Bavaria Day 2: Paris to Munich

Sunday. To me, our hotel room was somewhat familiar though of course we'd never stayed before: like many of our Continental rooms, it had certain features like a heated towel rack and a glass shower half-door in the bath. From our window we could see the Luxembourg palace and the Montparnasse office tower; leaning out, we just also see the Sacre Coeur cathedral.

Our agenda for the day was relaxed. Our train didn't depart until mid-afternoon. It was nice to have free time without the pressure of having sights to see. Once roused and ready, we strolled down to the Boulevarde St-Germain to a café for coffees and croissants.

The streets were much quieter than the previous evening. Most shops were closed. I popped out to a nearby newsstand for the international edition of the Sunday Times. These editions tend to have almost no colour pages - often just the outer one - and no subsections; also some articles are excluded or excerpted. But even a reduced Sunday Times has hours of interesting reading, and we were fairly hungry for English language text.



We stopped at an ATM on the way back. I'd already been on one side of Margo, facing the street as Margo got some cash. Eventually I noticed a younger man using the machine on Margo's other side, and he was staring at me. It wasn't dissimilar to the look Sarah gives me when she's about to do something naughty, assessing whether she can get away with it. He finished and left quickly, leaving me wondering if we'd just averted something, or if there was nothing of it.

Back at the room, we gave Sarah a bath, then packed and checked out, leaving our bags at the hotel. The logical choice to spend a few hours was the nearby garden, so we visited once again.

We were once again gifted with unusually sunny weather; not a cloud in the sky. A lovely day. In the gravel of the park, amongst the orderly rows of trees, groups of people were practising tai chi, while others sat in chairs enjoying the sun. We indulged Sarah in a pony ride.



Back in the childrens' play area, Sarah again scaled the rope Eiffel, beating her chest at the top in her King Kong impression for us. Margo and I sat nearby, getting drunk on the sunshine and beauty. Ah, to be in a park in Paris and hear a shouted "Dad!" and know it is only for you.

I went away for the occasional stroll. Luxembourg is a large park and there is much to see. For example, these rows of trees before the great lawn leading to the palace.



Margo was content with reading.



We returned to St-Germain to find a café for lunch and ended up picking a Belgian-themed restaurant, Leon's of Bruxelles. With its laminated menus and bright colours it must surely be part of a chain of restaurants. I was glad to have a pint of Duvel with my salad, and Margo had steak and fries while Sarah had chicken with fries. Back on St-Germain, we stopped at a shop to get some baguette sandwiches for dinner on the train. Then we returned to our hotel for a cab ride to the Gare de l'Est train station.

Our SNCF train was fast, but probably not bullet-train fast like the TGV. The Eurostar uses trains from the same provider, so we rode in SNCF iron from London to Munich.

Sarah and I played cards (mostly we play Crazy Eights) and chess (I handicap myself by using just a few pieces). We tried to determine just when we'd crossed from France into Germany. I was convinced we'd already crossed because the town names started sounding very German like Molsheim and Lingolsheim. But Margo noted that there was plenty of French in the signage on stores we passed, and we were still seeing plenty of Citroens and Renaults on the roads. We finally made a wager: whoever was wrong would have to write a limerick in praise of the other.

My hopes of victory were deflated as we passed through Strasbourg, which I had assumed to be a German city, and we saw undeniable evidence of its Gallic status in the signage. We entered Germany only as we crossed the river from Strasbourg into Kehl.

There once was a woman named Margo
On train, she's the most precious cargo
She's brilliant and smart, and
Her cooking is art, and
In school, I predict that she far go.

We broke out our baguettes and cookies for dinner. I went to the diner car and got mini bottles of wine - Bordeaux for Margo, a German Pinot Noir for me (much lighter than the rich, complex ones we were used to in Oregon) and an Orangina for Sarah.

By now, night had fallen and there was little to see outside until we made our way into Munich and its buildings. The train station was a big, airy glass box. Our room was nice and a bit larger with an even bigger rock-star bath. We slept without hesitation.