We woke very early this morning, as the train to Paris was leaving at around 7:00 AM. After assembling our group in the hotel lobby and finalizing our rendez-vous point with Daren, we boarded the TGV high speed train that would have us in Paris within a few hours.
After making one local stop in Lyon, the train immediately picked up speed and headed for Paris. This was definitely a unique experience for me. We found seats by the windows at one end of the car that we were assigned to. As the train whirred toward Paris the countryside literally flew by. I'm not sure if you have ever gone this fast, but it takes some getting used to! My brain and eyes had to re-configure to process the sights going by at around 150MPH!
Before we knew it we were in Paris and walking toward the Bastille area where we would be staying. I bought a map and we decided to head toward the Eiffel Tower on foot. This was a walk that took us several hours. We stopped here and there, but knew that we would be going to several of these sights with the group later that night and the next day.
We arrived at the Eiffel Tower around 15 minutes prior to our scheduled meeting time with Daren, who had our tickets to go to the top of the tower. Walking directly under the tower, I got a real feeling for the enormity of this monument. One of the highlights of Paris was the view from the top of the tower (see photos below). Unbelievable!
Having been re-united with our group, we headed for the Hotel and checked in. We stayed in a nice hotel located in the Bastille section. After a quick dinner, we boarded the coach for the orientation tour of Paris. We saw the monuments all lit up and I gained a true love for Paris. I must admit, I have never had a burning desire to visit Paris. I guess I had some preconceived ideas of what it was like - I couldn't have been more wrong! I found the French people gracious and Paris lovely! There are tree lined streets everywhere, and as cities go it has a real comfy feel.
After the coach orientation tour, several of us attended an authentic French Cabaret Show. This was exactly as I had pictured - Can-Can dancers in a flashy variety show! Several of us walked the Champs élysée that night and we took the Metro back to the Hotel where we spent the remainder of the night at the hotel bar. The Heineken in Paris is the same as in Amsterdam - very good!
The next morning we began early, as several of us spent the final day in Paris seeing the sights and attending the museums. We went to L'orangerie and saw Monet's Waterlillies, a painting that takes up the better part of a room! After L'orangerie, we attempted to tackle the Louvre. With the limited amount of time that we had, we decided to see only the Mona Lisa nad the Venus de Milo - saving the remainder of the museum for another trip. Once we had seen these two works, we headed up to the Champs élysée to some looking around. We climbed to the top of l'arc de triumphe and the view from the top was spectacular. With the Champs élysée unfolding below me, I could see why people loved Paris so much. This was the exact spot where the tour de france ended just a week or so before we were there.
This evening's activities centered around dinner at The Pub St. Germaine. We had our last dinner together and it really began to hit me that this whirlwind trip was coming to an end. We decided at dinner that we would present Daren with the lovely little hat that we had bought in Venice. I must say, Kiwi did a fine job of making the presentation. I think that Daren appreciated the humor in it all!
Several of us decided that on our last night in Paris we would do something unioque - go to a bar! We found a small place in the Bastille section and settled in. There was some super-hitest drink special and we all ordered one. It was at this point that I realized that tommorow we would once again be heading across the English Channel for our return to London and our various homes. I don't think that any of us were ready for this trip to be concluding! We headed back to our hotel and went through our packing ritual once again. I think that we got around 3 hours of sleep that night, as several of us sat up talking most of the night. Tommorow we would be in London aone again.
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