Days 1 & 2 - Bonjour Paris!

What better way to start our trip than in the City of Lights? Upon arrival at our hotel on Friday night, we had time for a quick change of clothes before embarking on our first tour of Paris. Via bus we made our way around the drizzly city with our guide explaining the history and significance of the monuments. Excitement abounded as we first laid eyes on the city's landmarks, particularly, of course, when driving pass the Eiffel Tower.

No time to stop though as after nearly 30 hours of travel we were in need of stretching our legs and refueling. Off to the Champs Élysées to see the magnificent Arc de Triomphe and a couple of hours for dinner and to wander the shops before heading back for a much needed shower and sleep.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning, we were greeted by a magnifique buffet breakfast of fresh croissants and baguettes with cheese and ham, pastries, crepes and fruit.

Prue was particularly beside herself and attacked the food with impressive gusto, and continued talking about that breakfast for the next two days. We fear that breakfast will never be the same for her now that she has experienced the culinary art of fresh French baked goods.

Off to explore some of the more renowned landmarks, with another tour guide providing even more commentary. First up, a visit to Notre Dame cathedral. As impressive as this is from the outside, it drew audible gasps once inside. We were lucky enough to hear the organ and choir preparing for morning mass, and listening to those imposing sounds reverberate while walking under the strained glass windows and chandeliers of the incredible cathedral was spine tingling.

 

Several of the touring party lit candles for departed loved ones and a group of us sent a special prayer for the Cowboys' semi final (which proved to be highly effective) before it was time to head off.

 

Our very kind bus driver and tour guide were able to drop us off for a closer look and photo opportunity with the glass pyramids, and entrance, to the Louvre. Unfortunately we did not have time to explore this former chateau and largest museum in the world, but the pyramids are impressive architectural feats on their own and exciting to see close up.

Next was a visit to THAT Parisienne lady - La Tour Eiffel. The students were incredibly excited to see this iconic structure, and no matter how many times you have seen her, the view from Trocadero is always breathtaking. After the obligatory hundreds of snaps, we walked down to appreciate her size and engineering from underneath. In one of life's ridiculously serendipitous moments, Mrs Ahern found herself standing right next to her cousin under the Eiffel Tower. Little did we know this would not be the only encounter our touring party would have with people we know from back home.

Sadly to was time to say goodbye. Despite the whirlwind nature of our trip to Paris, we squeezed a lot of the major sightseeing 'to-dos' in and gave the students inspiration for another trip back in the future. With a full two weeks of travel ahead of us, it was back to the hotel for a bus transfer to take us out to the Somme to begin our two days of touring the battlefields of France and Belgium.

Au revoir Paris - you were lovely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by K Kybus