Another early start today and we boarded the bus for the 770km journey to Paris. As you can imagine we travelled pretty much all day just having three comfort stops at service centres along the way, a good day to read books and sleep.
The scenery changed from lush green hills and mountains to much flatter rolling coutryside with very few hills, but lots of little villages with churches and castles. It was still very pretty, but not a patch on Switzerland.
We finally arrived in Paris about 5pm and headed off on our favourite Metro system to go the the L'Arc de Triumph. Gerard really wanted to go to the top of it and was disappointed we had run out of time last visit. What we did find out was that there was a station much closer to our hotel than the one we used last time, so we were able to save some walking time. (I need to say here that the tour hotel is the same one we stayed in ourselves when we were first in Paris, so we were familiar with the area.
Before we got to the train station we booke a table at the restaurant we ate at on our first night in Paris, so Andrew could experience the real Freanch cuisine.
At the L'Arc de Triumph they have a daily lighting of the flame ceremony at 6.30pm. This has happened every day since 1923 and is quite a big ceremony, with a band and various armed services representatives and dignataries marching across to the Arc and conducting the ceremony. It takes about 30 minutes and is all pomp and anthems and hand shaking. I couldn't understand a word of it, but interesting none the less.
We then climbed the stairs to the top of the Arc and enjoyed the magnificent view up the Champs Elysees to the Louvre and the other way to some modern section of Paris. It was just amazing up there seeing darkness settle over the city and the cars start to turn their lights on. Watching the weaving traffic below was incredible, six lanes entering a huge roundabout with no lanes marked and all weaving in and out to one of the ten roads that enter the roundabout. No accidents to be seen. It was just like it was in slow motion and choreographed.
We descended from the Arc and wandered down the Champs Elysees, sucking in the atmosphere of the shopping strip and street cafes. The shops stay open until about 8pm as they have a long break at lunch time (siesta).We checked out some of the exclusive outlets and enjoyed the lighting through the trees and the musical language or people sharing their experiences of the day over a glass of wine.
Reluctantly we boarded the train back to Bercy and our meal reservation. Once again we had a fantastic meal entertained by the waiters and their skills in dishing up the sausage with Pomme and Fromage sauce (Potato and cheese). jordy tried it and it was very nice, but filling and heavy. You could feel the calories and cholesterol just jumping on board.
We then wandered back to the hotel and off to bed after using the internet for a bit.
