On Wednesday, March 25th, Bill and I got up early, packed up our stuff, and had some breakfast. We had a date with the Eurostar train, which would take us from the Brussels Midi train station to the Paris Gare du Nord station. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Eurostar train took over Thalys, which was the French and Belgian train company that used to handle trips between a network of cities in France and Belgium, along with a few places in Germany and the Netherlands.
Bill and I used Thalys when we took our trip to Brussels in 2008. I remembered it to be a comfortable train system, if not a bit less modern than the Deutsche Bahn trains. Our trip from Brussels to Paris would be fairly brief, and included a meal, since we were sitting in “Premier”, which is their version of first class.
Our stay at Le Fleur de Ville was prepaid, and we only had one drink each at their bar. We settled up and made our way to a taxi, which would spirit us to the big train station in Brussels. I wasn’t sorry to be leaving Brussels, although we did have a nice time. I was ready for a change of scenery, especially since the weather had turned cold and rainy.
The cab driver in Brussels was very kind and honest. I can’t remember what Bill paid for the fare, but the guy rounded down for us. I mention this because of what happened when we got to Paris. But we’ll get there. 😏
Thanks to our Premier tickets, we were allowed to use Eurostar’s lounge, which was in a building across a courtyard from the train station. The person who checked us in invited us to enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks, as well as plush seating in the lounge area. They played jazzy music and had handy screens available for monitoring the status of the trains. I think use of the lounge is the best reason for booking first class seats. It’s nice to be able to wait in a quiet place with seating, instead of milling around the train station.
Below are a couple of photos from the lounge. It has a bar, although it was too early in the day for it to be manned. There are also restrooms, although they needed to be stocked with toilet paper during our visit. Several people were doing work on their computers during our hourlong stay.
When it got close to our departure time, Bill and I walked to the Midi train station and found our way to the right track. We happened to get there just as our train was emptying out with passengers who had come to Brussels from Paris. After a brief wait, we boarded the train. I recognized the plush red seats– same ones I remembered from 2008. I looked up and saw the old Thalys branding. We didn’t find places to store our luggage between cars, so Bill and I had to hoist our suitcases onto the racks above our seats.
The train ride itself wasn’t very eventful, except for when I needed to use the toilet. For the life of me, I could not find the flusher! I looked all over for it and finally gave up. Thankfully, I only had to pee, and it seemed to go down the hole, anyway. Bill later said he found it, but it was in an obscure place. Maybe it was a foot pedal?
As I mentioned before, we got a meal included on our trip to Paris. I didn’t remember liking the food on Thalys in 2008. The same could be said for Eurostar’s offering in 2026. Bill said he did like the food. In our case, it was cold chicken breast with some exotic sides, cheeses, and dessert, as well as a beverage. I had champagne, which Bill had red wine. A vegetarian option was also offered. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t eat much of it, and I probably wouldn’t have ordered it on my own. Luckily, Bill was happy to eat my cheese course, because I don’t typically eat cheese unless it’s been melted and is very mild.
It was early afternoon when we arrived in Paris. As we made our way up the escalator at the busy Gare du Nord station, we made a rookie mistake. There were a bunch of people standing near the escalators, some of whom were holding up signs for arriving passengers. I had just muttered, “Now to find a taxi.” I didn’t think I’d said it very loudly, but maybe I did, because a friendly, but assertive man asked us if we needed a taxi.
Although it was against my better judgment, I found myself following the guy and Bill, who for some reason, agreed to use this man’s “services” to get us into the city. Paris transportation hubs are notoriously PLAGUED by scammers– especially when it comes to taxis. They pick up clueless tourists and rip them off. I wrote about this in the main blog, so if you want the story in detail, click here. I warn that I tend to be a lot more profane on the main blog.
Suffice to say, this guy who picked us up was an “unlicensed” driver. He did the usual con, claiming he didn’t have a working credit card machine, so he’d need cash. And he charged us way more than a licensed taxi driver would have. It was very annoying to be ripped off in that way, especially since the guy had the nerve to offer me unsolicited advice on avoiding being pickpocketed in Paris. 😡 But, on the positive side, he did get us to our hotel safely and quickly, and he didn’t try to rip us off for as much as I’ve read in some horror stories. And it’s unlikely we’ll ever make that mistake again, now that we know more about French law regarding taxis. At least we had euros, and didn’t miss the money as much as we might have when we were younger and poorer.
I booked us four nights in the Sapphire Suite at the Hotel L’ Eldorado, located in the Montmartre area of the city. The last time we were in Paris, back in 2009, Bill and I stayed at Hotel Le Six, which is in Montparnasse. We liked Hotel Le Six, but wanted to experience a different neighborhood. I also visited Paris in 1997, but I don’t remember where my sister and I stayed. I think we were in a no frills hotel somewhat close to the Eiffel Tower. I remember it was owned by Indians, and was quite nice, especially for the price. But that was a very long time ago.
In any case, when we checked in, Bill reminded the receptionist that we had reservations for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. They confirmed our reservations, and then informed us that the elevator was out of order. The Sapphire Suite, which is one of the best rooms in the hotel, was on the fifth floor. Sigh…
Alas, I am not as young, fit, or thin as I once was. I am capable of climbing stairs, but it’s not my favorite thing to do. I do get a bit winded. I also hate it when I lead the way, because I feel pressure to go faster than I should. But we got to the room, which was covered in dark green, patterned velvet– the curtains, bed dressings, and walls were all done in the same funky style. I liked it, but I imagine it might cause sensory overload for some people.
The room had a sitting room connected by a hall to the compact bedroom. There were double doors that closed off the bedroom from the sitting room, which were a bit of a pain to deal with at night, when going to the potty.
There was a green marble bathroom with a sauna in it and a nice shower, as well as a separate water closet. The receptionist didn’t show us how to use the sauna, nor were there any printed instructions. I might have liked to try it out, but maybe it’s better that I didn’t. This was the second French hotel I’ve stayed in that had a sauna in the room. The other one was in Sessenheim, in rural Alsace.
I did like that the room had two balconies. One faced the little hidden garden at the back of the hotel. The other faced out into the street, and if you stood on it and looked East, you could see the Eiffel Tower. I took a photo, but zoomed in a lot… We were maybe a three to four mile walk from the Eiffel Tower, which we did undertake on Thursday.
As it was, Wednesday evening, Bill had an online class at the Jung Institute. That’s why we decided to have dinner in the hotel. It was good that we made reservations, although to be honest, I didn’t love what I ordered. Bill loved his dish. He had duck leg confit with beans. I had a sirloin faux filet with frites. My filet was cooked medium, but the meat was a bit tough.
Bill and I also had to trade starters, because I ordered soft set egg Meurette style, and it had mushrooms in it (I should have Googled before ordering). He ordered butternut squash and chestnut velouté, which was mushroom free. Again, not something I necessarily would have ordered for myself, but it was okay. We also enjoyed a lovely French wine, fresh bread, and champagne aperitifs. For dessert, I had profiteroles, and Bill had a red berry crumble with ice cream. Our waiter was very pleasant, but didn’t seem to speak English well. This became a problem at breakfast, later in the week. More on that in a subsequent post.
After dinner, we were both pretty tired, so we decided to go to bed. By the time we finished eating, the elevator was working again. I think the mood was kind of spoiled by the scammer and the broken elevator, but we figured a good night’s sleep would fix that issue.
Thursday was a big day for us, so I’ll write about that in the next post!
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