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Published: August 21st 2011
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Ann and Richard in Europe Part 3
We took the train to Luxembourg City today with our erstwhile guide, Masa, in tow. There was beautiful scenery in the hills of southern Belgium and Luxembourg. A fun quick walk from the train station brought us to our fancy hotel. We took the high road into the centre of town for lunch at the Place d’Armes. We saw the celebration for the last leg in a big bike race, then walked around the Palace of the Grand Duchy. Ann’s friend, Tanya, was working across the border in Germany and she drove over to meet us.
We had a fabulous second day walking around the river and lower sections of Luxembourg City. It was fabulous to see the green swath of land around the city. We had a picnic on one of the old fortifications and visited a fortress on the hill. And then it was off to Paris!
We stayed near the North Train Station in Paris, near the Sacre Coeur. We had a balcony that overlooked the historic area. We started with a climb up to the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Montmartre area. We had a view of
all Paris. We headed over to the Fountain St. Michel by metro and walked to Notre Dame Cathedral. We took a boat tour along the Seine and completely around the Ile de la Cite. We passed under the Pont de Invalides and the Pont Alexandre III. Next, we walked over to the Luxembourg Gardens, then stopped for an overpriced dinner. We caught a metro to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up in the evening.
We tried to go to the Louvre the next morning but the lines were too long. We headed ack to the Latin Quarter for a free walking tour, where Ann was asked to pose as the Pope for the guide’s storytelling. We crossed the Pont d’Arts, visited the Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde. WE left the tour to see the Champs d’Elysees and the Arc de Triumph. We saw the procession that lighted the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were lucky to find that the Louvre was open this evening at a reduced rate so we spent the evening perusing the famous works of art.
The following day, we caught a train to the Palace of Versailles. We
saw the Hall of Mirrors in the royal residence and walked down through the gardens to the fountain with Neptune’s statue. We had lunch at La Flottille which Ann really enjoyed. We visited La Petite Trianon where Marie Antoinette lived and hopped a gate to get to the Grand Trianon. Back in Paris, we had time for one more visit to the Eiffel Tower. We took the elevators to the top and sipped Champagne from the Jules Verne Restaurant. We walked the stairs back down and crossed the city to our hotel.
We caught our flight back to Vancouver from Charles de Gaul Airport and were given Champagne again on the flight.
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