Day 9 London-Paris:

A mix of emotions this morning as we had to pack and leave London, but on the upside, we were off to Paris. After packing we went down to the local coffee shop for some breakfast and then a last wander around the streets of London before catching the tube to St. Pancras International train station for our journey to Paris on the Eurostar. This will be the first of our 8 train journeys. And the Eurostar proved to be a tough gig having to look out the window and watch the world go by at 320km/hr while drinking French Champagne!! When we arrived in Paris it was almost like we had arrived via it’s anus as our first impressions were “what is this filthy hole”. The taxi ride to the apartment (an approximate 5-10 minute ride) didn’t improve our initial estimations of the joint. Kris’s comment to me was “It looks like we have arrived in Phuket”. A bit harsh on Phuket I reckon. But I am sure we will get to see Paris at it's best soon enough. We were greeted at our apartment and shown around before we unpacked and went for a short stroll to pick up some supplies and a bite to eat. Tonight will be a quite night as the kids need to get a decent night’s sleep and we will hit the tourist trail tomorrow. We will probably get out on the open top bus tour as this seems to be the best way to see everything straight away and all in one day. It makes it easy from there to decide what we want to see in a little more detail later on. The language barrier is already proving tough so I may have to stay up late and study a couple of phrase books before hitting the sack. Au revoir!

Mia’s comments: Today we got packed to go to Paris. We went down 42 steps for the last time and this was the last time seeing Covent Garden. We got ready to go on the huge train that travelled about 300km/hr. There was a toilet on the train and a bar for getting food. It didn’t take long to get to Paris. There were lots of spray paintings on the wall of the Paris train station. But as long as I am in Paris I am fine. We arrived at our apartment. It was a beautiful house and it has a deck. It was fun walking in Paris, the home of macaroons.

Tyler’s comments: Today we got to Paris at 2:47 (Paris time) and 8:47 (Perth time). It was a 2 ½ hour train ride. We sat in the middle where it had a table in the middle. It was better than the plane because it didn’t smell too bad and there was more to do. I mostly read my book. The train went about 300km/hr. When we got to Paris it didn’t look like I expected. It was very old and lots of words out of spray paint. The city was very white but the rest of it was very neat and tidy. When we were going to the apartment we went up stairs that creaked under our feet. When I heard the noise of the creaking I thought our apartment wasn’t going to be good but it was great. My Mum & Dad’s bed is a fold out Murphy bed. It is more comfortable than our one. After we had a look around and went shopping. We got fruit and veg and our dinner. Our dinner was a roll with ham and cheese. After dinner we relaxed.