The first couple of days on arrival in Paris are always a mixed bag....EXHAUSTION being the first thing that comes to mind!
But then there is also that feeling on stepping from the flight into Charles de Gaulle airport... for me, it's a wonderful sensory overload......
I close my eyes and breathe in deeply.....there is nowhere else I could be....this is Paris! There is a certain something in the air and I love it! Below is a Charles de Gaulle airport promo video you may enjoy...must admit they paint a very 'friendly' picture.......;)
The loud speakers break out into a foreign language.....I gulp, knowing the weight of conversing with these parisians is placed firmly on MY shoulders......I try to settle myself a little ...but alas my brain seems to have gone and lost itself in a sleepless fog!
Not to worry, we just follow along like sheep to baggage claim, straight through customs etc then , with the help of good signage (french AND english) we head to the shuttle train which takes us to the station to catch the RER into town.
I have made my way into the city before with several different forms of transport....
First visit , not knowing what we were doing, we booked a private car.....I can remember being SOOO elated when I saw MY surname being held up in CDG...I was famous!! Chauffeur driven into town in a gorgeous Mercedes , and taking in the sights I had only ever seen in photos, it rendered me almost speechless when I caught my first glimpse of Hotel des Invalides (the resting place of ole Napoleon himself)
The bill actually DID leave me speechless! ;)
Then there was the hair raising trip in on a shared shuttle bus......going through dark tunnels, passing other cars at the speed of sound....seated what felt like an inch from the window screen, I truly thought I was going to die! Everyone else in the bus thought I was going to die too, apparently that's how it sounded.... This guy was looking for a tip too !..and what's more is I gave him one..... for NOT KILLING ME! So ok, I'm not the worlds' best passenger, but what I'm saying is if you enjoyed the Fast and the Furious flicks..perhaps this is for YOU :)
Another time I thought I would try a taxi...but I made sure to instruct the cabby to drive 'slowly'...I think he thought I was a madwoman! So off we went with speedy gonzales at the wheel, mmm, I'm thinking..mmm this isn't exactly slow..but I'll cope.That was until out of nowhere, a car that had been going the opposite direction decided to flip itself over the middle barricade and land squarely in the middle of the highway in front of us..on its head! Uuuummm..THAT'S WHY I ASK TO GO SLOW!!!
Anyway, my preferable transport into town is definitely the RER train..safe and inexpensive.....my kind of ride :)
Lots of 'frenchy' things to share with you , so keep sneeking a peek through the window !
A Bientôt, Gigi
