DAY 20

Thursday 10th July 2008 8:29am Paris

I have not laughed so much for at least 30 years as I did last night. We went to a cabaret show just near the Moulin rouge. It had topless dancers, acrobats, singers, jugglers, mime artists, comedians and the can-can complete with squealing girls in ruffled underwear. I laughed until I cried when an acrobat/comedian entertained us. As soon as he came on to the stage I was helpless with laughter. Then he enticed Eddy from our group who is a farmer from South Australia to come up on to the stage to assist him. It was great and Eddy played along and hammed it up to make it all the more hilarious. The young dancers were great; four males and lots of females. A Petite older woman did some amazing acrobatics on a trapeze and then on a hanging fabric.

The meal was excellent though a little rushed. We began with Frois Grois, then filet steak for main course, fantastic cheese slabs, then a fruity ice-cream for dessert. We drank white and red wine and finished with champagne. It was a slick, fast and very enjoyable experience.

Earlier in the day we visited Le Tour Eiffel. It was extremely busy with crowds of people waiting in queues to go up onto the tower. Others were wandering around underneath taking photos and others were sitting in the parks nearby. We had a reserved time slot so didn’t have to stand in a queue. We squeezed into the two-level red carriage type elevator. At the second level we got out and took photos galore of Paris. We looked for the famous landmarks of Paris.

Our room at the Novotel in Paris was on the 25th floor of the 31 floor hotel that is situated on the banks of the Seine River.

After the show we met Eddy, Sandy, Trevor and Jacqui and young Daniel in the bar for drinks. I had Cointreau. Mid-way through our drinks we dashed down to the nearby bridge to take night-time photos of the Eiffel Tower as it twinkles with blue lights every hour. Out of necessity we had a joint night photography tutorial and voila – better photos.

This morning we are on the bus with a local guide, Jocelyn, doing a tour of the city. She has a wonderful French accent and a good sense of humour.

10/7/08 10:05am Paris

So we have driven around Paris with Jocelyn telling us all about the history, buildings, major monuments, gardens, etc. After dropping off some of our group, who have opted not to visit Versailles and Le Louvre, we are now on our way out of Paris to Versailles, 15 km away.

10/7/08 12:38pm Versailles

For the first time this trip we have lost two people from our group. Maxine and her grandson David have not returned to the bus in the carpark at Versailles, and we had to send out a search party.

The palatial residence of the French Kings, Louis 14th, 15th, and 16th, are beautiful, lavish and ornate. Spacious gardens surround the grand buildings. We saw the bedroom of the King and Marie Antoinette’s room who was the queen to Louis 16th (I think). We saw the famous glittering hall of mirrors with tall mirrors, French doors, crystal chandeliers and gold plated ornaments. It was very busy with tourists and we shuffled our way through the crush following our guide. The queue for the regular entrance was extremely long and even longer when we came out.

At the bus the Africans were there trying to sell their cheap scarves and key rings and sunglasses.

10/7/08 3:45pm Paris

We enjoyed an exhausting day, finishing with a quick walk around some of Le Louvre in just 1 and ½ hours. We saw the glass pyramids of Pei, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The Venus de Milo, the headless Winged Victory, and many more large rich beautiful paintings. We dodged other tour groups and crowds of tourists as a local guide told us about Le Louvre and the few works we saw, The underground additions to the original palace make this museum capable of handling the huge number of people that visit every day. I looked at the Mona Lisa from behind a crowd. It was enough for me.

We are tired and weary after a long day of guided tours.

10.7.08 9:57pm Paris

Just as we were almost back to our hotel a police car with siren going pulled over a little van in front of our bus, stopping traffic. Then two army trucks stopped behind them, hemming us in. The army officers got out carrying machine guns. Our driver managed to drive around them, so we didn’t see what happened next.

Michael and I then walked along the streets towards the Eiffel Tower. We bought some T-shirts, postcards and stamps, then walked across the bridge to the other side of the Seine to take some more photos of the Eiffel Tower.

Dinner was at a little restaurant called Chez Clement. We were taken there by bus. We had French Onion soup and bread, wine, beer, steak with creamy mashed potatoes and peas, then Crème Brulee for dessert.

Since being in Paris I have noticed a large police, army, and security presence everywhere. Perhaps they are getting ready for the Bastille Day celebrations on the 14th of July and also the end of the Tour de France in the next week or so. Or perhaps Paris always has this level of police due to terrorist threat.

The one thing I have had trouble with on this trip is water. I have not managed to keep up my water intake. Buying bottled water is a necessity and I have not always found it easy to buy, mainly due to the pace of our trip.

I am feeling really weary and ready to go home. I am also a bit tired of talking to people and need some quiet time.