Paris Sunday 31 October 2011

Normally we visit Versailles on Sunday morning but this year we are going to spend the morning in Paris before heading home.



It is a lovely morning again and I think a lot of the group want to visit the Eiffel Tower as the queues yesterday were very long.


We are away by nine o’clock and fifteen minutes later I am dropping off at the tower. Some of the group also want to have a boat ride so hopefully there will be enough time to do that as well. If there were enough for the boats I would have arranged something but there are only a handful interested so they can go individually. The Batobus boats go from very close to the Eiffel Tower.


I have also offered to take anybody who doesn’t want either the boat or tower to Montmatre and the Sacre Cour. I only have three but don’t mind as there is no traffic which makes driving enjoyable and it also gives me a bit of practice as we don’t often take the coach here. The Sacre Cour and Montmatre are well worth visiting but the drop off/pick up point is in the heart of the red light area and can be a bit seedy. It looks okay this morning though.


After dropping the three off I park in a wide road not too far away and close to a few cafes so I don’t miss my morning coffee!


The intrepid three enjoy a couple of hours before I pick them up and we drive back to a very busy Eiffel Tower. We still have an hour before we depart so I go off in search of something to eat (I know, always looking after my stomach!) and end up with a baguette that I didn’t enjoy as it must have been made yesterday judging by the trouble I had chewing it!


We are due to leave at 13:00 and manage to get away on time with all those who wanted to go up the tower satisfied with their efforts and those who went for a boat ride as pleased.


Some of the passengers either walked up or walked down the tower which is something I could never do. The lifts are bad enough. The last time I went up with the intention of going to the top (I have been to the top once at night) I bottled it at the second stage paralysed with fear! I salute everyone who made the top.


The motorway to Calais is very quiet and after a stop en route we arrive at the Shuttle terminal at 17:00 to be confronted with all of the vehicles we haven’t seen on the motorway! It is heaving.


It takes about 30 minutes to clear tickets, security and immigration which allowed us half an hour in the terminal building before our 18:45 train.


The final part of our journey home was pretty uneventful and I arrive at my last drop off in Petersfield at 20:45 with all of the taxi’s waiting.


I always enjoy going to Paris and get a buzz out of showing people around this fantastic city and I hope those who came this time have also enjoyed what they have seen and maybe want to come back with me another day.