17/10/2025 I managed to pack most of my things, leaving my Aus banking till after brekky & then heading out to Amsterdam Centraal to catch the Eurostar train to Paris via Garde de Nord (train terminates there) at 11.10am. Can’t help but notice yesterday & today the sun is out .. typical when I’m leaving. Finally seeing the sky of blue instead of a constant off-white sheet. Things do change with the trains, so I kept an eye on the train schedule board for the correct platform. Trains are only shown about 30mins prior to arriving, so best be quick to the platform. Usually the train arrives on #15 & today that was correct. The platforms are so long they have 15A & 15B by cutting the platform length into halves. I’m on #15A.

The carriages were of a high standard & very clean. I found my seat & to my luck no-one was sitting next to me .. well .. until we stopped at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (next stop) where a man sat next to me & wouldn’t utter a word. Anyway, he got off the train north of Belgium after about an hour & then I had the whole seat to myself. Yay!! Coming into Belgium we had a police incident, so we are running 20mins late so far.

Do you ever get the feeling something is going a little too well? Arriving at Garde de Nord Train Station was something else. Not enough clear English signs of course .. to be expected. The international trains (like mine) arrive on Level 1 (Hall 1) with about 12 platforms. The domestic & regional trains are on a few floors directly below which is an engineering marvel in itself. On the below levels there are Zones (about 5 Halls I think) where you have to work out which line you need. My phone said 4 RER B Sud, so where in the hell is that & where do I get my ticket? Found out later Sud means South & Nord means North. This place is enormous & then throw in a few thousand passengers & here we are, a bull ant colony with no chance of any communication with the clear sign I was a traveller, totally confused & no help forthcoming from any of the scrambling ‘ants’. After backtracking several times, I started using my secret cus words (plenty of them), especially when you have people walk right through you. This place really tests you! I eventually find a service counter back on Level 1. The lady looked at my phone & gave me my required ticket €6.30) & told me to go right & then down. Excellent! NOT!!

Nothing is making real sense at the moment, standing around to get a sign or some bearings. After walking the entire level 2 (Hall 2) I can see a board showing Saint -Michel- Notre Dame Station train in small print for Platform 42. Yay!! Upon arrival at the entrance of 42, large glass doors were locked for some reason. Passengers standing by were getting real jitty & then the doors finally opened without warning to stairs going up. My duffle bag is 19.4kgs & my day backpack is around 7kgs & I managed to beat a lot of people up the 30+ stairs; a lot were struggling. Within 2mins our train comes in & we are off. 3 stops down I get off at Saint -Michel- Notre Dame station for another train (another platform up). 3 stops later I get off at Champ de Mars (closest station to the Eifel Tower) & to my Mercure Hotel. With a bit of walking around the Eifel Tower I can see my Mercure Hotel & when entering a full bus of people were checking in. After a while a passenger comes up & says “we are not in a line, so you can go to the counter”. Yay!! Just as I got to the counter a French lady rudely jumps in front of me with no apologies. The reception staff found this very uncomfortable. She took 10mins to leave & then I started the check-in only to be told I’m at the wrong Mercure Hotel. Argh!! There are 3 Mercure’s within this small neighbourhood, so I made sure the next one was mine.

After checking in & paying the far cheaper City Tax of €25.35, compared to the whopping €128.80 for Amsterdam, I sorted out my room (King bed now) & then strolled over to both sides of the Eifel Tower (across the river too) where there were a couple of thousand people walking around & queuing for the climb up. I do my climb access at 12noon tomorrow on a pre-booked tour. At first look of the Eifel, you say, is that it, thought it would be taller … but when you sit there for a while & take in the sections it is quite the marvel. Will be a good view tomorrow.

Saw a street food vendor & he made a bbq chicken with spice, tomatoes, lettuce & seasoning wrap & it was amazing; €8 thanks (Yikes .. $15AUD). I followed it up with a high protein drink (24g) seeing I had done 15,164 steps today = 11.92klms. I’ll try & get a night photo of the Eifel Tower tomorrow seeing I just saw the lights from a distance. They start at 7pm & the added light show stays on for 5mins & this is repeated every hour till 11pm I think. My hotel is about 600m from the tower, so the location is good. From my 2^nd floor room, I can see the top 80m or so. I had a really good sleep, an almost hot shower & into the buffet breakfast by 7.40am. This Mercure Hotel is a step down from the fantastic Eden Hotel in Amsterdam, but it is what it is & still I’m comfortable.

18/10/25 With time on my side, I headed off to what I believed was the Eifel Tower going by what I saw yesterday afternoon so I can travel further east for the Arc de Triomphe first. My tour of the Eifel Tower starts at 12noon. I’m trying to save my data as it seems to be used quickly now so I’m limiting my Google Maps use. Well, after a while I checked G Maps & to cut this story down it was playing up quite a bit. Today, my brain compass is not working either & so is G Maps. Argh!!! Finally, I get to Eifel Tower with around 40minutes of valuable wasted time & walking prior. Heading East from the tower, you go over the Pont d’lena bridge over the River Seine towards the phallic symbol fountain lake, Fontaine de Varsovie & then Trocadero, historical area & gardens & keep walking somewhat East for a while then head Southeast to see the Arc de Triomphe. I walked the elaborate street, Av. Georges Mandel with super expensive houses but of course that is the very long way. Bloody G Maps!!! If I had turned right after the bridge & took Av. D’Lena I would have seen the equestrian statue of George Washington & straight on to the Arc de Triomphe in all its glory (more facts below).

