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23 April 2013
We get up bright and early and head over to the international train station where we hop aboad the Eurostar from London to Paris. After heaving our already heavy suitcases into the carriages and stacking them amongst the rest we find our seats. Our seats are comfy and we settle in to enjoy the short 3 hour journey under the English Channel and through the French country side. As Australians, it is so odd to think you can get to another country in three hours. Before reaching the big underground tunnel we go through a few smaller ones and it pays to take note that your ears will block which can be quite painful, so like on a plane remember to take some lollies to chew on. The weather is again beautiful outside as we emerge from under the English Channel and watch small French towns come into view.
Once arriving in Paris we take note that they will speak a different language and we have trouble trying to find our best option to get from the station to our hotel. Although everyone is helpful. We find a tourism desk where the lady speaks English and
she sets us up and off onto a bus. The bus was a cheap option but we struggled to know where to get off and although the bus driver sounded helpful we had no idea what he said. I had learnt the basics of french from a phrase book before setting off but nothing can truly prepare you. One regret would be not knowing enough of the language although it was never a huge problem.
So we get off eventually and have to walk with our suitcases for a little, frustrated bit but we find our hotel and all is ok. I did google map our hotel before we left and knew it was near the Opera house so I knew to head for that. Once arriving at our hotel we cant check in for a few more hours so we leave our suitcases and head out for lunch. We walk down to our travel agent where we are to get our pre booked tours from for our stay and find it is very close. If you have prebooked tours with Cityrama, which if you book your holiday through Flight Centre you most likely would've, if you stay in
district 2 near the Opera House or the Lourve it is very close. Happy to find this out we discuss over lunch that I would love to do a tour of the Palace of Versailles as well and we book that in for the next morning.
5pm comes around and after getting dressed up we head down to Cityrama where we are to get on our tour bus to travel to dinner at the Eiffel Tower, a cruise of the river Seine and the Moulin Rouge show. Once the Eiffel Tower comes into view we are amazed and awestruck. It really is amazing and worth an absolute visit, of course its on everyones list anyway. Unfortunately my vegetarian dinner isn't too crash hot as it is just steamed vegetables in a pot but Nathan's a la carte meal was good, even with its strange froth looking salt on top. The resturant is on the first floor and the views from there are spectacular too but I couldn't wait to get back down the bottom so we could just stare at the Eiffel Tower and all its glory.
Once down the bottom we had about 20 minutes to take
all our photos and admire it before the river cruise and it was here that Nathan asked me to marry him. Awwwww, I said yes and then we were off again.
We hoped on the River Cruise at around 8pm and we cruised the river and took in sights like Notre Dame, the Lourve and drunk University students on the banks. Once the Eiffel Tower was back in full view the sun had gone and the beautiful tower was lit up with bright yellow lights. As the boat turned around the Eiffel Tower put on its most famous light show and we had the best seat in the city. How perfect and fitting for a newly engaged couple.
Then we were off to the Moulin Rouge on our tour bus. Before the bus had left the parking bay we saw a bus crash and some french anger as the drivers exchanged heated words. We were assured that our bus driver would keep us safe. The Moulin Rouge is a fantastic show. We somehow got to sit on our own and share two bottles of free wine. The dancers in the show were amazing and the variety of acts was very entertaining.
All in all it was the most perfect night and we would recomend the exact tour to anyone who was short on time and wanted to do the most they could.
Also, we got engaged....awww
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
I never grow tired of looking at this
Wow, and two bottles of free wine. Very cool.