Paris

29/4/2015 - 1/5/2015

Paris.

To leave from London's Wombat Hostel (which was a surprisingly nice place to stay)  I had to be down in reception at 6am. However the bus did not leave until 7am. The bus that our tour caught from the hostel was not the tour bus we would be on for the rest of the tour, this coach was only to drop us off at Dover, where we would board the ferry to Calais, France. It took nearly two hours to get to Dover, (I wouldn't know, I slept through the entire trip - I mean who really needs to be gathered at 6am?)

I had heard some bad stories about travelling across to France on the ferry so I stocked up on motion sickness tablets in London. In the past they hadn't worked for me but no harm in trying the locals brands. They worked a treat by the way and I will need to stock up on more of these before I Leave. The ferry was only an hour and a half, but it seemed to fly by. I ate a mediocre breakfast, shopped in the duty-free shop (I only bought chocolate) and sat down in a window seat to great France.

The coach was late in picking us up from the ferry but I think that was because we had arrived early. We were expecting to catch the next ferry, not the one we were on). Boarding the coach, I immediately went back to sleep. It was another few hours to Paris.

Driving into Paris we saw the side of Paris no one ever talks about. It was dirty and there were so many tents with immigrants camped out, it was very sad too see. At our Hostel in Paris I was placed in a room with four other girls from our tour. 

Dinner was at 7pm, we got to try Escargot, it was interesting, it's hard to describe the flavour but the texture was chewy and gritty, I don't think it's something I would eat often, maybe cooked with different flavours perhaps. For the main course it was Beef bouginon.

After dinner we did a bus tour around the city, seeing all the potential locations we could visit on our free day. We stopped near The Eiffel Tower, we got to see it a lit up, it was so beautiful. Even at 9pm t night people were out and about taking photo's.

On the Thursday we were up early for breakfast and then heading out to see the sites. I went with a group of people from the tour, we caught the subway to the closest station near the The Notre Dame, Entry was free. It was a beautiful site to behold, unfortunately the weather was not very nice, it rained the whole day. I bought an umbrella from a wandering salesman for 5 Euro, it didn't really matter that much as I was already soaked through.

From there we headed to another chapel. After that I headed on my own and walked to the  Arc De Triomphe. Let me tell you, it's not as close as you think, I think it took me about two hours walking, in the rain. I went into a few shops, bought a satchel bag and some make-up. I started walking again, thinking I was heading in the direction of The Eiffel Tower, but after alot of walking and not seeing it I went down to the subway and asked for directions by train to the location. Two trains later I made it. However it was still three hours until the group meet up for picnic dinner. I walked around, had a late lunch and decided to return to the Hostel for a hot shower and to put some warm dry clothes on. Rather than trying to figure out the subway I jumped into a taxi.

All warm and dry I returned with some other group members to the Eiffel tower picnic. Due to bad weather the picnic was now held on the bus at the Eiffel Tower, the second best option. Then we were off to the cabaret. It was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it to everyone. The boys especially loved the half naked women dancing around. Boobs are  allowed to roam free in Paris.

Checking out the next morning was not a good site. After the Cabaret a lot of our tour decided to continue partying at the hostel.  The bus ride to Switzerland was very quiet.... To be continued