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Published: July 13th 2010
July 13 - Paris France. Well, we are now in Paris. We left Lyon early this morning (one thing about bus tours is that EVERY DAY is an early day!) and headed for Paris. This may sound awful, but in all honesty, the part of France we drove through today was fairly un-exciting. The countryside at times looks pretty much like Eastern Ontario and at times it looked like Alberta wheat feilds! The only thing that was interesting was that our driver ( a fine Italian lad named Raphaelo, who speaks very little English, if any!) had a difficult time starting the bus after we stopped for lunch. More on that later. We got to Paris and picked up our local guide (in the major centres like Venice, Rome, Paris, Florence) our Tour Director supplemented his skills and knowledge with the use of a local guide) and did a "driving tour" of Paris. After a great go around the city on our bus, we then went to the Seine River for a 90 minute cruise. To be honest, if we had booked this vacation on our own, we probably wouldn't have done this cruise (or the Rhine cruise we did in Germany, for that matter) but it was really enjoyable. So all went well and we then went and boarded our bus (or Coach as the Europeans call it) and that's where todays adventure (seems like we have one every 2 or 3 days, doesn't it?) begins. Remember earlier when I said after lunch the bus wouldn't start? Well, after our River Cruise and with a tight reservation to go up the Eifel Tower, our bus would not start. After many tries and some mechanical attempts by the driver, the tour director and a couple of our fellow tourists, it was agreed by all that our bus was toast! Our Tour Director hustled around the parking lot at the Seine River Cruise and found us a ride on a Coach with a bus driver he knew from a previous tour! Real astute problem solver is our Tour Director. Very skilled fellow whom Sherry and I have befreinded and have the utmost of respect for. He is a former Pro Rugby player from New Zealand - The guy is very knowledgeable about European History, very customer driven and has a great sense of humour. At any rate, we did the Eifel tower thing which is really neat and yes, you probably guessed it - no bus! So...At the behest of the Tour Director, we headed off to have an un-scheduled dinner near the Eifel Tour. Sherry and I found a nice outside table at a little Cafe a couple of blocks away from the tower. We ended up "Chatting?" with a nice couple sitting next to us from Alsace, that are in Paris for Bastille day, tomorrow. They spoke very little English, and Sherry and I are functioning on Ontario High School french. Aside from the few Spanish phrases we used by accident, we had a lovely time trying to communicate with these fol ks. I suppose at the end of the day, we are really all citizens of the world, aren't we? At any rae, our driver got our Coach going and picked us up - he is currently off getting it serviced as we speak, some 3 hours after he dropped us at the Hotel. Tomorrow is Bastille day - Should be interesting. Very little open, including many roads which should make our day exciting. We hope to see the fireworks at the Eifel Tour late tomorrow night - Once in a lifetime I suspect. Again folks, thanks for your comments. We have been uable to respond, but we sure enjoy them.
With love from Paris,
Citizens of the world,
Sherry and Hal 😊
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Joella
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Well I guess every trip must have it's aventures. Fortunately things are back on track. Lunch at an outdoor cafe in Paris - wow! A dream of mine for sure. Maybe one day! The Eifel tower looks huge!!! Not sure I could go up there. Loving your blog. Thanks for the photos too. Love, Jo