Robyn & Kay BFF: UK to Paris & Eurostar

DAY 9

May 2nd,
We departed from London today. Up early which is just as well as neither of us slept very well last night. Could be the excitement of our trip to Paris. I don't know how we managed to close the suitcases and we are only a quarter of the way through our trip. Had an early breakfast then we were picked up at the hotel at 7.30am for our trip to St Pancras railway station. We had a bit of a wait there as the Eurostar didn't leave until 9.17am. We arrived at Gare Du Nore station in Paris at 1.00pm and we then caught a taxi to our hotel. The Marriott Ambassador Opera hotel rooms are about twice the size of our room in London. We had to wait about an hour to get into our room so we wandered to a cafe and had some lunch. Back to the hotel where we stayed put for the rest of the afternoon as we were too tired to do anything. At 7pm we met the tour director for Scenic Tours and some of our fellow travellers for a drink and a briefing then out to a restaurant for dinner. Back to the hotel and we were out for the count.

Once in our room we decided it was time to do some washing, especially as there was a bath. Unfortunately the shower is above the bath and there is only one tap so depending on which way you turn it depends on whether you turn the shower or the bath tap on. Guess what - Kay turned it the wrong way and voila she had a shower (outside the bathtub) and flooded the bathroom and entryway.  We had just cleaned that up when not to be outdone Robyn did exactly the same thing. Needless to say we both had to change and we had to order some more towels.

Our room at the Marriott Ambassador

The hotel

Train Station

Waiting for the train

Kay's Dinner

Will fix sideways photos!

DAY 10

3rd May

What a lovely day to celebrate Robyn's birthday. The sun was shining and no rain. Another early start. After breakfast we got on our tour bus and headed for The Louvre, how fantastic and huge, much bigger than we'd anticipated. Our guide, Karen, was very informative and we had to stick to her like glue as there were so many people, although she later told us that this was only a medium crowd. We were warned about pickpockets and to stay very aware. There were only eight of us on this tour so it was much easier for us to keep together.

The Louvre building was first started in 5000BC and was built over many hundreds of years. The original subterranean first floor was only discovered in 1993, some of which is now on display.

The Mona Lisa ,although not as big as expected was a sight to behold. So many people we had to fight to get to the front and get some photos. The history of Mona Lisa was also very interesting.

After The Louvre, we left our guide and caught the open bus to Notre Dame Cathedral, again so amazing. Rich in history and gothic architecture. It is huge (they liked their places big in those days) and the ancient religious statues and carvings, hard to get your head around their history.
Robyn lit a candle for her mother and Kay lit one for Rick and her sister Yvonne (she would have loved it).

We then got on the open bus again to see more sights of the city although by is time we were getting tired so just stayed on the bus to see sights such as Place De Concorde, Avenue Des Champs Élysées, Arc de Triomphe , Eiffel tower and others. When we got back to our local stop we still had enough energy to visit the huge shopping centre 'Galleries Layfayette', which is just up the road from where we are staying. The hardest part of the day was trying to find the exit to get out of the place. All in all another busy day and a great way to celebrate Robyn's birthday. Went to dinner at an Italian restaurant then bed.

OUTSIDE THE LOUVRE

INSIDE THE LOUVRE

Venus de Milo

2 Euros to use but at least decorated doors this time

McDonalds in The Louvre which sells the cheapest beer in Paris

Ceilings inside The Louvre

One of the many bridges over the Seine where lovers place a lock and then throw the key in the river for eternal togetherness

Place De La Concorde where Marie Antoinette was beheaded

Various buildings and monuments taken whilst on our tour

Arc De Triomphe

Eiffle Tower

Seine River

More buildings and monuments

Charles de Gaulle monument

DAY 11

Sunday 4th May

Once again a late start to the day as we slept in. After breakfast we made our way to the Le Tour bus stop to once again tour some of the sights of Paris. We alighted at the Eiffel Tower and walked around. It is the tallest building in Paris. The queues were enormous to go up so we decided not to wait. Back on the bus we went back to our stop and decided to have a look at the Opera Garnier. Very quick visit. You won't believe this but we were waylaid on the way back to the hotel by souvenir shops. Can't believe they took more of our money. The bags are bulging. Thank goodness many of the shops are closed on a Sunday.

Finally arrived at the hotel to have a rest, pack our bags, do some ironing and get ready for our night out.

We, of course, got our instructions mixed up and had the bus waiting for us. We copped a bit of razzing when we got on board. Kay even offered to shout them all into the Lido.

The meal at the Lido was very nice but the show was a little disappointing. We had front row seats which had its good and bad points. Good point was we could see everything (actually not sure if that was a good point) and bad point was we could see all the little imperfections in the costumes. Lots of topless dancers but very little storyline so it was a bit confusing. They also had a comedienne (excellent), a juggler (dropped his 'toys' twice), a street mime (excellent), a couple of ice skaters (very good) and a horse and rider for which we have no explanation.

Arrived back at the hotel at 11.15pm (our latest night yet) and finished our packing.

Our last night in Paris. All in all we have found the French people polite and helpful. There are lots of artists here - graffiti everywhere.

Thelma and Louise are off to Amsterdam tomorrow.

Kay playing in the revolving door of the hotel