Summer Trip - Paris (8th - 13th July)

Over the Summer break from school we had about five and a half weeks in which to travel around Europe. We were very happy to be able to spend the first week of this travel with Lynelle, Darren and their daughters. They caught a plane to Paris from Zurich Airport on Monday, 7th July.


Summer Trip - Paris (8th -13th July)

Our GPS told us that the first drive on our trip would take five and a half hours plus rest/lunch stops. After an uneventful drive through Switzerland and France we got our first view of the Eiffel Tower as we drove in to Paris. We easily found our apartment, which was small and comfortable. After settling in, we rang the Hawkes and arranged to meet with them the next day at Disneyland Paris. Finding a parking spot in the narrow Parisian streets was not so simple, but once found we then had to pay nine Euros per day to claim it.
We got up early the next day, which was very warm, and set off on a forty minute drive to meet the Hawkes at Disneyland. Some of the activities we enjoyed were: photo with Mickey Mouse; Grand Parade; Rides: Carousel, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Pirates of the Caribbean, Phantom Manor, Big Thunder Mountain, Rock’n’Roller Coaster, Motor & Action Stunt Show, Twilight Zone of Terror. The girls loved the rides – the wilder, the better. Motion sickness kicked in for Terri-Lyn, but Mark went the distance. As we left Disneyland, with Tenealle coming with us for a sleep over, we noticed some fluid leaking from under our car – Oh No! We crossed our fingers and drove back to our apartment, but halfway home steam started rising from the car bonnet, requiring us to top up the water. We made it back, hit the sack and slept very soundly.
In the morning Mark and Terri-Lyn went for a run with the intention of finding a garage to repair our car, and luckily found a Renault (our car) garage. We took the car there to find out that the radiator was damaged beyond repair and needed to be replaced at a cost of 800 Euros(over $1300 AUS). As we couldn’t speak French and they couldn’t speak English it made it difficult to establish if this was reasonable price, but we were limited in our choices and had no alternative but to get the repair done. We spent the remainder of the day walking around Paris. The Eiffel Tower is a huge and wonderful spectacle, and as the lines to go up to the top of the Tower were very long we decided to come in early the following morning. We walked down the Champs d’Elysees and saw the Arc de Triumph before enjoying a beer/coke/croissant in a café along the river. To celebrate Bronte’s 11th birthday we all went out to a local Italian restaurant on the canal locks of Paris.
It was difficult to get out of bed for our 9am meeting with the Hawkes at the Eiffel Tower, as we felt SO tired. We only had to wait for 30 minutes to reach the front counter to get our tickets to go up to the top of the Tower. It was windy up there, but the view of Paris was super. Back down on the second level the view was even better as everything was closer. Zoe and Mark walked down to the ground while we all took the elevator. After many stops at souvenir booths we made it to the Louvre, where Lynelle and Terri-Lyn took the opportunity to have a wander through. As this gallery is so large we were only able to see a small portion of it, but we made sure that we saw HER – the Mona Lisa (right). She was suitably presented in the centre of a room heavily protected behind glass and security staff. It was great to see one of the most famous paintings in the world. Mark and Darren took the girls to a carnival close by and the girls were in seventh heaven i.e. plenty of rides and junk food.
We had a much-wanted sleep-in the next morning while Mark went for a run. We picked the car up from the garage and strolled through a streetside market. We used the Metro to get around and with Bronte and Chelsea, saw the sights that we hadn’t seen previously: Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame. In the evening the adults went to Montmarte (the Moulin Rouge district) for dinner. We had a delicious meal and a lovely last night together, before the Hawkes returned to the Southern Hemisphere.
OVERVIEW OF PARIS:
* Magnificent, vibrant city > very cosmopolitan
* Friendly people with a confidence about them
* Multicultural – all people seem to get along well
* Eiffel Tower – large, wondrous, focal point
* Our Apartment – gave us a real feel of Parisian life.
* Paris Metro – underground train network. Excellent. Only about 500 metres from anywhere in the city to the nearest train station, and only 2 to 5 minutes until the next train.