First stop -France

---

When we first hopped on the bus with 50 other people our Tour Manager Kerith stood up and told us ' firstly you need to understand that this isn't a holiday, you will get grumpy, you will have long days and long nights and you will be exhausted' -that was no exaggeration at all.

We headed to the Ferry at Dover and arrived in Paris at our first 'Contiki Special Stopover' in the afternoon, we were greeted with a small glass of french champagne, had some dinner and then went on a short bus tour of 'The City of Lights' with a short stop to see the Eiffel Tower at night.

We learnt very quickly that Baz (bus driver) and Kez were serious about being at our meeting points on time because we left three people at the Eiffel Tower and they had to make their own way back to camp and it was only day one!!

A Contiki 'special stopover' means that Contiki have rented out an area of the campground. They set up a big Marquee and that's where we eat breakfast and dinner from -while we are staying in that campsite. Other times we stayed in Youth Hostels and sometimes were upgraded to Hotels - we always had a room with a bed and electricity so that's the main thing!

In each country we would arrive in the afternoon after spending the day on the bus then spend two nights and one full day in each place before hopping back on the bus again.

I really enjoyed Paris the second time around because I didn't have to try and cram in everything I wanted to see like alot of people did, also I wasn't suffering from jet lag so that was a bonus!! That evening back at camp we all got to know eachother over a few (too many) drinks so I decided the next day i'd try and pace myself as we had a whole month to go!!

We visited Napoleons Tomb, the Thinkers Garden and Saint Chapelle and that evening had dinner at a french restaurant where I had Escargot (I sort of figured I had to) and then went to a rather amusing and very americanised Cabaret Show called 'Nouvelle Eve'.

Next day we headed to the Beaujolais Wine Region, along the way we stopped at Fontaine Bleau a beautiful big Hunting Chateau and on arrival had wine tasting in an on-site cellar before getting ready for our 'Tight and Bright' party in 'The Cave' that evening. Little did we know this would be the first of a few 'Contiki' parties that we would be expected to dress up for.

So much for my 'slowing down the pace' as I was feeling a little slow the next day!

---

Photos

Eiffel Tower
A view from the top

French Restaurant
My table at the French Dinner (all the aussie girls)

Louvre
The Louvre, and next to it the fountain that we washed our feet in

the Thinkers Garden
We made Shane pose, it wouldn't look quite the same if a female had done it!

Saint Chappelle
The Chapel with lots of Stained Glass windows

Acordian Player
This guy was pretty funny, he was so skinny!

Nouvelle Eve
Cabaret Show

Hunting Chateau
Not as good as the Hutt in Whitemans Valley though :)

Wine Tasting
In the Wine Cellar in Beaujolais

Tight and Bright
One of the many Contiki Dress up parties. That's me,Chanel and Rachel.

My Knight and I
This is my knight in shining armour

Picnic
Not the best weather for a picnic. Also not so good having to hike up a hill after drinking the night before!!

The Beaujolais House
This is where the makers of the Beaujolais Wine live.

The Chateau
This is the Chateau we stayed in (owned by Contiki)

Comments

[Trent]

the cave
haha the cave i remember that place... everything is the same from when i did it