London to Paris

Today was our last morning in London. We saw so much in two and a half days, but we were ready to move onto Paris. Staying in the hostel was quite an experience. Even though we had to share a room and bathroom with other young folks, we were very happy with our stay and glad we can say we got a “true hostel” experience.

In order to get to Paris, we booked the Eurostar, a high speed train connecting the two cities. Since the UK is not on the Eurpoean mainland, this meant the train travels more than 50km under the ocean floor.

Before boarding we tried to make a stop at the infamous “Platform 9 ¾” from Harry Potter. This tourist trap is located at King’s Cross Station. Since we were right across the street, we figured we would check it out. When we walked up there was about a 1 hour line just to get a personal picture. We snapped a shot from side and were on our way.

The trip itself seemed very quick. Traveling at over 180 mph, we made it to Paris in just over two hours.

We got off the train and made a beeline for our hostel in order to drop off all of our stuff. Thankfully our hostel was only a 5 minute walk away. We were also very excited because this time we were staying in our own room, with a private bathroom.

The room itself is a little small and cozy, but we are more than happy to have our own space now. Similar to the other hostel, it is has an adjoining bar where all the youths gather.

After we got settled, we set out to visit Montmartre, a popular hilltop in Paris that offers stunning views of the city landscape. We got there to find it was crawling with both tourists and locals alike. We also wandered a bit through the surrounding district which is comprised of cobblestone streets, cartoonists, and many cafes.

At that point, we were pretty hungry, so we set out to find some food. By recommendation, we ended up going to the Brussels Beer Project located in northeast Paris. We were very happy to find some excellent craft IPAs on tap.

As the night was winding down, we wanted to experience a Saturday evening like the locals. So we hit up a nearby food market, got a couple of beers, and found a nice spot on the Canal Saint Martin. This canal is much smaller than the very popular Seine, but you could tell it was a popular local spot. Such a great way to spend a gorgeous evening outside.

After we finished our beers we headed back to the hostel and called it a night.