Friday afternoon

So much for morning.. we were so tired.. we slept till 9:45.. missed breakfast and everything.. Oh well it was so very worth it..
Thursday I slept so very little finally getting up at 4am.. We did make the bus at 5:30 but boy.. tired. It was a hectic race to get through the customs to get onto the super train.. we are going into another Country so we have to go through Customs, security and find our platform. We had a little French gal Charlotte.. as our guide. She was good.. but sometimes hard to understand and also drug things out without getting to the point.. especially if you are in a hurry. well we got on and their idea of first class isn't the same as mine. But will get to that all later..
SO... we get picked up.. 5:30 in the am and the driver is racing around trying to get the other 4 stops and then to St. Pancras International Rail Station. Even at that time of the morning.. people are in a hurry.. wow it was just sad.. People don't even seem to have time to breathe.. Just rush .. rush. I would have an ulcer in a month! I bet several of them here do.
Okay on the train.. we meet a nice couple that are also on the tour Alex and Kris.. they are from Perth Australia. We had a nice chat and a strange breakfast.. I ate the instant eggs with cheese.. the rest I left.. it was a hmm sausage and burnt shreds of potato's. Just nasty.. Oh I ate the bread and one of the yogurts.. that was kinda bad too..
SO... we get to the station.. we meet up with the tour guide again and hop on the bus.. with seats so close.. I barely have leg room.. you know what that says for Mel.. sigh

They do have some fantastic architecture there!! First thing we noticed right off was all the motor bikes, scooters and bicycles. They probably have more of them then cars... And in France they are allowed to park them on the edge of the sidewalk.. here



















in London they can't. So that might explain why the traffic is a tad bit better. Still a lot though.. at least they drive on the same side as we do in America.
And many of the roads in France.. at least where we were driving.. were still cobble stone. All different designs too.. They were an art form all in it's own. Then on this one bridge, they had 4 pillars with gold flake covered statues. I don't remember but they had something to do with the royalty of the city. They were huge.

We went by the Arc de Triomphe Where it is a shrine for Soldiers, active and deceased. Under the flag is a torch that is lit each morning by Veterans. Pretty impressive and beautiful.


After we drove by the Arc de Triomphe, we then went and parked at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and went for our ride on the scenic "LaSeine". I have to say that the river in France is way more cleaner then the river/canals in England. From the River cruise, we then walked over to the Eiffel Tower and had lunch.. ONCE we finally got up to the restaurant. And I have to tell you.. It WAS very VERY good. We had champagne, red wine, chicken, potato's romanoff, broccoli, salad.. rolls and rich butter.. and some kind of desert that was.. well marvelous! I even had a little champagne and it was very good! Then it was onto the the Louvre.. Wow hardly describes this place.. needless to say it is HUGE.. I only wish we had about 4 or 5 days to explore this museum. It is increditable! We didn't have much time because we were running behind due to trouble getting up to the lunch. I have to say.. they really do need to figure out that part a little better. BUT. back to the Louvue.. We first saw the Venus de Milo.. wow sure a lot bigger then in the books. Then finally we asked Charlotte to point out where Mona Lisa was so I could see her and go down and buy something before we left.. She did tell me where it was and Mel and I were off.. wow it is way lot bigger then I thought.. BUT they held it under glass.. actually I think it was 2 panes of glass because we sure did get a glare.

Eiffel Tower












Venus de Milo












Mona Lisa












The getting BACK to the train was to say unusual.. not fun but we all made it.. It was a real rat race trying to get through the traffic then.. we had like 20 minutes to get through customs.. both French and British.. before our train left. THEN.. just before the Chunnel... we were at a dead stop.. they had people running on the tracks in protest of something.. so we sat there almost 2hours before we finally started going again. Everyone was so tired..
AND THAT.. is why we slept till 9:45am this morning!