Monday, May 17th - We got up bright and early to hop on the coach that would be our home for the next 28 days. Our first stop that morning was the White Cliffs of Dover where we had to board a ferry to cross over to France. The cliffs themselves were a sight to see - they are over 300 feet high and are made of white chalk and black flint, I've never seen anything like it before. The ferry took about an hour and a half and then we landed in France! How exciting! Paris was about a 5 hour drive from the French boarder, we made one quick service stop to stretch our legs but other than that we drove straight. On the way into Paris we drove by Vimy Ridge but unfortunately we didn't have time to stop. We were able to catch a quick glimpse of the memorial as we drove by and Sandra was able to grab a snap. Finally we arrived in Paris and immediately got caught in the worst traffic jam I've ever seen in my life. The French seem to have no traffic laws, it was complete chaos! The bus literally didn't move an inch for 45 minutes. It was late in the day but we were hoping to be able to go to the Louvre. We arrived at the Louvre and we had about 5 minutes until closing time. The entire tour (50 of us) had to literally run to make it to the ticket booth, but in the end we didn't make it. It was disappointing because the museum is closed on Tuesdays so we wouldn't be able to see it all during our trip. We were able to go to the top and take pictures of the glass pyramid but that was the extent of my trip to the Louvre. Guess now I have a reason to go back to Paris!
After the Louvre we headed to our hotel and the hotel itself was decent. Sian (our tour manager) had warned us that we had to lower our expectations when it came to hotels during the tour. A 3 star hotel in Europe is not the same as a 3 star hotel in Canada or Australia. This became more apparent as the as tour went on, but I was satisfied with the hotel in Paris. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant that evening and the food here was slightly disappointing. We had quiche, beef and a delicious warm brownie. After dinner we headed out on a guided coach tour of Paris. First stop was the Eiffel Tower - this is one of those "wow, I'm actually in Paris!" moments. We got out to take pictures, some people stayed to go up the tower but we decided to save it for the morning and continue on the tour. We then went by the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and Notre Dame. Just as we were passing by the Eiffel tower for the second time all the lights lit up, it was such an amazing sight! We then headed back to the hotel and a few of us grabbed a bottle of wine in the hotel bar to toast our first night in Paris.
White Cliffs of Dover
Traffic Chaos in Paris
Eiffel Tower
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