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www.MooreTravelTips.com |
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Photo of
the Eurostar train that travels between London and Paris, France |
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Paris City break Eurostar London to Paris International Intercity train |
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Once you have found your seat on the Eurostar train go and find the buffet car. They sell a book of ten Paris Metro tickets. Buy them early as they sell out fast. It saves you having to queue at the ticket machines and you do not have to have the correct change. That annoys me about the Paris Metro ticket machines. They do not take notes just coins. Most tourists when they arrive in Paris only have notes in their purse or wallet as currency exchange bureaus do not give coins. If you arrive early in the morning or late at night the ticket offices are closed. If you do not have the correct coins or credit card you are stuck, unable to buy a metro ticket. You need one ticket per journey. It doesn’t matter how many times you change trains. It is cheaper to buy a book of ten metro tickets than each ticket individually.
Remember to reset your watch as France is one hour ahead of the United Kingdom. The Gare du Nord International railway station is in the north of Paris. It is on a number of Metro routes so you can get to where you want to go very easily. The station and the surrounding area has been improved since the first time I visited Paris using the train. There are now a number of reasonable restaurants opposite the front entrance ranging from McDonalds to a posh French seafood restaurant. If you are getting the evening train get back to the station early and eat in one of these establishments. That way you do not have to panic that you might miss your train. Paris Montmartre and the Artist Quarter Montmartre means the mountain of the martyr. Saint Denis was decapitated on the highest hill in Paris about 250AD. He was a missionary sent by the early Christian church of Rome in to convert the Gaul and Roman pagans in France. He became the Bishop of Paris. Denis, upset the powerful pagan priests by his many conversions. This lead to his execution by beheading. The location was chosen as it was believed to have been a pagan holy place. According to the religious stories on the lives of the Saints dated from around 1220, after Saint Denis had his head chopped off, he picked it up and walked two miles, preaching a sermon. The place where he stopped and died was made into a small shrine that developed into the Saint Denis Basilica, It became the burial place for the kings of France. Another account has his corpse being thrown in the river Seine, but recovered and buried later that night by his converts. He became the patron Saint of France. The cry "Saint Denis, Saint Denis” often combined as "Montjoie! Saint Denis!" became the war-cry of the French armies.
Other Websites by Craig Moore:
(e-mail =
craig.moore@blueyonder.co.uk
)
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