Bye Bye London, Bonjour Paris!

Definitely it was better to take the train rather than the plane from London to Paris. When you only have one week for both cities, a few hours waiting for boarding in the airport and traveling between airport and cities were not logical, in our rational, anyway. It cost slightly more, however the stress-free travel and also the great country-side view that you have during the journey was worth it all.

The journey from St Pancras International in London to Gare du Nord in Paris took only 2hrs 15 mins, with 45 minutes boarding time prior to departure. Eurostar is a longer version of the TGV, having a long-standing position as bullet train of Europe.

Coming out from the train, we felt a complete change in atmosphere. The weather was extremely warm and humid, we were perspiring even before reaching the hotel which was just 5 minutes away. The people were more 'casually' dressed and there were numerous beggars and gypsies asking "Do you speak English?" around the train station. We tend to see a lot of that in other parts of the city as well. First impression received was not the Paris that we had in mind, maybe we had higher expectations of the City of Lights and Romance.

We planned to see the Eiffel Tower on the second day, leaving the first day for exploring around the hotel and also for a relaxing walk. We went to Sacre Coeur, where the unpleasant "friendship band" event occurred, cutting me short by 10eur and a bad impression. Hopefully the next few days can make up for this event. Can't wait to see the tower in person, though.