Day 1: Auxerre, France, 15°

Notre Dame!

Well that was quite the day! A short flight to Calgary followed by a 3+ hour hangout in an airport lounge before boarding a direct flight to Paris.

On board I found myself sitting with a woman of near similar age who was on her way to France to meet a friend and walk the Camino de Santiago. Her first camino, and she was understandably pretty excited! I remember my first Camino in 2013, almost 11 years ago. It was a pretty amazing experience! So many good memories and new friendships that are now so well established. Sadly none of those friends live close by, but we still keep in regular contact.

I’m presently sitting on the local train to Auxerre, my final destination today. There is a young boy and his mom sitting with me, and I’m surprised to see that he is wearing a Montreal Canadien’s hockey jersey. We have a nice chat about the Canadiens before he tells me that his favourite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sorry Ted.🤣

Arriving at CDG airport I found my way on the RER into central Paris with plans to get off and walk to Notre Dame. I’ve wanted to see the cathedral as restoration nears completion, and I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Like so many people worldwide, I was caught up in the drama and horror when it caught fire. Damage of course was extensive. However, an army of specialists and many euros have helped put the cathedral back on the road to recovery.

It’s been a remarkable effort. One thousand oak trees were harvested all over northern France to replace all the damaged wood. The trademark spire was put back in place not that long ago, and I remember watching the procedure on a recent documentary. Pretty cool the many things that have been accomplished by so many people.

Afterwards I discovered that I couldn’t return to the metro station I’d planned to use, so I decided to chance it and walk to Bercy train station to catch my train. I hadn’t walked out that way before, and I hoped the walk coupled with new discoveries along the way would help disburse the jet lag.

I wandered along the Seine on the upper embankment where traditionally the green painted bookshop kiosks have plied their trade for years. There are far fewer books sold now, most replaced by knock off ‘old’ maps, pictures and famous site paintings of Paris for the tourists. But they are still colourful and bring back many memories from earlier travels when old books were the staple commodity.

I managed to make it to the station in time to get a little food. However, before boarding the train it was brought to my attention that my €13 online ticket was actually for the next day. T I had to scramble to buy a new ticket from a machine that didn’t have an English option. €32 later I had the correct ticket😑 Such is life on the road. A few losses to go along with many good experiences.

Here is the view from my budget hotel.

Tomorrow I’ll have time to get some chores taken care of then site see before the rain comes in.

Now time for some sleep!

Geoff 🍷