Yesterday we had a "free day" in Paris where we could explore the city of love on our own. Unfortunately it rained all morning but cleared up in the afternoon and the sky was blue for our night time activities.
We had been told by our tour manager Kelly that on the Champs Élysées (the posh shopping street in Paris) there is a Sephora shop (a big make up store) which opens at 10am each day and when it opens the shop assistants cheer the first customers into the store. This sounded like a fun experience so we set off in the morning for Sephora and walked down the red carpet to be cheered on by around 20 shop assistants. After a shop around the Chanps Élysées, we headed in the pouring rain to the Lourve. After waiting half an hour to get into the Lourve we headed straight to find the Mona Lisa, which turns out to be only about the size of an A4 piece of paper. She is also considered priceless and thus cannot be insured by any company so is protected by bullet proof glass and two security guards.
After seeing the Mona Lisa we went to look at the ancient Egypt artefacts and saw a Sphinx from 2600BC.
We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our first Contiki night out. The night began with a walk up to the Sacré-Cœur which is an old church on the top of a hill and has the most amazing views of the city. Following the walk to the church was a Parisian dinner where we ate traditional French dishes including French onion soup, escargot, duck l'orange and some chocolate cake thing for dessert. The dinner was delicious and was accompanied by nice red and white wine. After our fine dining experience, we walked to the Nouvelle Cabaret show. The show was incredible, it was the first cabaret I had been to and it was amazing to see the costumes and fit physique of the dancers. Between each dance there was an interesting and unique performance. Some of these performances were so mind blowing and strange, like nothing I'd ever seen before. For example, one guy did a light show where he played with light beams and it looked like they were real, as if he could hold them but it was all an illusion.
After the performance we headed to an Irish pub/club called O'Sullivans, nick named "Sullys" where we danced and got to know our Contiki "family" better.
Today we are travelling from Paris to Lyon. We have been on the bus for most of the day but the travelling hasn't felt very long as we slept for the first couple of hours and since then our tour manager has engaged us in bus games and activities. We stopped briefly in Fontainebleau, a small country town which has a beautiful Chateau (castle/palace) in the centre and is filled with cute little patisseries. It was raining again so we had a quick walk around and I tried a macaron and eclair from one of the patisseries, which melted in my mouth.
We are now headed for the Contiki French Chateau, a 16th Century Chateau which was once owned by French royalty and is now a place of accommodation for Contiki tours. We are not staying there tonight as it is full so we are staying in a hotel in Lyon but we will be staying there tomorrow night. So today we are just going past there to have a wine tasting afternoon to taste some wine from the Beaujolais wine region.
Typical tourists in Paris
We had been told by our tour manager Kelly that on the Champs Élysées (the posh shopping street in Paris) there is a Sephora shop (a big make up store) which opens at 10am each day and when it opens the shop assistants cheer the first customers into the store. This sounded like a fun experience so we set off in the morning for Sephora and walked down the red carpet to be cheered on by around 20 shop assistants. After a shop around the Chanps Élysées, we headed in the pouring rain to the Lourve. After waiting half an hour to get into the Lourve we headed straight to find the Mona Lisa, which turns out to be only about the size of an A4 piece of paper. She is also considered priceless and thus cannot be insured by any company so is protected by bullet proof glass and two security guards.
After seeing the Mona Lisa we went to look at the ancient Egypt artefacts and saw a Sphinx from 2600BC.
Outside the Lourve
Sphinx from 2600BC
We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our first Contiki night out. The night began with a walk up to the Sacré-Cœur which is an old church on the top of a hill and has the most amazing views of the city. Following the walk to the church was a Parisian dinner where we ate traditional French dishes including French onion soup, escargot, duck l'orange and some chocolate cake thing for dessert. The dinner was delicious and was accompanied by nice red and white wine. After our fine dining experience, we walked to the Nouvelle Cabaret show. The show was incredible, it was the first cabaret I had been to and it was amazing to see the costumes and fit physique of the dancers. Between each dance there was an interesting and unique performance. Some of these performances were so mind blowing and strange, like nothing I'd ever seen before. For example, one guy did a light show where he played with light beams and it looked like they were real, as if he could hold them but it was all an illusion.
Pro at eating snails now
Dressed and excited for the first night out
View from the Sacré-Cœur
The Sacre-Couer
After the performance we headed to an Irish pub/club called O'Sullivans, nick named "Sullys" where we danced and got to know our Contiki "family" better.
Today we are travelling from Paris to Lyon. We have been on the bus for most of the day but the travelling hasn't felt very long as we slept for the first couple of hours and since then our tour manager has engaged us in bus games and activities. We stopped briefly in Fontainebleau, a small country town which has a beautiful Chateau (castle/palace) in the centre and is filled with cute little patisseries. It was raining again so we had a quick walk around and I tried a macaron and eclair from one of the patisseries, which melted in my mouth.
Fontainebleau Chateau
Variety of Eclairs (I got the ball shaped chocolate one)
We are now headed for the Contiki French Chateau, a 16th Century Chateau which was once owned by French royalty and is now a place of accommodation for Contiki tours. We are not staying there tonight as it is full so we are staying in a hotel in Lyon but we will be staying there tomorrow night. So today we are just going past there to have a wine tasting afternoon to taste some wine from the Beaujolais wine region.
Thanks again for a wonderful informative post on your daily activities. I love reading them, so please keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteDid you really eat the snails and like them? You are certainly learning a lot about culture - art, food, history and I'm very impressed ! xx
ReplyDeleteYeah I did like them! The ones I ate the second time were covered in pesto and tasted good!
ReplyDeleteHi Alison, did you get a chance to have that Parisian coffee? Again, it looks like you have squeezed in so many sights and activities. What a great experience! Stay well rested in between all the activity.... Cheers, Leone
ReplyDelete