UK & Europe '24 Day 16 and 17 - Skansen and arrival in Paris

Our last day in Stockholm was a warm summer's day. So warm, in fact, we shopped for shorts. That's our excuse, and we're sticking to it. The shop attendant in Dressman and Odenplan was really friendly and interested in having a chat to her to Aussie visitors. She gave us a couple of good tips for Paris: avoid the restaurants near the Eiffel Tower (they're all tourist traps) and the view from Sacre Coeur is much better than from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Shorts purchased and swapped in to replace our jeans, we headed to Odenplan station and headed to Central station so we could catch a tram down to Skansen. 

I had an inkling the marathon being run was going to pose a challenge, and that came in the form of not tram, so we walked down to the water, passing through a pretty park on the way, to catch the ferry. I can understand why people get crushed at soccer matches. There was no orderly queue for the ferry, just a mass of people funnelling onto the narrow gangway. The tram moves a lot of people to the are we were going to. Other attractions in the area are the ABBA Museum and Grona Lund, and all of the patrons for the attractions in the area were pushed to the ferry in the absence of a tram service. 

We weren't really sure what to expect from Skansen, but what we found was an expansive park with a mixture of preserved historical buildings, a zoo and a variety of activities, and to look at Skansen from the street, you wouldn't guess that any of it was there. Up the big hill brings you, at first, to a marine exhibit with aquarium, which was interesting to walk through and view ocean creatures commonly found in the Baltic Sea., including mussels, jellyfish and various types of fish, large and small. The exhibit has a sustainability and educational focus, with plenty of details related to the species we saw and how close to extinction most of them are, as well as the impact on the heath of marine life based on pollutants caused by modern day living. The building next door was run by a private company with a separate entrance fee, so we skipped that one and viewed the lemurs (and their cute babies) from the outside.

As we rounded the next corner we saw what was the beginning of a well-laid out historical park. Buildings here have been brought in and preserved, and are centuries old. The tallest belfry in Stockholm is here, relocated after the church it was attached to burned down, the iron belfry having survived. Onwards along the train is a school house, a windmill, and further along still are farmer's cottages and pens where sheep and ducks are held. 

The gardens are a visual treat with formal landscaping in some areas, farm crops in others, and poppy blooms larger than we've ever seen. There are large rune stones, authentic artefacts from the viking era, made in memory of people who died, and mile stones, once used as markers from the town centres; farmers whose land they were placed were responsible for their upkeep.

I tried elk for lunch, which was pretty tasty, then we wandered down to look at the nordic animals, even though some of them were in hiding. Bison having a dust bath, brown bears having a barney and reindeer having a rest along with a wild boar were the ones we saw. The nordic fox, lynx, wolverine and owl decided to do a no-show.

We wandered through the village square and found a bakery (of course... the friand was delicious) and checked out the potter's wares. We even came across a few chooks, a nordic breed that were practically extinct as recently as 1992.

We were getting a little foot sore by the end of it, but I wanted a ride on the funicular railway, so we circled again and rode it down... to the wrong exit, so walked all the way up the hill again and back down an extremely steep escalator back to the main exit where our bag was stored. The trip back to the apartment involved taking a round trip on the ferry before realising we should have disembarked at Slussen, but eventually getting in just in time to meet our booking for the laundry. While the dryer did its thing, we enjoyed some Turkish food before heading back to pack our bags.

Our flight was a little bit later today, so we had some breakfast at Thelin's again, then caught an Uber to Central to hop on the Arlanda Express to the airport. Another comfy ride. The Air France flight was just over two hours long and were shocked to find the seats were in need of a clean. The plane felt a bit grubby, but the cabin crew were very friendly. 

Arriving in Paris was like landing on yet another strange planet. The frenetic energy around Gare du Nord was something like we've never seen. Traffic was bumper to bumper, jamming in from all directions, and our cab driver issued his fair share of parps and horn basts to other road users, and even verbally abused one as we passed them. One particular highlight of the journey was a mass of people on roller blades who streamed out of a side street, slowing traffic down, but we were as good as there and he dropped us off on the main road, right on the 14 Euro fare Uber had estimated.

We settled in then went for a wander around Bastille, catching our first glimpse of the Seinne. First impressions of Paris were grimy, crazy busy and an element of taking your life into your own hands. There were bullet holes in the windows of a couple of the shops we passed. Tres comforting! 

After a good wander, we found a cafe and sat for a couple of drinks before wandering back towards our home for this week and finding a nice bistro along the way. I got to try some of my newly acquired French and it seemed to work (the danger is always that they'll ask you a question, leading to glazed eyes). The Roasted brie for entree was a hit, and I really enjoyed my rigatoni truffle. We passed on crepes for dessert (this time) and found some pastries on the way back. Glazed eyes when the baker asked me a question, followed by oui, almond sil vous plait, but I redeemed myself with the green grocer with some friendly ca va's and a bon soiree. Phew! That was a big day, too. Travel days generally are, but it's all part of the fun. 

Bonne nuit!