With the time remaining to my Eifel Tower Tour, I couldn’t squeeze into the subway walks to the centre of the Arc de Triomphe like my friend Renske said to do (she walked through the traffic which is really a no-no)!!! Took whatever photos I could then headed down the Av. Des Champs – Elysees for a while then turned right at the extra lavish Louis Vuitton shop. Passing these exclusive shops, I could feel a nosebleed coming on with the thought of how much money needed to shop here. Certainly extravagant. G Maps still playing up but my brain compass is working, a little. I headed off towards the Eifel Tower for my tour.

I had to now walk past my hotel, via the Eifel Tower again to check in with Get Your Guide shop for my guide & ticket I ordered back in August & then at 12noon my group walked back to the Eifel Tower & skipped the very long lines (up to 1hr usually to get through on these) to go through 2 screening airport-type systems to ensure you are not taking in anything like at an airport or anything metal-like to prevent idiots from carving their names into the expensive paint on the structure. They even screen for padlocks to prevent people from activating them on the structure.

Natalii was our guide & she asked us all to say where we are from. She then said she has been labelled many countries of origin due to her looks & dialect. After many unsuccessful guesses, she said Ukraine to all our amazement. She left 3yrs ago (war) where she was an English teacher & this guide work these past 3yrs has been most welcomed & enjoyable. She is now learning her 4^th language at an age around 35, I guess. In these 3yrs she has done over 3,000 visits to the tower, so she is well versed.

Some quick stats on the Eifel tower, naming rights of the architect & engineer, Gustave Eiffel built in 1889 for an ‘Expo’ & also to celebrate the 100yr anniversary of the French Revolution. Eiffel had a fast-growing international engineering company & he fought hard against the elites in constructing it. To enable to get his dream started he supplied 85% of the costs to design & build it & pay for the naming rights & then the French Government reluctantly paid the remaining15%. Today just 1% of the earnings goes to Eiffel’s company & the govt takes 99%, so it’s a cruel outcome .. but typical of poor govts. Today, the tower generates more than 7million visitors each year & produces revenue of €100mil each year in just ticket sales alone.

The original height was 1,024ft, current height is 1,083ft using the antennae. The 4 tower feet are spaced at 410ft on the ground & the 1^st floor height is 187ft, providing 14,485sq’ & the 2nd floor 377ft height providing 4,692sq’ with the 3^rd floor height of 906ft providing 820sq’ with an exclusive restaurant that is ridiculously expensive. Just below the 1^st Floor there are 72name plaques placed around the outside frame. These are men who have led the design, scientists, physicists & the like to enable the structure to be built. The govt is planning to place female names below the 2^nd platform of recognised scientists, etc, like Madame Curie but no-one knows when, as a means of female recognition that didn’t happen in the past.

The structure has 7,300tons of dead metal weight & with the add-ons gives a total weight of 10,100tons. There are 18,038 metal pieces & 2.5mil rivets used. The original construction took 2yrs, 2mths & 5days to build. It was to last only 20yrs but with radio transmission evolving it became critical to keeping it. It is repainted every 7yrs & now into its 20^th repaint. 60 tons of paint & 25 hand brush specialist painters are used each time (2yrs to fully paint) & many colours have been done over its 136yrs. The new colour is the same for 1907 but this time they are removing multi layers of paint for better bonding & protection. When it was previously painted through the 1900s the painters would climb it free hand, no ropes or pulleys. I saw the video … Yikes!!

Getting to the 2^nd floor was by a type of Funicular lift (5 lifts are within the structure) & it was a good ride despite being packed in like the Japan Train Push. Moving out on the 2^nd floor & mezzanine floor was insanely windy & very cold to boot. I froze of course until I got to the other side for the sun & wind block. The Arc de Triomphe could be seen of course & it looked tiny, but when compared to the surrounding structures it was quite large. I believe the Eifel Tower is still the highest structure in Paris, but it must be close with the skyscrapers out into a new part of the city. The Arc de Triomphe is 162.5’ high, width 147’ & depth 72.9’. Construction started 1806 & inaugurated in 1836. It was built to honour those who died in the French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars. Beneath its vault lies The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WW1. Like a huge bicycle wheel there are 12 (spokes) avenues coming of it on a roundabout configuration. Happy motoring!

After my adventures today I had this yearning for pasta, yes, I know I’m in Paris & found this great Italian restaurant, La Piccolino. It was a great little place & my lasagne with mushrooms & a special sauce was amazing. I’m hoping I’m not in Barcelona yearning for escargot. LOL!!! I walked away from the River Siene & took another view of the Eifel & saw another part of this historic area, including the stature of General Joseph Joffre (WW1) out the front of the impressive Ecole Militaire (Military Academy) opened in 1780.

I’m busy doing my blogs, so I’ll end this blog # 10 & trying to get my A game on tomorrow for a hectic big day. Today, I did 25,166 steps = 19.66klms of walking, not counting my night walk to the tower in the hope of getting a light photo. I managed to get out at night for the 8pm lighting of the tower. From 7pm – 10pm there is light show for 5mins every hour where the tower has sparkling light flashes, like a Christmas tree over the existing lights. In returning to my hotel, I managed the total of 28,625 steps = 22.4klms!!! Many thanks for reading my blogs. My next blogs will be more of Paris (Pantheon, Notre Dame & The Louvre + river cruise hopefully). Please stay safe, happy & healthy. Cheers.