The day of my birthday finally arrived, we had enjoyed a few days in Sedan but it was time to begin the return journey.
Up and about relatively early, breakfasted, bags packed, bill paid, and yet another walk to Sedan town. This time to the railway station.
On arriving at the station we made our way to the relevant platform and waited. When a train pulled in and stopped it was much too early to be our train, or was it? There were other confused passengers on the platform wondering the same thing. Some got on, then got off again. As the departure time got nearer the displays on the train changed to show that it was actually the train we needed.
On schedule, the train departed and we said goodbye to Sedan and took a relatively short ride to Champagne-Ardenne on the ordinary SNCF train where we changed to the TGV service back to Paris. The additional comfort and speed of the TGV is something to admire after riding first class trains in Portugal and is a big step up from even the Virgin West Coast service in the UK. On the platform, while waiting for our train we enjoyed the high speed passing of other TGV services, blink and you missed it.
This time we were on the fast train during daylight so had much more to look at as the countryside raced by. Time passed and we ate the remaining peach tarts from the previous evening's visit to the bakery.
Upon arriving at Gare de L'Est we did not need to leave the station, just get to the metro and find our way to Place D'Italie. Once out of the metro station a quick check on google maps to get to the hotel and all was good. We managed to get an early check-in which made life very easy because we did not have to drag suitcases around the city.
The next thing on the agenda was to eat some food in preparation for a walk around parts of Paris during the afternoon. We found Café d'Italie very near the hotel and sat outside watching the traffic negotiate the huge roundabout at the Place d'Italie while we consumed some decent Italian food. The madness of the French road etiquette is something to behold, add to that the suicidal people on bicycles and electric scooters also dodging in and out of the traffic - it should qualify as a spectator sport.
Once refueled we headed back to the metro and traveled toward the Eifel Tower. We arrived at the north side of the river at Trocadéro near the Palais de Chaillot, a seriously impressive complex of buildings.
One side ...
... and the opposite side.
From the plaza between the two segments, we can see the famous tower - after that tower crane had finally moved out of the way.
From here we walked around the gardens, admiring the architecture and various sculptures, all the while moving towards the Ponte d'Léna where we would cross the river to get to the tower.
Having reached the foot of the tower it looks even more impressive, twice as high as Blackpool Tower which was inspired by Eiffel's effort.
After admiring the tower from close up and in the distance, we moved toward the Ponte Alexandre III which is near the Grande Palais and Petit Palais. Everywhere you look there is ornate architecture, decorated plinths with gilded statues and other pomp from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
And in the distance, past the Louvre, we could see the Notre-Dame cathedral, minus its wooden spire unfortunately burned in the recent fire.
Time was now pressing on and we were hoping to visit the Pantheon of Paris which is twinned with the one in Lisbon that we visited a couple of months ago so we made our way in that general direction, stopping on the way to grab a bite to eat and a drink.
By the time we reached the Pantheon it was too late to go inside but we saw the outside and the photo' turned out very well even though the light was fading..
So, with night drawing in we walked back to the hotel, a little more than a mile away.
Next, the final day ...