[Bus Tour] Paris, Days 1 & 2

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I woke up very early the next morning because of jet lag, which was good because that was the time I needed to be up anyway! I had deliberately chosen a hotel near my bus tour pick up point, close enough that I could walk, since our meeting and departure time was 6:30 in the morning. I checked out and was on my way for about five minutes before I panicked and thought maybe I was walking in the wrong direction - a big problem when I had a VERY important time to arrive at. I went bac to my hotel and asked just to confirm that I was going the right way (I was) and then set out again. I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to find the meeting spot, but I needn't have, since it was before the station actually opened and the only people there were the other travellers.

I was also a little nervous because I was doing all of it alone, and didn't know how many other people would be traveling solo. I quickly met the guide, Andrew, to check in, and then two other young women on their own - fortuitous!! It meant I immediately had people to chat with and sit next to once the bus and our drive Garry arrived. Everyone was very nice and I was already feeling less nervous and ready to set out on our adventure!

We boarded the bus and got a brief intro to the tour, plus a little pack with information and an inflatable headhead rest for traveling. We were on our way to Paris, and to do so, we had to cross the English Channel. I wasn't sure how we would do this, but I was under the impression that the Chunnel was a road in which people drove normally on. Incorrect! To use it, the entire bus got on a train, in a skinny compartment only the width of a single vehicle. Then the train took us under the water and to the other side. It was very odd to be feeling like you are moving without anything outside the bus windows moving!

We got to France and then drove through the French countryside from Calais to Paris, which took most of the day. We got to Paris around mid-afternoon, and there were given our keys. I had paid extra to have my own room rather than randomly getting assigned another single traveller as a roommate, and this decision was well worth the extra cash. I video called my boyfriend back in Japan from my room, because I could see the Eiffel Tower out my window!

After a rest in our rooms, we met back up to go on a bus tour of the city with Garry and Andrew. We saw so much of the sites and the traffic was incredibly light. The bus took us up to an area called Montmatre, which is a nice area up on a hill boasting a beautiful white church and a great view of the city below. Our dinner this first night in Paris was included in our tour package, which was amazing. We ate at a small restaurant near the church, and the food was delicious. And we got to meet some more of the others traveling with us during dinner, and that made me feel much more comfortable and confident!

What we found out was that transportation on the Metro, Paris' subway system, was free that day AND the next due to a smog issue and the government wanting to encourage people to stop using their cars so much. What a lucky break!! We got back to our hotel around 9pm and decided to get some rest, because the following day was a free day and we intended to make the most of it.

The next morning, my Paris travel buddy Kelly, who is from China, and I had breakfast in our hotel at 7:30 (all of our days included breakfast in our hotels, another amazing perk of the tour!). Andrew had told us that if we wanted to go to the Louvre, which we did, that we needed to go early and queue up before it opened, or else we would be waiting in the line for hours later in the day. His advice like this was really helpful! We only waited half an hour in the line before the museum opened and then got right in, and the first statue wing we went to was completely empty aside from us! We spent several hours there looking at everything, including, of course, the Mona Lisa. But my favorite part was the architecture and design of the Louvre itself, which was so beautifully done, and Napoleon III's apartments, which were breath-taking. A really amazing experience, and we even got a bit lost because the wings are so massive.

After that, we walked along the Seine because the weather was nice - one of the only days that I was able to walk around without my coat and scarf. It was a beautiful walk, past the Lovers Lock Bridge, where couples go to secure a lock along the bridge in hopes of their love lasting forever. (Super cute) And past that, it was towards Notre Dame cathedral, one of the things I was really looking forward to in Paris. We stopped near the church for lunch at an adorable cafe, and I had the house wine special because Andrew recommended us to always try the wine - there is no bad wine in Paris! It was delicious, as I expected. 😉

Notre Dame was really amazing and beautiful to walk through. Of course, I just kept thinking about the Disney movie, which I remember us loving when we were young. In fact, the soundtrack to that was one of the first CDs I ever owned. There was a service going on while we were there, so that was cool to see. I was happy that I was able to take pictures to remember everything by.

Had I been alone, I might have waited for the paid tour where you get to go up in the belltower and see the inside, but as it were, we decided to head off towards the Catacombs - not realizing that they were closed on Mondays. It wasn't too bad since we were hopping on and off the Metro for free all day, but it did mean that we had to find something else to do. We decided on going to the Pantheon, but it was under construction and therefore bad for pictures. With nothing else, we went back to the Eiffel Tower and cashed in on our river cruise tickets we had gotten from Andrew the day before. The cruise was nice, but we'd seen most of it walking, so we probably could have skipped it. Afterwards, we ate chocolate crepes and then set out to find somewhere to hang out.

We ended up going to a small bar and restaurant just before dusk, and getting more wine. This wine was also delicious! The waiter at the restaurant spoke Japanese! That was a strange turn of events, and I proceeded to do everything in Japanese since neither of us spoke any French. He was a really great guy.

It was nighttime when we were finished chatting and drinking our wine, so we went back to see the Eiffel Tower light show where the tower sparkles and lights up. It was quite beautiful, and we were very tired after a long 12-hour day of walking around and exploring! Back to the hotel we went, to rest our feet and get ready for the next day of moving along through Europe.

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