Days 13 and 14: Night train to Lisbon (calling at Paris, Madrid)

Sunrise saw us arriving in Munich, only to get right back onto a train to Stuttgart and then to Paris. We didn’t have longer than 6 hours to discover the city and knew we couldn’t do it justice with such little time, so the plan was to stick to an arrondissement and explore.

And explore we did. After dropping off our bags at Austerlitz, we walked to the Notre Dame, towering over an impromptu opera concert by a street performer which opened our grand tour of Le Marais. We snaked through streets that caught our eyes or noses: a truffle shop scenting the block with hints of vanilla, an éclair shop giving a pop of raspberry and lemon hues to an otherwise unremarkable corner. We showed little restraint with food, as each window we peeked through held greater   treasures than the last.

A macaron-fueled walk to the Louvre was in order and it did not disappoint: the glass pyramid contrasted with the older building surrounding it, the water gushing and people chattering, light gleaming off the geometrical structure as the sun began its descent. People were lying on the grass as we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries and the Eiffel Tower was just visible above the trees.

The walk back to Le Marais went along the Seine, and then past boutiques, art galleries and endless rows of people sat at small tables on the streets, enjoying coffee or a beer, maybe a cigarette and definitely some good company, if laughter is a good measure of that.

Soon time had creeped up on us and so we went to find somewhere to eat. We read online that Breizh Café serves the best crêpes and galettes, so we got them to go and picked up some beers on the walk back to the station. Our last taste of Paris was a picnic by the river before we hurried to catch our train.

The following morning was similar to the one that preceded it: we arrived in Perpignan in the morning and walked around a little before making our way to Madrid. It was 16h but the heat and glaring sun made it seem like it was only noon. The hot air felt like it pushed against us as we walked up to the centre and I couldn’t help but think that maybe a fan wouldn’t have been a bad idea – all the old Spanish ladies were carrying them. From Puerta del Sol we went to the Palace and the Opera, and then all the way around the city to the park. A drink on the lawn was all we had time for before we ate something and hopped onto our last train.

We could already hear people speaking Portuguese and the trip felt like it was reaching the end. On the train back home we went through the photos we took over the past two weeks and laughed at the silly faces we pulled, and the lessons learnt (don’t expect to sleep on a night train, don’t forget the map in the flat, do sample as many beers and meals as you can).