Antipodean Parisian

Tori’s European Escapade

Summer 2012

July

26/7 – 27/7

Paris - France

The start of the second half!

Getting up ABSURDLY early to catch the train in London, I met my tour leader and the people I would be spending the next month or so of my life with!!

I picked the tour I did for a lot of different reasons. Firstly, there was NO WAY I was spending my holiday in Doha, and I wanted to see specific countries that were included in this trip (Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Prague). Secondly, none of my friends had similar holiday plans, so I would be going alone, and a group tour would be a great way to have company and make new friends. Thirdly, I wanted to go to as many countries as possible, and  the logistics of organising that was just too daunting. Fourthly, I was getting close to the age where I would be past able to do a tour like this one (super fast, and a fair amount of nights out) , it wasn't Contiki, more of a slightly grown up version. And lastly; it was then best value for money based on total cost divided by number of countries.

Once united with the rest of the tour we drove off to Dover to sail to Calais.

I finally saw true English weather on the coast, looking back at the White Cliffs of Dover, and headed into the perfect blue skies of continental Europe.

When we got to Paris, we drove around the city and saw all the famous sights:

The Moulin Rouge during the day, just a bit odd, really.

The Champs Elysees and the Arche de Triomphe at sunset.

That night we went up the Eiffel Tower. We were running out of time quickly - we only had the one full day in Paris and I was headed to the Louvre. I had heard about the lines and did not want to waste any time, so I spent hours in the queue, and made it to the top just as the midnight light show started. It was fabulous.

We got back to our hostel for 2am, because I gave the taxi driver a card with two addresses on it, and he took us to the one far out of the city. We were 1km away from Disneyland Paris before we realised and turned around for a nice 80 Euro cab fare.

The next day was fabulous - I walked though the Louvre grounds and headed into the museum of my dreams...

I saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Virgin on the Rocks.....

and The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault, which I had wanted to see for as long as I knew there was art.

I had a baguette and Creme Brûlée on the River Seine opposite the Louvre, and then headed over the road to the Musee D'Orsay, where I saw Monet's, Degas, Renoir's, Cezanne, Gaugins and Van Gough's to my hearts content.

Waiting on Brûlée with Becca from Australia.

From the top floor of the Musee D'Orsay, over the Seine to the Louvre.

The Maccas on the Champs Elysees - the only MDs in the world with white arches, the same colour as all the other signs down the boulevard. The white lights are a homage to Georges Claude, who debuted the worlds first neon lights in 1913 on the Champs Elysees.

I found the Qatari Embassy, on probably the most famous street corner in the entire world. Can't get away from them at all!

The Arche De Triomphe is a nice view, isn't it Mr Emir!?

Police cars in Paris are a bit more obsequious than in other countries. (*snicker*)

Eifell Tower by day

Tour Leader Dani on the far left, Bus Driver Marcus (representing New Zealand) and the rest of the group on our picnic by the Eiffel Tower.

Parisian Bus Party!