Day 17…we are on the road to Paris! But first, our tour made a stop at Beaune, France (pronounced Bonn), the capital of Burgundy wines!
The town of Beaune is very, very cute with its thin cobble stone streets and authentic European shops and cafes. Attila took us to the center of town and pointed out spots of interest. As individuals, we all had an hour and a half of “free time”. Of course, different people chose to use their time in different ways. Dusty and I explored the streets and tried our best to get lost! Rachel went wine tasting. Mom and Grandpa hung out with Dennis, and did some of their own tasting. Mom had a glass of Marsanne which she absolutely loved!!
For lunch, Dusty and I stepped into a deli style shop and chose a sandwich which we thought was paté, but turned out to be seared tuna. Lucky for us, we love all food!! We enjoyed our sandwich as we continued to cruise the town. Beaune has many wine shops, delis, and bakeries with incredible looking products!!
After an hour and a half, everyone met back up and got on the coach…we were off to Paris!
As we approached Paris, the Eiffel Tower became visible out the left side of the bus. Paris is a very big city, and like any other big city has a lot of….graffiti, people, buildings, cars…etc, etc. The bus dropped us off in front of the Eiffel Tower, right near where we were to board our boat for the optional paid excursion (which included a boat ride tour and passage to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower).
Unfortunately, during our drive to Paris, we hit a lot of traffic. Due to this, we were running a bit late and missed our boat ride! Attila made the best of the situation and took us all for a walk to get a great view of the Tower and the parks on each side. We then all walked to the Tower and entered with our passes. A lift took us to the 2nd floor and the views were amazing!! We took pictures and enjoyed the panoramic view of Paris. After coming down, Attila let us know that he arranged for us to take the next boat ride! We really appreciated this!
We loaded onto the boat for our tour of Paris on the Seine River. From the boat we admired the Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Musee du Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Assemblée National, Hotel des Invalides, Pont Neuf (Paris’ oldest bridge, dating to the 16th century), Pont Alexandre III (Art Nouveau bridge dating to 1896), and Grand Palais (Belle Epoque building housing National Galleries). A head set was available at each seat and offered a commentary in multiple languages. We of course chose English and enjoyed the information provided during the magical cruise. Along each side of the Seine River, many couples sat and watched the boats pass. It was very romantic to see.
Once our tour was over, we began the drive to our hotel. We passed through downtown Paris. It was Friday night, and the town was very alive. I was surprised at the multitude of bars and restaurants. Paris was the most active city that I saw throughout the entire tour.
After much traffic, we reached our hotel, Forest Hill La Villette.Our hotel was a little ways outside of the downtown area. We checked into our rooms and decided we were hungry! Mom and Grandpa went with many of our fellow tour members to a certain burger joint they heard was near….McDonalds! LOL Dusty, Rachel and I opted out of Mcy D’s and gave our patronage to the local kebab place across the street, recommended by Attila. Our dinner was incredible! Mom and Grandpa found that McDonalds was not near, and they had less-than-satisfying burgers at a small restaurant.
After dinner, we all headed to our rooms and to bed. Tomorrow would bring a day of included sightseeing with a local Parisian!
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