I took the 9:20 am Continental flight from Detroit to Newark and the 6:10 pm flight from Newark to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.  Security was easy, but the nearly seven-hour layover in Newark's Terminal C was very, very long (with no free Wifi).  Le Petit Bistro in the Newark Airport is very good--for $8, I got honey mustard chicken with onions and mushrooms, Caesar salad, and yellow rice.

I landed at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, went through passport control, and was on my way.  I got 190 euros ($270) out of the ATM machine, walked to the RER-B station, bought a ticket from the airport to Paris for 8.40 euros ($11.81).

With only about three hours in Paris before my train, I had to make a tough decision.  Where to go?  I narrowed it down to three ideas: the Orangerie (which had been closed every other time I'd been in Paris), Roland Garros, and Montmartre.  I ended up deciding to go to Montmartre.

I took the RER-B to the Gare du Nord and changed to the Metro ligne 2.  I got off at the Anvers stop.  It turned out to be one of the Art Nouveau stops. Cool!	I walked up from the Anvers stop a couple of blocks an ended up here, just below the basilica.  What a beautiful view!
It's a lot of steps up to the basilica, but as you can see, there are benches and plateaus along the way.  It was very pleasant to have a seat and enjoy the view.  I arrived just as the fountains were being turned on!	After a rest on a bench, I walked all the way up to the top to tour the basilica and enjoy the widest view.  The only building I could immediately recognize from a distance was, of course, the hideous Centre Georges Pompidou!
After enjoying the view, I began to make my way on foot to Gare St. Lazare, where I would catch my train to Bayeux.  One way to get down from (or up to) the basilica is to take this little funicular.  It only costs one metro ticket, but it was a beautiful day, and the steps weren't that bad (even though I had all my luggage on my back!).	My train to Bayeux was to leave from Gare St. Lazare.  To my knowledge, I had never been there before.
While waiting for my 12:10 pm train, I picked up my pre-ordered train tickets (easy to do with my e-mail confirmation and credit card) and ate at this fancy McDonald's across the street.  (I had the Royal Deluxe meal with Sprite and fries for 6.45 euros [$9.10].)  I wanted to eat on the second floor, but it was full, so I ended up eating in the basement.	It was a compartment train to Bayeux with open seating.  The two-hour train ride cost 15 euros ($20.25) because I had purchased it far in advance and printed the ticket at home (called a PREM's fare).  I had two men in my compartment.  The one pictured behind me slept the whole time.  The other was from New Mexico, so we ended up chatting for most of the way.

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