Relaxing in Place de la Republique
Federica Carr and Amber ride the trains and go for walks in Calais, Paris and Zurich, as Continental Canine continues.
Now in Paris we moved on heading for the Marais. At this point I was famished, so finally spotted what looked like a nice coffee shop on Rue du Temple and went in. This was one of the nicest discoveries of the journey. Strada Cafe’ is a small, welcoming quirky coffee shop with hot food and great coffee. I sipped on an iced latte, enjoyed a carrot cake and Amber relaxed in the breeze of a fan. Great music selection in the background and friendly Kiwi staff made this a perfect rest stop.
Time to be on the move again and we made our way towards Gare de Lyon, through the animated streets of the Marais, one of my favourite areas of Paris. We stopped by Terres de Cafes on Rue des Francs Bourgeois, full of tourists and locals, and walked past famous Korkatz and L’As di Falafel on Rue de Rosiers, both closed for the summer holiday.
Cooling down in Terres de Cafe
We left the Marais behind, and still we had not found a place for a loo break for Amber. Paris has a few green areas but not many of these allow dogs. Disaster! For a pooch that doesn’t not use the street like all her other species fellows, Paris is a difficult place to be. The beautiful Place de Vosges was too full of people to risk it, so we stopped for a cold fruit juice in Juice Lab.
We reached Place de la Bastille, frantically walking past each tiny strip of soil and gravel or tree to try and inspire her (the city is dirty enough!) but no, alas! she’s a lady. We kept walking, by now both pretty tired, the long shadows of the late afternoon casting shadows as well walked through Avenue Daumesnil, our final stretch before the station.
Gare de Lyon: Welcome to Thello
The Gare de Lyon’s facade is impressive, beautiful and majestic and was a welcome sight. We sat in one of the outside cafe’s which has astroturf… in the hope of, you guess what but still nothing. I had a lemonade, skyped home and it was time to board our Thello.
Thello is the overnight train that goes from Paris to Venice and back, via Dijon, Lyon, Turin, Milan. It leaves Paris at 7pm and gets to Milano at 6am; the way back, it departs Milan at 11pm, arriving in Paris at 9am. For the way down, we opted for this route. I was excited because I had not been on a sleeper train for decades.
Traveling with a pet, one must book a private sleeper cabin. While this is a much preferred option (the cabins are tight) it is also expensive if traveling alone. The train is quite old and while clean, it does look pretty dated.
The cabin had a welcome snack box which included a small bottle of prosecco. we made ourselves comfortable and watched as the city gave way to countryside and the sun started to set from our cabin windows.
We woke up when the train stopped in Dijon, and then again when we reached Milan. The train staff actually knocks on your door and gives you back the passport which they had collected upon checking in, something I was not too happy about but unavoidable. We stepped out of the Thello in a still dark but warm August morning and we were finally in Italy!
Back via Zurich
On the way back, the timetable of Thello does not work as well to connect back to the UK, especially considering the dog’s needs.
I opted for day time travel back to Paris, and overnight in the city. We left Milano Centrale on a 7am train bound for Zurich, around 3.5 hours. This was by far the most beautiful leg of the entire trip, as the train goes through the Alps and the lakes, and it’s stunning. Despite the day being quite grey, it provided some breathtaking views.
We travelled second class on EuroCity train but the carriage was very empty, and despite not being to charge the phone nor use the wifi, I loved the views. Amber, on the other hand, spent the whole trip cuddled up under the luggage rail, sleeping it off.
This was the only continental train which requires that the ticket for the pet is paid on board, oddly enough. It also goes through the border which means a group of Swiss border police comes on the train and randomly checks documents.
Walking in Zurich, Europallee
In Zurich, we hopped off the train at the central station (Zurich HB). The temperature had considerably dropped compared to Milan, and it was drizzly. We had a layover of 2.5 hours here, and the first thing we did was to queue, for a long time, to get the pooch ticket for our next leg. Glad we did because it took forever.
We walked around the station in search of some grass which we found immediately outside, walking along the river. We headed towards Hiltl , the oldest continuously open vegetarian restaurant in the world and, with a friend, who met us for lunch, I grabbed a coffee and some food at the buffet. Sadly, the restaurant would not have allowed me to go inside with a dog.
We made it back to the station on time for our TGV Lyria which takes just under 4 hours to get to Paris and goes via Basel and Dijon, so a pretty route, but not as panoramic as the Alps.
Paris, la Nuit
We arrived back at Gare de Lyon on time at 5pm, and we hopped on one of the buses that go from here to Gare du Nord. The bus stop is conveniently right outside the station and it is possible to pay cash to the driver (2euro) so that was perfect.
In no time we arrived to our hotel for the night, boutique MARAIS HÔme, which was a perfect location and reasonably priced. The room was tiny, but clean and very comfortable, with a decent bathroom and wifi.
It is also a short walk from the Marais, where we headed soon after checking in. It was early evening and the area was quiet, so I decided to risk the ire of the Parisian and take Amber to one of the small parks of the borough.
I took out my camera, unfolded my city map and looked lost while she enjoyed a loo break on the pretty and fairly empty Georges Cain square on Rue Payenne.
We then headed to Camile on Rue des Francs Bourgeois for dinner. This is a classic french bistro with attractive period feature and a solid menu. I was allowed in with Amber and took a seat in a side table, overlooking the street outside and by the bar.
The service was great, they brought out a bowl for her straight away and I was served a decent steak frites very quickly. I enjoyed a Kir Royal and a chocolate mousse too, as this was our final night of the trip and felt like a small celebration.
The next morning, we walked to the Gare du Nord, back where we’d originally come from two weeks earlier. It was early in the day so we sneaked into the green area of Saint Laurent church for a loo break and arrived at the station with enough time to spare for breakfast at one of the cafes (Roberta).
We finally boarded our TGV back to Calais where our Pet Taxi was waiting for us. The journey was not as bad as the outbound and the train was right on time.
We approached the Euroshuttle and swiftly passed the pet travel check, boarding a slightly earlier shuttle back to England.
But what about reaching Italy? Find out in the next chapter of Continental Canine.
