![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
That's it! A little after 24 hours since we left our home (we stayed in a hotel near San Francisco airport the night before to catch the early morning flight), we finally landed in Paris. Geoff decided to experience what a Parisian would do, so instead of hailing a taxi to the hotel, we struggled with our luggages and rode train into the city. I was surprised there wasn't an express train linking the airport to Paris. After many stops, we slowly arrived at Gare de Nord and switched to metro subway to get to our destination.
Despite our slow pace, we were still early to check into our hotel (we landed a little before 7:00 am, and our check-in time had to be after 10:00 am), so we stopped at a subway cafe to grab a bite to eat and kill some time. Coffee (or should I say espresso) tasted much better than my favorite Starbuck's coffee, and the sandwich was delicious!
Finally, it's after 10:00 am, and we walked to our hotel--Hilton Arc de Triomphe. It was a short walk from the subway to the hotel. As we were approaching the hotel, I was secretly thinking it looked kinda drab from the outside--a plain looking grey building. But I was pleasantly surprised once we walked into the hotel. It's decorated in the charming art deco style. The lounge and guest room turned out to be very pleasant. Like a good tourist, I swiped out my camera and took quite a bunch of pictures while Geoff checked us in.
After a quick shower to rinse off the "dust" from the journey, we headed out to check out the city. We decided our first stop would be Arc de Triomphe since it's just around the corner (literally). The walk to it was nice and Andy was very chipper the entire time. I was surprised he's not tired at all! Once we got to the Arch, Andy wanted to climb all the way to the top. But Geoff and I thought it would be smarter for us to buy 4 day museum passes instead of the 6 day ones, so we decided to wait 'till tomorrow to climb the Arch.
Since we were not going to see any more museums today, I wanted to check out the Chanel store to look for the aviator sunglasses I've been craving for. We got to the store and while I was selecting the sunglasses, Andy finally "crashed" on the sofa in the store! I "quickly" made my selection and off we went heading back to our room to call it a day...
( See picture collage behind the cut... )
Despite our slow pace, we were still early to check into our hotel (we landed a little before 7:00 am, and our check-in time had to be after 10:00 am), so we stopped at a subway cafe to grab a bite to eat and kill some time. Coffee (or should I say espresso) tasted much better than my favorite Starbuck's coffee, and the sandwich was delicious!
Finally, it's after 10:00 am, and we walked to our hotel--Hilton Arc de Triomphe. It was a short walk from the subway to the hotel. As we were approaching the hotel, I was secretly thinking it looked kinda drab from the outside--a plain looking grey building. But I was pleasantly surprised once we walked into the hotel. It's decorated in the charming art deco style. The lounge and guest room turned out to be very pleasant. Like a good tourist, I swiped out my camera and took quite a bunch of pictures while Geoff checked us in.
After a quick shower to rinse off the "dust" from the journey, we headed out to check out the city. We decided our first stop would be Arc de Triomphe since it's just around the corner (literally). The walk to it was nice and Andy was very chipper the entire time. I was surprised he's not tired at all! Once we got to the Arch, Andy wanted to climb all the way to the top. But Geoff and I thought it would be smarter for us to buy 4 day museum passes instead of the 6 day ones, so we decided to wait 'till tomorrow to climb the Arch.
Since we were not going to see any more museums today, I wanted to check out the Chanel store to look for the aviator sunglasses I've been craving for. We got to the store and while I was selecting the sunglasses, Andy finally "crashed" on the sofa in the store! I "quickly" made my selection and off we went heading back to our room to call it a day...
( See picture collage behind the cut... )
