Pre Camino

Auckland to Paris
4th & 5th April

Our flights with Emirates went very well - just seemed to go forever. We enjoyed our we break in Dubai airport and our arrival in Paris couldn't have been more easy. Passport control was so quick  - virtually no queue and took all of about 10 seconds each to get our passport stamped. Getting our packs which we had checked in took a while longer but was equally hassle free then we walked past customs which consisted  of about six men chatting to each other with their backs to us as we walked out through a doorway marked Taxi and hopped straight into an official taxi with a fixed charge which was way less than the train or bus options and dropped us off at our hotel door. Our hotel is small and really nice. It's a block away from Gare Montparnasse which we'll be leaving Paris from tomorrow. We quickly found a supermarket and got breakfast things and a takeaway dinner which we had at our hotel. Later Jeff and I went out to explore the Montparnasse area we're staying in. We had such fun being out and about watching the Parisians enjoying their cafes and bars on a lovely spring evening.
Our first impressions of Paris are a jumble of chaotic road traffic, signs of spring such as trees with their first acid-free green leaves, some covered with white blossoms and others with pink, and daffodils and tulips dotted around.

The view from our hotel.

...and some photos of our first exploration of the Montparnasse area near our hotel:

Our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower