See you all soon.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Viva La France
Paris is so different to London - Margaret is I love with Paris. Wide boulevards, frenetic traffic and crowds - white knuckle rides in taxis, beeping horns and a few near misses! Jackie, Margaret and I went off to Giverny and Versailles on a bus trip whilst Judy and Joanne did the hop on/hop off bus tour.
The next day we started at Sainte Chapelle a 13 century chapel in the original palace in Paris of Saint Louis and then visited the last prison of Marie Antoinette at the Conciergerie - a very grim and forbidding place where so many people as well as the queen spent their last days in fear and desperation. A light note here was a living sculpture being "performed " by the artist - this consisted of taking a sheet of paper from a pile of old law documents, screwing them up, rubbing them on the back of his neck and tossing them into a "pool" made of seats wrapped in glad wrap! John Stanhope eat your heart out!
Giverny and the gardens were beautiful as was Monet's house - everywhere colour and shape and the water lilies he painted were in bloom. After lunch at a 17century mill we went onto Versailles but the crowds and the hot weather diminished this experience somewhat. Such extravagance by the kings of France!
Then we went to the Seine for our luncheon cruise (silver service luncheon cruise) which met every one of our expectations - wonderful food, great wines, champagne, white and red, spectacular views and great service.
Tomorrow is our last day - we are feeling a bit sad but we're looking forward to going home. A last hop on /hop off tour and the Luxembourg gardens then off to the airport.
We have had a wonderful time with something for everyone and we'll long remember our many experiences and our journey from Whitley Bay to Paris via Hadrian's Wall and many places in between.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice
London! The Big Bus and a cruise to Grenwich took up our first afternoon and despite being caught in a heavy storm we enjoyed seeing London from the water. The views of Tower Bridge and the Tower were wonderful.
Tomorrow our last stop- Paris!
Next morning just like Christopher Robin and Alice we went to see the changing of the guard (along with thousands of others). Our touristing was followed by our special night at the theatre. All dressed '(still InThe rain) we had dinner in a Belgian restaurant watching France defeat Nigeria along with some noisy and very happy locals. Then off to the musical "Once" - a very different musical with strong performances from the singers who were also very good musicians. A very different experience because at Interval many of the audience went on stage to get food and drinks and we had ice-cream ordered from our seats. A beautiful old theatre and a lovely experience. We rose early to get inline for West Minister Abbey which opened at 9.30 and we really loved this beautiful church and all it's varied history and the wonderful continuity so evident in every corner.
Harrods and Fortnun and Mason provided elegant lunches and afternoon teas whilst we viewed the elegant and incredibly expensive clothes.
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