My approach for this trip was not to try and “tick the boxes” by visiting as many countries as possible, but even so, there were days when I crossed several borders. Coming into Luxembourg I went from France, through Belgium and into Luxembourg in one day. Only stopped in Belgium for fuel though, so I don’t really count that as visiting a country. Anywho, on this day, I started out in Luxembourg, hit a few sights back in France and then finished up in Germany.

Click any of the pics in this post to be taken to my flickr where you can access larger versions or view them on a map (they’re all geotagged).

From Luxembourg it was down into France and Metz to check out some more old buildings.  It was still early in my trip and the novelty of the many ornate churches hadn’t worn off:

Now, look at the Cathedral in this light, does it look like a place to worship an awe inspiring deity, or a building to strike fear into sinners?

Inside however, quite simply, beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, from there it was “cute little town” overload with Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr

and just when cuteness overload was getting too much, a little puppy pokes its head out the window:

But cuteness was quickly banished upon arrival in Germany:

Yeah, the language is just brutal, so does a fragile old lady make up for it?

I wake the next morning after my whirlwhind spin around Paris, checking the time I see it’s 7am.  “Woohoo, I actually got 8 hours sleep!”  But that doesn’t really seem like enough given how long I’ve been on the go.  Anywho, it’s up for breakfast and out to the airport to collect my little Eurolease Peugeot.  I bid farewell to the little hostel and remember to grab a quick snap as I’m heading for the Metro:

Absolute Paris – Website

Back out at CDG Airport again I find the Eurolease pickup point and complete the paperwork.  Sitting on the ‘wrong’ side of the car I familarise myself with the GPS system and ready myself for my attack on the roads surrounding Paris.  Negotiating this:

CDG

as my first taste of driving on the ‘right’ side of the road was just ever so slightly daunting.  Thoughts after the the first few hundred meters were along the lines of “OH MY GOD how am I going to survive doing this for the next 25 days?!  My brain is going to explode or I’m going to drive into someone.”  Thankfully that settled down after the first couple of kilometers and within a day I was completely at home.

Now, the primary reason I went for a car over public transport was so that I could stop whenever I saw something interesting.  I wasted no time in doing that on route to Chalons, stopping to get some snaps of a WWI cemetery just outside Soissons.

Next stop on the way to Chalons was Reims.  And unlike Notre Dame de Paris, Notre Dame de Reims had no massive queues to get inside. So in I go.

And after Reims, there was more roadside stoppage on route.  The expansive unfenced fields make an attractive scene.  Now, the smoggy air bothers me, but I’ve been told it adds some charm to the image by given the sunbeams…  I’m undecided…

And by the end of the day I arrive in Chalons-en-Champange, and look, another Cathedral…

As the sun sets I manage to find the house of my first CouchSurfing hosts Sam and Audrey.  I’m in need of an early night, but we end up chatting past midnight…

My first exposure to a European city was always going to leave a lasting impression.  But would it be a good one?

[all photos in this post link to flickr where larger versions are available under the “all sizes” button]

“Last time I flew in here there was a strike on, the French like strikes, it took hours to get through customs” Fabrice advises me, as we stride at a pace approaching a run out of the aircraft and through the terminal.  Fabrice is the Frenchman I’ve been sitting next to for the last 13 hours on the flight from Hong Kong, and he’s determined that I must have a good first impression of his country.  We reach the customs desk and I hand over my New Zealand Passport.  Here we go, the lengthy customs process begins…  The official glances over it, stamps it (poorly).

Ok, stage one went smoothly.  We collect our bags and then suddenly I’m standing in the cold, grey and slightly smoggy air outside Charles de Gaulle airport.  I’m in Paris.  Sleepy and dazed, but I’m here.  Do I like it?  Ugh, the smog.  Oh, I’m in Paris.  Hmm, it’s grey and depressing.  But still I’m excited.  What happened to all the checks and x-rays?  Surely I’m not that jet lagged…  Nope, that’s it.  That was the entry process.  Hey, I’m in France.  I check the time, 6:07am, good morning Paris.

Before I left I’d studied the layout of CDG airport and how to get the RER train into Gare du Nord and then the metro into République, but all that was no longer important as Fabrice was getting picked up and had offered me a ride into Paris.  Fabrice was delivering a lot of advice on things to see and do, but I couldn’t take it all in.  A few minutes later I was dropped off in the heart of Paris with some snacks and a couple of metro tickets that Fabrice had given to me. Consulting my GPS, I made my way to the hostel.  Checked in, dropped off my bags, and was allowed to sneak some breakfast (it was about 7 am by this stage) from the hostel.  Then off to explore the grey and cold Paris…

It still felt amazing to be there, but it was frustrating that it was smoggy, grey and cold, but hey, at least it meant there was nice even soft light to photograph in.  But when you’re shooting landmarks like a tourist, grey skies are just a pain.

Disappointed with the slightly stale croissants and filter coffee at the hostel (hey, it’s a bed, not cafe), I took a lucky dip and went into the first patisserie I found.

Google Streetview

Ahh, bliss.  Not surprisingly it felt like the best croissant and espresso in the world. 

Then it was off taking a few miscellaneous photos:

until I reached the tourist landmarks:

And I made a tourist snapshot of it.  Notre Dame is an impressive structure, 400 years older than anything I’ve seen before (NZ is soooo young), and of course the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Some more walking and then it was inside for a bit of culture…

Along with the sea of people:

The Louvre lets you snap away as much as you like – their theory being it makes people move through the exhibits faster. Shame if it does. People are just taking snaps to prove they were there, rather than enjoying and appreciating the works of art. That’s Veronese’s Marriage at Cana in the background. It’s in the same room as the Mona Lisa, hence why everyone’s swarming around it rather that absorbing it. And here’s what they are jostling for position in front of:

Portrait de Lisa Gherardini

and for a bit of smile contrast:

I traipsed around the Lourve a bit more:

Then it was off into the streets again.

Around a few more landmarks before crashing briefly at the hostel (and finally getting a shower). Then it was time to experience some more French cuisine. Now normally, I’m not a huge fan of olives, I get this sharp metallic note from them that I don’t like, but these for some reason were fantastic:

The main course was rabbit, and divine.

By this stage I was exhausted. I’d effectively been up since 4am local time, had been walking all day and hadn’t slept horizontally (yeay economy class) in over 50 hours. I was tempted to go back to the hostel and getting some much needed sleep. After all, the next day I had to try and drive a left-hand drive manual on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. However, Fabrice’s metro tickets were still in my pocket, unused. So it was down into the metro and off toward the Eiffel Tower again. And it’s a little more dramatic at night:

Ahhh, bed.