Got up at 3.30am(!!!) for our very early start. Allan had kindly offered to take us to the airport for our very early flight.
We were in plenty of time but, although Ron had checked us in online the night before, when we arrived at the gate there was every man and his dog ahead of us! We ended up sitting a row apart but with such a short flight, it didn’t really matter.
The fun started when we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport. We walked (and walked) to the train station but found it very difficult to make ourselves understood (my school girl French notwithstanding!) as to which train to catch. We eventually caught one to the Gare du Nord (sort of Central Station) but once there, we couldn’t find anyone official to give us directions – we resorted to asking one of the cleaners, who tried to help but didn’t Eventually, after about 30 minutes, we found the Information desk and were directed to a lower level – Ron ended up having to carry my case as well because I just couldn’t manage the stairs with it. We caught a train for one stop and then another to our destination (Rue de la Convention). With great relief we walked to our hotel and checked in.
After having freshened up, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower and on the way called in to a Patisserie where we had some yummy lunch and a really good café au lait.
When we reached the Seine, we contacted a couple of our friends, Rhonda and John (who asked us to send greetings to all their friends in Exeter and Bundanoon). We arranged to meet near to the Tower later in the afternoon and then Ron and I had a stroll along the side of the Seine, watching the barges and other watercraft on the river.
The Eiffel Tower is much taller than I had anticipated and, boy, was the area crowded! We watched three people doing break-dancing – they were excellent and really got the crowd going. As the queues were so long (it’s the European summer holidays at the moment) and the top of the Tower was closed, we decided not to bother going up after all.
We met Rhonda and John around 3.15pm and went on a lovely, leisurely, informative cruise with them, under 22 of the 30-something bridges along the Seine, drinking in the landmarks such as the Louvre, Notre-Dame, etc. We’ll be going on another cruise with our Paris Pass on either Sunday or Monday and will also be visiting most of the landmarks we saw, over the next couple of days.
After the cruise we meandered back towards the hotel but before we said goodbye to Rhonda and John, we stopped for a coffee with them and then went our separate ways.
Talk about tired! We’ll both be asleep before its dark! Tomorrow Versailles and who knows where else! We really are having a ball and – the sun shone all day, what bliss.
