My next adventure: Istanbul/Izmit (Türkiye) – April 2024

We woke up to a lovely hot day here in Paris. As we are staying next to the financial district, we headed there first. This was simple walk from the hotel along a cycle path and then we were met by the Grande Arche which we had planned to go up. This was a mission in itsself as there’re steps up to the entrance. We soon found signs of how to get to the disabled entrance going up and down little lifts in random office buildings to find out it had actually been closed to the public for 2 years, all that for nothing! We then headed towards Tour Montparnasse starting off on the tram. After we eventually worked out how to get tickets even though we bought the wrong ones to start with, we went down to the platform and, surprisingly for Paris the trams were low floor meaning that it was exactly level with the platform for ease of getting on and off. I was surprised because the metro and RER in Paris have massive steps on to the train so I recommend that if you can, use the tram.

We then walked for about 40 mins towards the tower stopping at Starbucks on the way for lunch as, like typical French style, most of the restaurants had steps leading up to it with no portable ramps. The tower itself is a great alternative to the Eiffel Tower if you want panoramic views of Paris however the Eiffel Tower is currently being renovated to incorporate wheelchair accessible lifts to the first deck. After taking a few photos and a video, we started to head back to the hotel just as my wheelchair battery was running out, this was again easy on the tram apart from our ticket wasn’t validated but a couple of French people sorted this out by forcing the barriers open. We then just spent the rest of the day in our hotel ready for a five hour drive to Strasbourg, good planning that!

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Day 14 – Travel to Strasbourg

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