Paris was fabulous! We met our pickup van at the army base. Our driver was Malcomb H. (not his real name). Malcomb H. was hell on wheels. We rode with the "perfect family" and it was a ride to remember. I think he & the other van driver were playing "suicide tag" on the autobahn. It was scary. Perfect son looked at the speedometer once & said it was 140 MPH. Ugh. To top it off, we had to stop at a rest stop and wait 30 minutes so we wouldn't get to the bus early...
We made it to the bus, put our luggage underneath and boarded for the 7 hour overnight trip. Our tour guide was Adelheide (Heidi). She was fabulous! Our bus driver was Theo (Tayo). He was a good driver. We stopped twice to pick up passengers after we left Mannheim. Then we were off to Paris.
We arrived at 8 A.M. after a pseudo-sleeping night. We went to a bistro for breakfast. It was expensive, crowded, and not very good...so much for being in love with Paris at first sight! The day was overcast & hazy and I wasn't terribly thrilled with life.
After breakfast we went to Notre Dame. It was beautiful. Inside was really dark, though. The stained glass was fabulous.
After Notre Dame, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Di & I went to the top & saw what we could of the view, then went down to level 2. Di went in a gift shop, we got separated. I went on to look out over the city at level 2, then went back to the bus, figuring Di would meet me there- no problem...ha. She was really mad that I deserted her. She ignored for for awhile, then we made up. If that's what marriage is lie- forget it!
After the Eiffel Tower we went to the flea market. It was full of scary people including a "woman" with a rat on a chain on her shoulder. Di & I bought a few t-shirts.
After the flea market, we went to our hotel. They were overbooked, and some of our group had to wait 3 hours before they got a room! Di & I got our room fairly soon. We unloaded, then went to explore the area. We were very close to the Arch de Defense. We walked towards it, and found a shopping mall. I bought a book, and had a really neat shirt picked out to buy the next day, but of course didn't buy it because the mall was closed the next day. :-(
After we walked around the mall, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We met in the lobby and all went to a restaurant in the Latin Quarter. It was fun! Everyone got sauced and loosened up, and we became a pretty close group. For dinner, I had French onion soup, beef burgandy and baked Alaska.
After dinner (complete with a strolling, accordionist) we went to the Seine river and took a boat ride down the river. It was beautiful! the Eiffel Tower lit up is gorgeous! Among other sights of Paris, we saw French lovers, 18 rats, and an eel.
After the boat ride we took a bus ride around Paris. Di fell asleep. We saw the Arch de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, etc. by night...beautiful.
We then went back to the hotel.
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