you can, the lines are supposed to be much shorter, esp. on a Wednesday).

I could write more but the picts say it better and faster. Just go, Paris really is a great place. Can’t wait to go back very soon. When it’s warm.

Have a look at our picts here.

And also for your viewing pleasure, is a video of Jamie getting her own freak on in the elevator on the way down. I like the lift, Jamie not so much: