A Grand Finale to a Grand Tour of Europe - Paris - City of Lights!
Upon arriving in Paris, Richard our amazing bus driver orientated us to this incredible city by driving us around some of the major sites. We then had to quickly say our goodbyes to him on the street as we were now going to be taking the Metro from here on in. Richard was not just our chaperone, but he had become our friend. This was another goodbye that we were sad to say! We dropped our luggage in our air conditioned room, which we were very thankful for given the temperature of over 30 degrees outside. We all met together for another delicious group lunch at a restaurant near our hotel. It seems redundant that the group meals were always delicious, but honestly…they were incredible! Every one! With a few very helpful pointers from Rolinka, we braved the Metro as a group and headed to the St. Chapelle on Isle de la Cite and admired the almost ceiling to floor stain glass windows from the 13th century. The chapel was built by King Louis IX of France to house his collections of relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns. Our group walk then continued through the Latin Quarter and ended at the Notre Dame Cathedral. There our group dispersed for a free evening. After walking around the exterior of Notre Dame we entered the cathedral with church bells tolling inviting all to attend the 6:00pm Mass service.
Paris Day 1: St. Chapelle, Notre Dame, and the Latin Quarter
Picnic Supper on the Seine
A little heat exhausted, we picked up drinks and pizza buns at a patisserie and walked to the end of Isle de la Cite where we hung our legs over the edge of the River Seine. We truly felt like one of the locals as many had the same evening activity in mind. We sat for over an hour in the cool of the evening enjoying the view and wishing this moment would never end! We strolled back to Champ de Mars and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle before us! Perfection!
First Paris Evening Highlights
Paris Day 2: The Louvre, Tuileries Gardens, and The Orangerie Museum
The next day as a group we took the Metro to the Louvre and
Joined Elizabeth our local guide whom we recognized from the Rick Steves DVD’s
and she toured us through this iconic landmark museum targeting the
highlights. Seeing Leonardo Da Vinci’s
art work of the Mona Lisa with our own eyes was
very memorable. After this group
excursion, we were set loose to continue the exploration of the Louvre or
continue on with our day exploring other areas of interest. We took in the Napoleon III Apartments at the
Louvre and then ventured out of the museum and grabbed a quick lunch from a
park vendor and found some shade. It was
interesting to watch the young children and their dads play with the small sail
boats on the ponds in the gardens.
Escaping the heat we walked through the Tuileries Gardens and entered
the Orangerie, the permanent home of the collection of eight abstract Water Lilly paintings by Monet. We sat
and soaked in the beauty of the paintings and the cool air conditioning. What a perfect, peaceful combination. Sorry - we don't have any photos of Monet's Water Lillies - as photography was not permitted and Gord did not feel like getting in trouble from the French guards who were carefully watching for any hint of camera activity!
Saying Good-Bye - Tour Farewell Dinner
After freshening up in the hotel we took the Metro to
Rolinka’s home apartment. Yes, it is
true; our lovely generous guide invited us as a group to her Paris home! What an honour and a privilege! Arriving a little early we climbed the spiral
staircase and went to work helping out by picking up the quiches from the local
bakery and assisting with the food prep.
Under Rolinka’s direction we created baguette with goat cheese and Herbs
of Provence and mini pancakes topped with salmon and dill. Homemade pea soup was the appetizer followed
by a variety of quiches, a boat full of seafood and other delicacies. We shared
all the good times of our trip together with many laughs, but with a feeling of
sadness knowing that this superb holiday was coming to an end. Flights the next day were leaving at
different times, so we made sure to give all our friends a big hug and
exchanged contact information. Rolinka
then gave us a lovely tour of her quaint Montmartre neighbourhood at night. We took the Metro back for one last night in
our hotel. As we lay awake that night
thinking about all we had experienced and the amazing people we had bonded with
over the past three weeks, we knew that our Rick Steves days were not over but
were just beginning! The tour had
exceeded all our expectations and we couldn’t wait to get home to plan another
tour!
Well that does bring the Rick Steves Best of Europe in 21 Days Tour to an end (we'll provide some reflections on the recap page). But what has become of Dale and Judy? Wouldn't you like to know? I guess you'll just have to keep on reading! For us, the vacation was not over just yet as we had 9 more days in Paris, which we will briefly share with you as our quest for the Old World Charm of Europe continues. We'll share the Old World Charm of Paris on the next page.