I also took a picture of the Columbus statue because I remembered that the Columbus statue in New York City is facing so that it looks directly at another Columbus statue in Europe. Seeing this one made me think of that but I had to check online to see if it was facing Barcelona and I found out that people say the Barcelona statue is pointing to the New World and some say Genova where he was born but in fact it just points out to sea and toward Algeria actually. So for now I have no idea of this is the statue the mention when you take the tour of NYC but I do know the Barcelona statue was built in 1888 and the NYC one in 1892 so it is entirely possible when they built the NYC one they made it to look to the Barcelona one. It's a nice idea anyway.
I also took a picture of the cities shared bicycle system that I've seen in constant use yesterday and again this morning when two people came to return the bicycles they used. I think in just about every major European city I've been to this trip they've had the bicycle sharing program and I hope by the time I get back to NYC they have theirs in place as well. It's a great idea and it clearly is embraced by the locals of all these cities.
We left the hotel around 11:30am and on our way out met two older men (a very sweet couple) from Maryland who were spending few days in Barcelona and then getting on a Celebrity cruise going from Barcelona to Singapore and lasting 28 days. That's a long time at sea but I'm sure it will be an amazing trip.
We took the subway which is so clean and easy to use four stops to the main train station, Estació de Sants and just barely made the 12:22pm train to Figueres Vilafant, France where we changed trains for the high speed one to Paris Gare du Lyons. The trains in Spain are so efficient and clean and well run and the one to Paris was equally as nice and we met a very friendly French man who told us about some of the sights we were seeing as we traveled along. We passed all the following cities and only stopped at a handful since it was the express train: Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier Saint-Roch, Nîmes, Valence. It was an incredible way to see the French country side and we even, for about an hour and a half traveled along the Mediterranean seaside passing beautiful beaches, farms and tiny towns. We even saw several groupings of Flamingos in the water. As we passed the hillside town of Beziers we saw their stunning cathedral with the flying buttresses. It reminded me a little of the Notre Dame in Paris. I've included a picture but it's from the internet as I couldn't possibly have gotten a good shot from the train. But I did take some other random pictures of another town and the seaside.
We arrived in Paris around 8:30pm and too the subway to Gare Du Nord and then walked to the Hotel Faubourg which is about a 7 minute walk around the corner from the main entrance to the hotel in a predominantly Indian neighborhood. The hotel is clean enough and although we had to change rooms because there was a leak in our bathroom sink it's fine for Paris and was reasonably priced. I happen to love Indian cuisine and haven't had it for over two months so I was particularly happy to have curry veggies and nan bread. Mom was not interested and got bottled water at the Indian minimarket next to the hotel and headed back to the room to eat the sandwich she had left from lunch. I brought her some butter nan bread which she enjoyed so at least she had something hot but she refuses to eat Indian food and the smell of curry she said makes her unhappy. Oh, well, I tried and it really is so delicious if you just give it a try.
So now off to bed and to enjoy Paris tomorrow!!! Bonne nuit or good night!