Arrival in Paris

September 24, 2022

French lessons

Short miles today - just a few to the Bruges train station, and a few more from Gare du Nord station in Paris to our apartment in the Latin Quarter.

The transfer between trains in Brussels is the hard part. My shins took a beating from carrying the bike in the bag up and down stairs and escalators in the bag. It's heavy and awkward. It's not difficult to roll the bikes up to the platform fully assembled but if you have to bag them for the train and then change to another train it's a big job.

In train station mode. The panniers convert into a pretty comfortable backpack. The bike is heavier than it looks in the bag. I'll have to check the schedules for future train trips to make sure we have plenty of time for any connections.

Finding space for the bikes and backpacks on some of the trains is a challenge.

After pulling in to Gare du Nord and putting everything together we have our first experience of biking in Paris. There are more cars and its a bit hectic, especially around the train station, but there are bike lanes everywhere, many of them physically separated from traffic.

The scene is glorious. On a bridge over the Seine, a kind Parisian picks up on our tourist vibe and offers to take a picture.

On the Pont au Change in front of the Conciergerie, a medieval palace that became a prison during the French Revolution. It's most famous prisoner was Marie Antoinette.

It's a quick 4 km from the station to our AirBnb apartment in the Latin Quarter. The studio is in a 500 year old fortress that's quiet at night and just big enough to accommodate the bikes.

The bar on the corner of our street - Rue Frederic Sauton - is a landmark for finding our way back to the apartment.

Place Maubert near our apartment in the Latin Quarter

For dinner we meet up with our friends Terry and Mary Fran, who are experienced travelers through France. They're great guides and wonderful company.

Terry is very fluent in French and has been a wonderful resource since we started planning this trip. He has spent a great deal of time in France since his study abroad in Aix-en-Provence, and a fair amount during the pandemic in French conversation groups on Zoom.

I've been slaving away at the Babbel app for the last few months trying to resurrect my college French. It's enough that when I punch something in English into Google Translate, the French words make sense, but I still have much to learn about polite speech here.

After we order dinner, Terry very kindly offers a suggestion with the finer points of the verb vouloir - to want. The phrasing of the basic je veux, "I want," is rather demanding. Much better to say je voudrai - "I would like..." But of course! Looking forward to more French lessons during our six days here.

With Terry and Mary Fran at La Cochonnaille on Rue de la Harpe - traditional French cooking with a strong pork offering.

Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 178 km (111 miles)

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