As much as I thoroughly enjoyed my time away, I t is great to be home again.
A few days after we left the lovely Bern in Paris, she sent us an email with the contact details of all our touring mates. It will be great to keep in tough with a few.
In the email, Bern also gave us a link to many of the photos she had taken along the way and also a compilation video of our trip.
I would 100% not hesitate to recommend Trafalgar and CostSaver Tours as a brilliant holiday option.
I checked out the hotel after having the included buffet breakfast. The hotel stored my bags while I headed out to have one last look at London. I had found that the Old Spitalsfield Markets were within walking distance from the hotel, so I set off to explore.
I found a lovely stall selling Italian pork rolls that were very yummy, so that was lunch
I returned to the hotel at around 3:00 and rang the transfer company who Trafalgar had booked for 5:10 to see if I could go earlier to the airport. The driver was in the area, so I collected in a very nice Mercedes Benz and was in the Etihad Lounge at about 5:00. As I had lengthy of time, I took advantage if the spa in the lounge and had a lovely back and neck massage.
My flight to Abu Dhabi left on time at 8:20 and I settled in ( with champagne) for the flight. My sleep plan for the trip home was to have dinner, watch a movie, then have a 3 hr nap before landing in Abu Dhabi. I will try to stay awake for the trip from Abu Dhabi to Singapore and then sleep solidly from Singapore to Brisabne. I arrive in Brisbane at 9:30 am. An early night when I get back, then back to work.
I am quite lucky in that I don’t suffer jet lag when I fly, but I do plan my sleep to be correct for my destination time.
Early start this morning for our final day. Quite a few people are staying on in Paris and a number were flying out of Paris. So we said our farewells and 11 of us headed off to meet another tour group. Then we split up, some of the new group joined Bern and Mario to go to Paris Airport and 7 of us boarded their coach to head to Calais and London.
The drive from Dover to London was the same route as the beginning of our trip, but this time we had a lovely fine day so got great views of the white cliffs and the countryside.
I arrived at the double tree hotel where I started this adventure at just on 3:00. I settled in for a quiet night with dinner at the hotel.
We started the day with a sightseeing tour on the coach, stopping a number of times for photos. We then picked up Patrick ( our guide from Versailles) and had a walking tour around the historic centre of the Latin Quarter.
While we were out and about, we stopped at a park with another great view of the Eiffel Tower. My good friend has always wanted to visit Paris, so I brought her along with me and “together” we had a picture with the tower 🙂
We ended our tour at the Arc de Triumph and the group then had the rest if the day free.
A number of us wanted to see the Louvre, so Bern took us by train and used her Trafalgar credentials to get us priority tickets. These were no more expensive than the regular tickets, but it meant we did not have to join the very long queues to gain entry.
Bern had told us to sit with our guidebook and work out what we wanted to see, as there is just far to much to just “wander”.
The optional experience tonight was the Moulin Rouge, which I had chosen not to attend, so I was on my own for the whole day:). Knowing it does not get dark until around 7:00 I planned to return to the Louvre at 4:00. I walked around Paris and just enjoyed “being in Paris”
Returning to the special Louvre entrance I went past very long lines so it was really good to have the tour ticket. The Louvre is huge, but I got to see the Mona Lisa, The Venus de Milo, a statue of the Egyptian God Rameses and much more.
Back on the metro, I got back to the hotel around 7:30, bought some dinner at the hotel bistro and watched some TV and had a quiet night.
6:45 bags and breakfast and we were on our way to Paris at 7:30
A misty morning greeted us as we headed down the highway, we made a short comfort stop at 10:00 and made it to Versailles at about 1:00
The palace that Louis the 14th built is stunning. The surrounding park gardens are also quite amazing. Our local guide Patrick really brought it alive. After some free time to explore we headed to our hotel.
We had dinner at the bistro in the hotel and headed out for a Seine River cruise . The cruise took us past a lot of the famous buildings of Paris, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and under the bridge with the padlocks.
Back on the bus and we did a tour of the city and stopped for some pictures of the Eiffel Tower as it sparkles for minutes every hour.
We then headed to the tower itself. We took the lift to the second floor and had a great view over the city. Back on the bus and home by 11:00.
Tomorrow we get to explore with lots of free time.
On the bus at 7:45 we made our way along the Promenade and bid farewell to Nice. The sun was riding over the bay as the view was just gorgeous.
We had a comfort stop at a small services that had a lovely surprise. There was whole model display of medieval Provence village life. Bern had not been here before, but she will report to Trafalgar, so you can be sure this little stop will start getting more coaches.
We had a good couple of hours free time in Avignon. Famous for its bridge and the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (onthe bridge of Avignon)
Avignon is a cute walled medieval village that is the sight of A Papal Palace. Long ago one elected Pope came from this area and decided to come back here rather than live in Rome. 7 Popes resided at the Palace before the Church decided that the papal palace should forever be at the sight of St Peters in Rome.
I had a wander around the town and had a delicious lunch of a toasted baguette with chicken, Brie, cheese & tomato.
From Avignon we continued on to our overnight stop in Lyon. A quiet dinner at the hotel an we are ready for PARIS in the morning 🙂
