Dad bought two packs of ten tickets - ten adult ones and ten child ones. The tickets were very small pieces of paper and they had to insert them into a slot and then the gate would open and they could walk through into the station. Lyra looked for the right train line number and colour and led them all to the platform to wait. The platform showed that the next train would arrive in 3 minutes.
There was a gush of air, screeching of brakes and then the train arrived. The doors opened and in they rushed. They quickly found seats before the train started again. Wow! It went so fast. The wheels squealed as the train sped to the next station. It seemed to Lyra that the train stopped at a station every two minutes. More and more people hopped on until it was very crowded, with people standing up everywhere.
After five stops, it was time to get off and change to another train. Once again they had a quick wait before hopping on to the next train. Lyra was getting the hang of the Paris Metro already!
Finally they arrived at their end station. They followed the signs to the exit for the Eiffel Tower. Once out of the station they looked around and there it was! It was huge! In fact it is the tallest building in Paris at over 300 metres high. Lyra had been given a small guidebook on Paris and read that the Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. At the time it was the world’s tallest tower. Lyra looked up as they walked towards the tower. The gray metal shone in the sun. She could also see people at the top. Wow that would be scary!
Mum explained that when the Eiffel Tower was built many people were shocked by its shape and thought that it did not fit in with all the stylish buildings in Paris. However it was designed that way because of the wind. Today though, the Eiffel Tower is known to everyone around the world and the Parisians have come to love it. Lyra loved it too.
As they walked closer Lyra noticed that there were thousands of people underneath the tower. She had never seen so many tourists. There were queues that stretched for 500 metres of people wanting to go to the top of the tower using the lift or the stairs. That was no problem for them - Lyra didn’t want to go up 300 metres. So instead they stood right underneath the tower and stared up. It looked so amazing. Dad had his camera out and was taking photos non stop. Nina was posing as usual.
After taking in the view for some minutes they walked onwards towards the river - the Seine - which flows right through the centre of Paris. On the way, there were many street stalls selling souvenirs. There were men carrying around armfuls of Eiffel tower key rings and Eiffel tower T-shirts. They all looked so lovely.
Nina loved the sparkly T-shirts and asked if Mum and Dad could buy her one as something to remember Paris by. Lyra however liked the little coin purses which had a sparkly picture of the Eiffel tower on the front. There was just one of them all in silver which Lyra loved. They both jumped up and down for joy when Mum and Dad bought them each what they wanted. Now they would have something to show their friends back at school. However they both did not know how much trouble these gifts would bring them!
As they walked alongside the Seine, Mum and Dad suggested a boat tour of Paris. Fortunately a boat was leaving in five minutes, so they hastily bought tickets and climbed on board. The boat fitted lots of people and had an open top so they had a clear view of all of the wonderful sights of Paris. Each seat had a phone that they could listen to which explained about each of the sights they passed. They chugged along under many bridges, their eyes wide watching.
They were so busy looking at the beautiful churches and buildings that they did not notice a man wearing a French hat called a beret and dark sunglasses watching them closely. Instead of taking the boat all the way back to the Eiffel Tower, they were able to hop off along the way and had only a short walk back to their hotel. It had been a long and busy day and they were all ready for dinner and then a good nights sleep.
Day 3 - Montmartre
The sun was shining when they awoke the next day. It was Saturday. Only two more days and they would be going to Euro Disney, Lyra thought.
Today Mum and Dad had told them they were going to visit Montmartre. Lyra had looked up Montmartre in her Paris guidebook and knew that it was a small hill in the north of Paris with a beautiful white church on the top of it called the Sacre Coeur. However Lyra was more interested in Montmatre because her Mum had told her that on weekends it is full of artists who can paint your picture. Lyra loved to draw and paint. At home she spent hours at her desk drawing and had every kind of paint, pencil, charcoal and crayon that existed. It would be wonderful to watch artists work and maybe even have a portrait made.
They used the Metro to reach the bottom of Montmartre. Then they had the choice of walking up hundreds of steps to the top, or a cable car. They took the cable car and had a spectacular view across the whole of Paris as it rose to the top of the hill. The day was so clear that they could even see the Eiffel Tower. Lyra pinched herself, yes she was really in Paris!
At the top there were all kinds of musicians playing and so many people walking around. There were cafes and the whole area was alive with chatter. As they wandered around, they came to a small area where there was artist upon artist, all side by side, with their easels and paints. Each had a sample painting of their work. Some used water coloured paints, others used oil paints, some used charcoal, and some used fine black pens to draw a caricature. Lyra stood and watched some of the artists. Some were very good indeed and others she wasn’t too sure of. She watched one artist use charcoal pencils to draw a young girl. He had captured the girl’s eyes and cheeks so well that it almost looked like a photograph.
Lyra asked her Mum and Dad whether she could pose for one of the artists for a picture. So after carefully looking at each artist, both Lyra and Nina selected artists for their portraits. They had to sit very still for a long time. Whilst Lyra sat she noticed a young man staring at her oddly. He seemed somehow familiar. Had she seen him before? She peaked at him from time to time and he always seemed to be looking at her. He wore a black beret and had on a striped shirt and blue jeans. After a while he moved away and Lyra began to get impatient to see her completed picture.
After about half an hour Lyra’s portrait was finished. Nina came over carefully holding her picture. Lyra stood up to look at her own picture. It really did look like her. The artist had used brown charcoals and captured her smile and eyes perfectly. Lyra was delighted. Nina showed Lyra her picture. It was painted in water colours and was superb. Nina’s big blue eyes shone out in the painting and her sweet round face looked gorgeous. They were both thrilled and hugged Mum and Dad to thank them. What a great souvenir from Paris. They could frame them at home and hang them in their bedrooms.
As they walked along to find a restaurant for lunch, Lyra again noticed the same young man out of the corner of her eye. Was it a coincidence or was this man following them? How strange! She hoped that he would just disappear and leave them alone or that she was just imagining things. After all she did have a very good imagination!
After a few minutes, they found a lovely small restaurant for lunch and entered. It was in typical French style. Cosy inside, with delicious smells and tables all close to one another. Lyra and Nina both selected the fish with chunky potatoes whilst Mum selected duck and Dad the beef. Of course they had crunchy baguettes with butter also. The bread was so delicious in Paris.
When they were all finished they strolled through the cobblestone streets around Montmartre and looked at the shops. Lyra had put her spending money in her new purse and carried it in her pink backpack along with her lip balms, brush, jacket, guidebook and drink bottle. Of course, Nina had her own backpack on too in her favourite colour yellow which was crammed full. They found a small shop that sold all kinds of jewellery. Both girls had pierced ears and found gorgeous little silver Eiffel Tower earrings. They also found cute F
rench hats. They bought them using their spending money. Now they really did have many souvenirs from Paris!
As they emerged from the shop, Lyra noticed a man sitting at a table outside a cafe across the street. It was the very same one she had seen earlier that day twice. Now she was starting to get worried that this man was really following them but why? Was he just a pick-pocket? Some people had warned them about going into crowded areas and then someone taking your bag or wallet without you even noticing. Lyra held on tightly to her backpack strap. No one was going to take her things!
As the sun started to go down, they bought some crunchy baguettes from a bakery and headed back down the hill in the cable car. Lyra and Nina’s legs were tired from walking and they wanted to go back and relax in the hotel. Lyra forgot about looking out for the man and sunk into the seat in the Metro and then fell into bed straight away back in the hotel. All this sightseeing was exhausting.
Day 4 - The Louvre
After three days of non stop sight seeing they were going to take it easy today. They decided to relax in their hotel for the morning and then visit the Musee du Louvre - the Louvre