Today we had a sleep in - wake up call at 6:30... and no need to pack bags... luxury!
Tasha surprised us this morning by 6:45 she was up and dressed.
Kyle and I chose to do the optional trip to Versailles but Tash and Tony decided it wasn't for them and so they went exploring Paris instead (as if Tasha would pass up a chance for shopping).
Versailles was amazing. We arrived early and wandered around the outside of the palace. The gold everywhere and the detail on the buildings was beautiful. Then we walked around the back of the palace to the gardens. Beautifully laid out - fountains, mile long canal. Lovely.
Just walking around the palace was so amazing but then we got to go inside. There was so much to take in. The hall of mirrors, The battle hall. The bedrooms. The ceilings. I could have spent hours looking around. Our guide today, Vincent , was really good. He had a dry sense of humour which I liked and he had lots of info for us. So far all of our tour guides have been great - the only problem has been the lack of time in each place.
After seeing the palace we headed back into the middle of Paris to meet up with the rest of the group. Tasha was happy as she had found a new outfit for our farewell dinner tonight.
We drove around Paris with Vincent explaining eveyrthing to us. The padlocks on the bridges amazed me. It is a tradition to get your initials or names engraved on a padlock and then chain it to a bridge in Paris to lock your love fforever. Some bridges are literally covered in locks.
From there we went up to the second level of the Eiffel tower. What a view! I was worried that only going to the second floor would not be high but it was so cool.
Then we got dropped off at a shopping centre as Tasha and I were looking for shoes for tonight. There are heaps of little shops but so many of them closed for a few hours in the atfernoon between 1:30 and 3:30. Of course we were trying to shop at about 3:00!
We filled in our time with some yummy french pastries before getting Tasha some shoes and heading back to our motel for a short break before going out.
We went down to the lobby a bit early and met up with some of our group for a pre-dinner drink (french champagne for me.. after all I was in Paris) before boaridng the bus for our farewell dinner. The tor has gone by so quickly (in fact the last four weeks has flown).
Tasha looked lovely in her new outfit.
Kyle had been asking since before we left home if he could try escargot so was very excited to have the chance at dinner tonight. He was enjoying them until Tasha started making gagging sounds and pulling faces across the table from him so halfway through the plateful he passed it onto Tony to finish. He has said he would order them again..... just not with his sister there!
Then it was our final optional extra - a cruise down the Seine river to see Paris at night. It was quite chilly so Tony and Kyle sat downstairs but Tasha and I braved the weather with most of our tour mates upstairs. The views were beautiful. I hope I have more time in Paris to explore some of these sights.
After we made it back to our hotel we said a sad goodbye to Jorgavan (our driver) and Sigi (our tour guide).
In the lobby there were lots of hugs and even some tears from some of the ladies as we said goodbye to our travel family. Lots of hugs were passed around as we sadly said goodbye. Tomorrow morning everyone goes there own way - some back to London, some flying straight home, and us staying in Paris.
Todays tally:
Steps: 15180
Steps up to the second floor of the Eiffel tower: 720 (we took the lift)
Things we saw in shops that were closed that we liked: 3 pairs of shoes and 2 bags
Brides seen: 2
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