And did I mention Paris?

Well we've just about done it all  in 2 amazing days......

* Did an evening river cruise down the Seine - past all the amazing monuments of Paris - Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe to names a few....followed by a 3 course French meal cooked to perfection....followed by a night drive to see the night lights of Paris - ending with the sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower.

* Went to the Palace at Versailles - a massive monument to the unbelievable excesses of the courts of France in the 17th century before the revolution. 

* Went up the Eiffel Tower and viewed the spectacular scenes of one of the greatest living cities in the world.

* Walked down the Champs Élysées  along wide cobbled boulevards past designer shops and surprisingly reasonably priced baguette sandwich shops.

*  Ended the day with a dinner and show at the Moulin Rouge!! One of the most spectacular shows we've ever seen.  Unbelievable costumes, backdrops, music, dance and very beautiful people - mostly quite scantily dressed!  Never before have I so appreciated the marvellous role of feathers in women's costumery!!

My impressions  - Paris is a city very comfortable with itself.   Every one at first  glance appears supremely confident with themselves. It became quickly possible to spot the local Parisienne women from their distinctive style.......scarves and boots were everywhere .  Even cycling along the streets women could be seen in stilettos! 

Throughout the trip we've been saved hours of standing in lines - it's been amazing to be able to bypass hundreds of people simply because we've prepaid through the tour.   Any day I would recommend travelling with a tour group like Trafalgar as the best way to get the most ot of a lightening trip through unfamiliar territories...and no - I'm not being paid to advertise them....

A surprising bonus of the trip was how quickly we became Close to our 47 travelling companions. They hailed from Singapore to Texas,  Wagga Wagga to Toronto.  We celebrated 2 birthdays on one day- one turned 81 and the other 19...we had bankers, builders , pilots and factory workers....but we were all united in the adventure best introduced by willie nelson's classic " On the road again"..... This was our theme song played to us every morning on the bus while we sat still bleary eyed from the previous day's excesses- and while it made us both groan and smile - there was a real element of truth in it's sentiments...      "Going places i have never seen - Seeing things that I may never see again - and I can't wait to get on the road again..."

That brings me to our wonderful tour Director Graham Smith and  Driver Marcello.  Lovely men - very skilled at their jobs. Graham hails from NZ but now lives in London.  Is passionate about history - very suave, funny, skilled, handsome, engaging - so a lot of fun to be with on the tour.  Marcello is a lovely gentle man from Rome - an unbelievably skilled driver...we really almost glided around Europe- his driving was smooth and so comfortably paced- even though the places he got our massive coach in and out of were at times hair-raising.  At every stop (of which there were many) each of these men would stand at the doors of the bus and give everyone a hand down....a lot to  be said for these gentle courtesies.