Day 37 - Retour à Paris

Au Revoir Marseille

I planned that bit well. I anticipated that after all that hectic driving around, a quiet peaceful break near the beach and close to somewhere I could do some snorkelling, somewhere where I could ride a bike, somewhere close to the fanpark and the stadium, would be good. In fact it was perfect. My host, Sandra, was really kind preparing a continental breakfast for me every day and even making me a pizza. It was great to even have a clothes wash there. The room was great, the shower the best and the flat was really comfortable. But mainly it was the perfect location for me.

My AirBnB host, Sandra

After a final bit of blogging and brekkie, I got packed and said "au revoir" to Sandra. Then, I caught the No 19 bus to the stadium's metro stop. Caught the metro to the station and had 40 minutes to grab a burger and then find my seat on the super-fast train. 300 km/h seemed to be the top speed. Very impressive.

Le Train Bleu

Upon returning to Le Gare de Lyon I was determined to see Le Train Bleu, a famous cafe/tea room in the station, built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900 in the style of the "Belle Epoque" (or so the information leaflet said). I'd only heard of this because, Dougie Miller, Jake's friend pointed it out to me on the way south.

It truly is magnificent. I couldn't resist having a very elegant plate of tapas and a glass of red wine, just to try to get into the swing of the place.

Then, it was time to find my hotel, which I'd booked close to the station, presumably so it would be easy to walk to.

That part was right but when I arrived I soon had that sinking feeling. What a shit hole (excuse my English!) It's tiny and dilapidated. The shower is on the winding stair case - could be disastrous if you had slippy feet afterwards. No WiFi, except right be the tiny reception area which looks more like a ticket office.

My hotel was a poor choice

Damn! Worse still, having eventually got my data working again and done a bit of research, it's right across on the other side of the city from where I'll need to be after the final. I'm currently thinking of finding another place but booking.com and AirBnB prices seem to have been hiked up as its the final of the Euros, presumably.

Paris Booking.com Cock Up

Worst case scenario, I'll check out on the morning of the final, nice and early and find somewhere near the station to drop my bag off.

Anyway, currently in a nice bar called the Ingenue Cafe on Boulevard de Voltaire drinking Derilium Tremens, very nice.

After catching with social media, I went back to my room to recharge phones etc and then popped out for a very nice meal at a local restaurant.

Aljice

Paris