August 3, 2025
Paris
It is a long way from Auckland to Paris . 28 hours after leaving home we arrived at our Paris Hotel. Not having to take bike stuff certainly made packing a lot easier and we had only one bag to check in. We were flying Quatar Airlines and the first leg is the killer - 17hours to Doha, 5hours on the ground then 6 hours to Paris. They were good flights, all on time and with very little turbulence. We did manage to get some sleep but aeroplane sleep never seems the same as proper sleep in a bed.
I need wheel chair assistance at airport and this makes everything a lot easier and certainly faster as you avoid those long lines. It was 7.45am on a Sunday when we landed at CDG, there was virtually no traffic on the road and our expert driver had us to the Hotel Notre Dame by just after 8am. Extraordinary. One slight problem check in not till 2pm. We could leave our bags though which was a help. But what to do with our tired jet lagged bodies for 6 hours before we could have a shower was what we had to work out
We were in Paris, a city we love, so surely that wouldn’t be too hard. First on the agenda was a coffee, so we sat on the pavement drinking our Cafe Cremes looking across at Notre Dame
The main thing we wanted to do in Paris was to see Notre Dame in its restored state. Why not now. Early on a Sunday morning the crowds were already huge. We like to see cathedrals doing what they were built to do. It was relatively easy to get into the mass as most of the crowd seemed to be lined up to sightsee. The regular Sunday Mass was just finishing but a Gregorian Mass was to follow and this appealed to us. The cathedral filled with incense as the priests and their assistants processed down the aisle, three nuns sang beautifully and the restored organ was in full cry. This service was very very traditional and as well as being in Gregorian Chants was also largely in Latin. Last Sunday we went to church in our tiny old wooden church at Pokeno, on this beautiful Paris morning we were in Notre Dame. The restorations are amazing, the stone work looks so pristine, the beautiful Rose Windows shine and the detail of the carvings is sharp.
We really are staying in the middle of touristy Paris, the crowds are pretty overwhelming for me as like all cycletourists, we seek the quiet places. However we did have fun we had some lunch, we wandered the cute streets, loved the little parks where we could sit in the shade and most importantly found an Optician where Ken can take his glasses for repair tomorrow ( one of the lenses fell out on the plane)
One thing that has really impressed us is the cycling infrastructure in Paris. There seem to be properly protected cycle ones everywhere and what’s more they are being used. We have cycled in Paris previously and it has been a positive experience but things look even better now
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It was good to get back and into our room to relax a little
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