Friday 24th May: Weather: 14°C to 20°C: Overcast with sunny spels but no rain
Paris: 15k walk to Notre Dame
Accommodation: Hotel de Reims near Gare de Lyon
Notre Dame
Au Vieux Campeur locations
Au Vieux Campeur tiny store
The Etihad flight arrived at 7.30 am and within an hour I had collected my bag which was 3rd off the plane, being added on last with standby, cleared passport control and customs - they only check Asians and Africans to make sure there’s no dried eels or birds in their luggage, and had walked to the train station and bought a weekly Navigo Train pass. First the RER B to Gare du Nord, then changing to the RER D to Gare de Lyon. It took almost 30 minutes to find the Diderot Boulevard exit from the station but then it was only a 5 minute walk to the Hotel de Reims at 26 Rue Hector Malot.
It was a beautiful slightly overcast day but no rain. The room wasn’t ready, as I expected, so I left my bags in the secure luggage room and left. It was good just to get moving again as even though I'd travelled business class, you're still immobile for 24 hours. Down to the River Seine and along the side walk towards Paris centre and soon the magnificent Notre Dame stood before me, shrouded with scaffolding ready for a $1 billion renovation following the devastating fires April 15. The entire site is barricaded off, but that didn’t stop tourists, me included, from gaping through cracks trying to get a photo. And the gendarmes were out in force with about 5 standing on every possible corner. I would have counted more than 200 within a 200 metre radius of Notre Dame. I have walked to Notra Dame at least 20 times before in the past 20 years but it never ceases to amaze me.
Next stop Au Vieux Campeur, a famous camping store in Paris with everything you could possibly think of for hiking or camping. Strangely, the “store” consists of 12 small shops scattered around Rue d’Ecoles in the 5th arondissement. I find the correct shop, as each one specialises in different stuff - one sells clothes, another shoes, another bags, another children’s clothes, another tents etc etc. I buy 2 Isobutane propane 230g screw top gas cans, one for the next week’s use around Paris and the other for our real hike in Austria.
Continuing on down the Seine past house boats and restaurants, then back across teh river through Bercy and eventually back to the Hotel de Reims at 2pm when I’m taken to my room - very clean and a bit small, but it will do me for the 3 days until Ian arrives. A quick unpack then down to the local Carrefour’s supermarket to buy some bread, cheese, tomatoes, butter and a 4 pack of cold rose. A sandwich on the bed as 5pm, a few phone calls home to learn Ian has decided to skip his tennis match and leave early for fear of missing any seat, and I’m in bed at 8pm.