![Picture](/uploads/1/8/2/1/18218969/published/metro-insta.jpg?1483456830)
The second half of our European adventure involved straining to pull all of our luggage to St. Pancras/King's Cross station (Harry Potter fans will be familiar with the latter) to hop on our Eurostar train to Paris.
Two hours later, we're in the heart of the city's bustling Gare du Nord (North Station), observing how other people were purchasing Metro tickets from the automated machines. (Turns out we had no reason to worry: The ticket machines have an English-language screen too.)
When I (finally) hoisted my luggage over the top step in the stairway from the Cardinal Lemoine Metro stop to the Latin Quarter above, I realized: This isn't the Paris of my dog-eared travel guide. This is Paris when it's living, breathing, moving. This is Paris when it's real.
Two hours later, we're in the heart of the city's bustling Gare du Nord (North Station), observing how other people were purchasing Metro tickets from the automated machines. (Turns out we had no reason to worry: The ticket machines have an English-language screen too.)
When I (finally) hoisted my luggage over the top step in the stairway from the Cardinal Lemoine Metro stop to the Latin Quarter above, I realized: This isn't the Paris of my dog-eared travel guide. This is Paris when it's living, breathing, moving. This is Paris when it's real.
View of Rue des Écoles from the balcony of our hotel room at Hôtel Familia
Despite being close to reknowned attractions like the Panthéon, the Latin Quarter (or le Quartier latin in French) wasn't nearly as crowded as other parts of the city. This was probably due in part to its proximity to schools like the University of Paris, which is the second-oldest modern university in Europe. It was also a chilly week in mid-October and the area was immersed in a (relative) post-Paris Fashion Week quiet, so we enjoyed people-watching inside La Crêperie on the corner of rues Saint-Jacques and Soufflot before walking to la Place de la Sorbonne.
There's a Gap store on one side and a Nike store on the other, and vintage boutiques and cafés line this part of Boulevard Saint-Michel. (The Gap windows seem the same, no matter where you are.)
I'm ashamed to admit that, while I knew of the Panthéon, I had no clue why it was so well-known. The short answer: Originally built as a church in the late 1700s, it's now a mausoleum housing some of the most honored French citizens, including Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie. The front of the Panthéon bears a gold inscription: AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE (meaning "To great men, the grateful homeland").