After another nice 2 hour train trip from Bayeux into Paris at the Gare St. Lazare station, it was only a 10-15 minute walk to our hotel with only minimal confusion about streets. Yes, they are/can be confusing. Since it was Sunday, traffic was not too bad....except until we took an Uber car to the Champs des Élysées.
A bit about Uber. It's what Amazon is to books as Uber is to taxis. It bypasses the traditional taxi system in Europe....and even now in some US cities. I just pull up the Uber app on my IPhone and it knows where we are, I type in where we want to go and the it shows a car, photo of the driver and license plate number with the car moving along toward us on the map. The car comes usually within 5 minutes, you pay now money to the driver, you just say Merci, hop out and you are set for your next adventure. I have my CC on deposit with Uber and it is half the price of the usual taxi. Most cars are Mercedes and new.
Our first stop was the Champs des Élysées and a walk up to the Arc de Triumphe. It is what you would except: impressive. However, Margaret counted the steps to the top and it is an exhausting 375! But worth the trip for the view. Next we Uber'd over to Montmartre which is the highest point in Paris. Sacre Coure is on top...which is a lovely large church. There were thousands of people around mostly just enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon on the grass and looking at the view of the city. Paris is huge!
Next we journeyed to Notre Dame Cathedral to experience the 6:30 Sunday mass. Surprisingly, getting around central Paris does not take a long time even with traffic. While everyone is in a rush, they are polite drivers.
Notre Dame is impressive for sure and it is on an island in the Seine River, of course. Then another call to Uber and we are back at our lovely little French hotel....with more stairs to our 3rd floor room. The room is quite nice, too. We found some dinner at a nice sidewalk cafe. Aur reovoir, Bob.
A bit about Uber. It's what Amazon is to books as Uber is to taxis. It bypasses the traditional taxi system in Europe....and even now in some US cities. I just pull up the Uber app on my IPhone and it knows where we are, I type in where we want to go and the it shows a car, photo of the driver and license plate number with the car moving along toward us on the map. The car comes usually within 5 minutes, you pay now money to the driver, you just say Merci, hop out and you are set for your next adventure. I have my CC on deposit with Uber and it is half the price of the usual taxi. Most cars are Mercedes and new.
Our first stop was the Champs des Élysées and a walk up to the Arc de Triumphe. It is what you would except: impressive. However, Margaret counted the steps to the top and it is an exhausting 375! But worth the trip for the view. Next we Uber'd over to Montmartre which is the highest point in Paris. Sacre Coure is on top...which is a lovely large church. There were thousands of people around mostly just enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon on the grass and looking at the view of the city. Paris is huge!
Next we journeyed to Notre Dame Cathedral to experience the 6:30 Sunday mass. Surprisingly, getting around central Paris does not take a long time even with traffic. While everyone is in a rush, they are polite drivers.
Notre Dame is impressive for sure and it is on an island in the Seine River, of course. Then another call to Uber and we are back at our lovely little French hotel....with more stairs to our 3rd floor room. The room is quite nice, too. We found some dinner at a nice sidewalk cafe. Aur reovoir, Bob.
Enjoy and thanks for the Uber car tip
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