Madrid to Paris (adventure ends)

We got into Paris late and did not get to our hotel until 2 am. Got up the next day and took a scenic bus that goes around the city. Got off the bus at many stops in that there is so much to see in Paris. Finally decided it was getting late and found a restaurant near our hotel and ate. Needed to get up early to go to where Ben has been looking forward the entire trip.......DISNEYLAND PARIS!! Took us nearly an hour and a half to go out there by train. The Park is about 30 miles outside the city. They have 2 Parks, the regular park and Disney Studios. Pretty much like the ones in the US. The weather was great and stayed until the park closed. Did not get back to the hotel until 1 am. Got up the next day to rain and decided to try to see the the Catacombs of Paris. A place where they buried the dead for many years in the 1700's when they ran out of room in the cemeteries. Unfortunately, by the time we found it the line was over 3 hours long. We decided to head over to the Lourve. When we got there the line was close to two hours long to get tickets. We remembered somebody we met on the Camino who told us a trick to bypass the lines. He told us about a small tourist office acros the stret from the Lourve that sells tickets and then you can bypass the line and go to a seperate entrance. Sounded too good to be true but it worked. Got in in less than 15 minutes. We wandered around the Lourve for over 3 hours and only saw maybe 20% of the place. It is huge! We then went to the bridge where all the locks are placed and then walked the Sein all the way down to the Eiffel Tower and found a restaurant over looking the tower. We called it a night to get up early to fly back to reality.

It is hard to believe we have been gone for 6 weeks and that it was nearly a week since we completed the Camino. Although it has been quite an adventure, we are both looking forward to coming home. I hope you all enjoyed the blog.

Santiago de Compestela to Madrid

Sorry for not posting. A very busy 3 days in Madrid.

Left Santiago on Thursday August 1st by train to Madrid. Took about 5 hours and it was a nice relaxing trip. Went to the car where they had food and saw our friend Edith from New York. We lost her 2 weeks prior in Burgos and we were so surprised to see each other again. She had decided to take the bus from Leon to Bugos when we decided to take the bikes. We arrived in Madrid at about 3 and then spent time figuring out the Metro system and how to find our hotel. Somehow it worked. We went out and explored the city and had a nice dinner before calling it a night. The next day we bought tickets for the tour bus that drives all around the city. We spent the day exploring and then made plans to meet Edith for a final dinner before parting ways. Ben insisted on shaving and we bought a razor for him to finally rid himself of the beard. We all went to a really neat Mercardo where all the merchants sell samples of various food items...tapas, etc. We stopped at a booth and had a glass of wine and met a couple guys from New York who insisted on sampling everything in the place. They kept coming back with plates of food. We ate, drank and had a good time before heading off to dinner at about 10 (they all eat late in Spain). Ben, Edith and I went to Botins which claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world. We had a fabulous dinner. We then went to San Germin which is famous for its churros and chocolate (at least 3 people during our walk told us we had to go there). Got back to the room at about 1 am. The next day we explored more of the city which included the famous Madrid Bullring before heading to the airport for our flight to Paris at 8 pm. Of course the plane was late.