I was always going to come home via Paris. This was partly for practical reasons; I could use my Interrail pass’s inbound travel day on the Eurostar and also get a train straight back to Lincoln. It was also pretty much on my route home from Zurich, but also because the city was familiar to me. We’d had two family holidays here when I was in my teens, the first time I’d been overseas. I’d really enjoyed those holidays and had very fond memories of visiting the sights, speaking French to actual French people, and of watching Coe v Ovett in the hotel’s TV lounge. I’d also been back for a weekend around 14 years ago and never quite got round to returning. I think also, subconciously, I wanted to have some familiarity to ease me back into my regular life back home. Whatever the reasons, I’d been looking forward to this final location for the last couple of weeks and it was even feeling like a holiday within a holiday!
I checked out of my Zurich hotel nice and early and caught the tram back to the station. This was a two-leg journey, first to Basel in the west of Switzerland, before the second train into France and on to Paris itself. The journey was without incident and these were among the more comfortable trains I’d taken on this trip. I arrived at the Gare de Lyon right on time and took the rubber-wheeled Metro the short journey to Chatea d’Eau to locate my hotel. My room options were either the 5th floor (with no lift) facing the bins or the ‘accessible’ room on the ground floor so I opted for the latter, even knowing that I’d have to keep the curtains closed the whole time!
I unpacked, showered and went for a wander, looking for somewhere to eat, and also began a two-stage Virtual dedicated to the 18th century feminist and writer, George Sands. The Louisette would become my ‘local’ for the next few days, and I enjoyed a fabulous steak, a couple of beers and the France v Norway game. It was a hot and sticky evening, Paris being at the centre of the recent European heatwave, and I had a great evening surrounded by young French fans as their team beat Norway 4-2. Back at the hotel, unable to open the windows and with no aircon or even a fan, I had the second of my four showers that night and crashed out for a fitful night’s sleep.
I’d booked to have breakfast at the hotel but I wouldn’t be bothering again, if bread, jam and tea was what they called breakfast. Paris is a huge and sprawling city; three nights here wasn’t going to be long enough to see much, and so I once again let geocaching guide me. On my last visit I’d found a webcam, now archived, and a couple of other caches, but this was largely virgin territory for me. I looked for clusters of Virtuals on the map and decided to start with a really interesting art-related location near the Pompidou centre, before walking past the Hotel de Ville and over the river to the Isle de la Cite with the intention of seeing the newly-restored Notre Dame Cathedral. The Cathedral, like the Pompidou Centre, was closed to the public, in this case for the ordination of new priests. The crowds at the west front were undeterred, however, and seemed to be growing in numbers, hoping eventually to be let in. I wasn’t keen to stand impatiently in the blistering heat on the off-chance I’d gain access, so I continued my walk to the flower market and to St Chapelle (also closed, this time ‘because of the heat’).
Leaving the Isle, I took the Metro to Rue de Rivoli to look at the artspace and former artists’ squat ‘59 Rivoli‘. That too was closed, but would be open again later, so I vowed to return, and walked to the Louvres instead. Guess what- it too was closed! So many places seemed to be either closed or closing early because of the heatwave. Ironically, these big cool stone buildings were precisely the sort of places that most people wanted to visit in this heat! Walking past the Pyramid, I started heading towards the Champs Elysees, my intention being to make my way right along to the Arc de Triumphe at the other end. There were a number of interesting Virtuals along this famous route, including the Champs Elysees itself and the Place de la Concorde, but the heat was taking its toll on me. No amount of ice cream and lemon Fanta was going to make things any easier, so I rested in the shade of a Maidenhair tree and wrote my latest postcards.
Taking the shady route within the Tuilleries and Champs Elysees gardens, I had the chance to see a number of artworks that I missed on previous visits. The golden statue of Joan of Arc, L’Air and the colourful Bouquet of Tulips. Eventually, however, the heat became too much, and I rode the rest of the route by Metro all the way to Etoille and the magnificent Arc de Triumphe. I feel no shame in heading for these tourist traps. They’re popular for a reason, and in this case because of its collosal dominance of the area and the stories that it tells of post-medieval Parisian history, from Napolean to the World Wars. I was glad, for a change, of a set of Adventure Labs here to give me something to focus on rather than just snapping photos and avoiding the crowds.
