Day one.
Paris is absolutely beautiful! I’m thinking I want to just forget everything and come live here forever.
This morning was a painfully early one – the alarm went off at 5am. Ouch. After bag weighing, we boarded the coach (our home away from home for the next five and a half weeks) and headed off for Paris.
The bus ride was mainly uneventful. We chatted and got to know one another a little, and then arrived at the famous White Cliffs of Dover to cross over to France by ferry. Despite a vague seasick feeling, the ferry itself wasn’t too exciting… the food aboard cost a fortune. We did get a nice view from the top deck. Today was the first bright, sunny day since we arrived in London. Go figure.
Anyway, when we crossed into France, we discovered that Elie and I are some of the only French-speaking people on the tour, so we had to give some short impromptu lessons. Merci, s’il vous plait, cinq, dix, vingt, parlez-vous anglais?… and the like.
As an aside, a few words about the composition of our tour. It’s quite a mix. We’ve got Canadians, Aussies, a few from Puerto Rico, a South African, and a whole bunch of Americans, twelve of whom are actually all cousins.
Anyway, after a quick service stop, we arrived in Paris at the campsite. The cabins are tiny but cute, and I’m reminded a lot of camp. There’s a central tent that serves as a mess hall/gathering room, and designated people help cook and clean up. So far the food’s been not too bad – all one meal of it. There are two rooms per cabin, each with a bunk bed and shared tiny bathroom in the middle. They’re clean and decently comfortable, so while it’s not luxurious, I can definitely live like this.
After dinner, we drove into Paris to take a bus tour of the city and I must say, wow! Every building is a work of art. Every stoplight offers a view. Every cobblestone has history. Kristy, our tour manager, sounded a little funny naming some of the sites in French in her Aussie accent, but it was great seeing the sites, at least for a glimpse. We got photo ops at the Eiffel Tower, which was incredible! And there’s so much I want to do and see on our day off in two days. There’s no way we’ll be able to pack it into a single day and I wish we had another week in Paris. We saw the Champs-Elysées, the Opera House, the Louvre… it’s hard to remember it all cause it went by so fast. Can’t wait to tour it!