Sailing Africa to Norway (2017): Day 5

Time to explore something new. I'm leaving my suitcases in the hotel, filled up a backpack with the essentials and ran off to meet a train.Yes I'm leaving my suitcases in London because I got such a great deal on the hotel I don't mind paying for two hotels for one tonight (one in London, one in Paris).

What a beautiful train station. A large reason why I chose the hotel in London was because of it's proximity to the Eurostar station. Passport, credit card, camera, sunscreen, let's go!

My train departs at 5:40am. Paris is one-hour ahead of London thus the early start. I arrive at 9:17am. Check-in is required between 30-75 minutes early. Seats are assigned at ticket purchase time. When in Paris and using the metro, you buy these little tickets that you place into the turn-style entrance. Tickets are $1.50 each or you can buy a book of 10 tickets for $11. Buy the book. The locals all do it so you should too.

Clothing, big camera, toiletries.. amazing I can do just this for 2 days

Hello Paris subway

Clean, efficient subway station

Getting such a creepy vibe here, second guessing my decision to come here

But the architecture is beautiful

Today's plan is pretty ambitious. 8 miles of walking to see 8 spots. With no time to spare, the sightseeing begins.

First stop - Paris Opera house. This is the 14th time it's been built. Wars and fires (from the candles used to light the auditorium) all lead to why this 14th version was built, this time entirely of concrete.

The main theater hall is mindblowing. The ceiling was redone in the 60s because attendance was falling.Their hope was by creating a new centerpiece people would want to come see it, spread the word and of course ticket sales would go up. Well it worked, attendance went up because of this very modern, different art work.

Not Versailles but darn similar. Fashion week is wrapping up thus the mess

Time to keep moving. One of the things I really love doing in an unknown city is just walking. This was an unexpected stop. A giant Greek-style cathedral tucked between condos. This is Eglise De La Madeleine. Built to honor the glory of Neapolitan, built in 1793.

Next on the list, food. There are not a lot of breakfast options available at 5am. Let's see what we can find on my way to the nearby subway station.

Crepe, two slices of ham, cheese.. yes please. $7

Not a bad view to enjoy my lunch

Notre Dame. The walk to here is 50 minutes. After all the walking I've done and will do, it's subway time (20 min). Like most buildings in Paris this is free to enter and enjoy.

Now if you're feeling adventurous and not afraid of heights nor suffer from vertigo, hike the bell tower. 10euro for this and it's an amazing view.

7pm. Finally at hotel at so quaint Hotel Passy Eiffel. Highly recommended. When I first got off the train in Paris I thought this place feels awful, wonder if I can turn around. The Northeast is gritty and hard. The west is entirely different. Once I got to this section of Paris I fell in love. After a quick nap, off to explore Eiffel and get some food.