Next, I took another Metro ride over to the Eiffel Tower. I decided that if observation towers had been a feature of this tour, I might as well finish it in style with a visit to the daddy of them all! Starting at Champs de Mars, I walked another famous line to the site of the the tower itself, past an old Traditional cache that I’d found in 2012, only to discover that since my last visit the area under the tower was unaccessible, closed off with large perspex screens. Moreover, the tower itself had also closed early ‘because of the weather’, leaving thousands of confused visitors baking in the 39 degree heat. Thankfully, the CO of the Virtual placed here looked kindly on me and allowed me to claim it anyway. From here I walked over the Pont d’Lena in the direction of Trocadero for yet another stunning view of the world’s best ever Mecanno model.
I was certainly ready for some shade now, so I took a ride back to 59 Rivoli which was now open. The purpose of my visit was to complete yet another Virtual which required me to find a particular detail on different sections of the six-storey mural in the stairwell. This was interesting enough in itself, but each floor also contained a number of units occupied by different artists as their studio, gallery and office in one. I took the time on each floor to have a wander around, talk to some of the artists and enjoy the whole experience. This was without doubt one of the highlights of my visit to Paris, if not of the whole trip.
It was nearly 8pm now and I’d been out all day. The artspace was closing, and so I made a donation and headed back to The Louisette for a couple of beers, and watched the England v Panama match accompanied by a dramatic and much-needed thunderstorm. I vainly hoped that this would clear the air ready for a cooler night, but this was not to be, although I’d only need two showers this time.
Earlier I’d spotted a post from a caching pal, a selfie taken yesterday at the Eiffel tower no less. Mark was still in Paris and his hotel was only 400m from mine, so we arranged to meet in the morning for breakfast, a chat and a spot of caching around Gare de L’Est before he took his train home to the UK.
Otherwise, my target for the last full day of my trip was the Montmatre district. I walked gradually up the hill to the Sacre Coeur and at the top I was reminded of the views I’d seen in Luxembourg many weeks ago now, at the ‘Balcony of Europe’. This was a fabulous view, and on a clear day like today the whole of Paris was looking its best. I queued in the heat to enter the basilica and yet again was glad of the cool air inside. I lit yet another candle for my friend Alice and took a few minutes to sit and enjoy the interior. Later I walked through the old streets of Montmartres, again enjoying the statuary and soaking up the atmosphere before taking the furnicular back down the hill and finding a shady cafe for some lunch.
My last afternoon was spend mopping up a few more Virtuals (there were almost no physical caches in the centre of the city at all!) starting with the rooftop of the Galleries Lafyette, with its colourful glazed dome roof and views over Opera and the surrounding area. My ongoing need to keep cool took me inside St Eustache church, although there was a service in progress so I moved on to Olympia and the Opera itself before taking a bus back to the Louvres. This time I walked over the Pont des Arts to St Germain des Pres to find the final location for the Global Geocaching cache, a fitting end to a wonderful few days in the City of Lights. Then it was back to the Louisette for another steak, a couple more beers and some football, before walking back to the hotel to pack for the final time.
Much as I’d enjoyed my trip, I was ready to go home now. I missed my friends and family, craved more human interaction and was fed up of wearing the same five T shirts in rotation! Three showers and a reasonable night’s sleep later I was at the Gare du Nord, found a nearby barber for a really nice shave- the best of the trip!- and began my long but smooth and uneventful journey back to London and then home to Lincoln.
I’ll do one more post in a few days with some general reflections on my tour but otherwise I’ll say thanks for showing an interest in my travels and I hope this hasn’t been too self-indulgent for you. I’ve made a separate page with all these posts grouped together and will upload a wider selection of photos from each location when I have time. Thanks for travelling with me!
A Wright
June 2026
Leave a Reply