Grace & Andrew: London to Paris (start of tour)

Early start today as we depart on our tour, meeting at 7am with the some of the group. Breakfast as usual of rolls with jam at the hotel. Coach to Waterloo station, then Eurostar to Gare du Nord (Paris) and coach to hotel where we met the others on the tour joining us in Paris. Most people are Australian, a few New Zealanders, one Korean and a Canadian family.

Once checked in, we were then taken by coach to the Eiffel Tower. As a group we jumped the large queues and went straight up, however we only got to the second viewing platform as the top platform was full at the time we got our tickets. It was a clear day so we got a good view of the city and we didn't bother going up to the top.

Following that we had a group dinner where Andrew had a very expensive beer - 10 euros for 0.5l. Dinner was average. We had a very rich chocolate mousse for dessert which not many people finished, not even Andrew (who loves his desserts)!

After dinner, we had a cruise down the Seine river. We saw the sights of Paris by night - some fancy bridges, Notre Dame, The Louvre. There was a running commentary in 4 different languages however it was difficult to hear as there were too many people talking, which was a shame. We also saw the light show of the Eiffel Tower after the cruise, and Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee before heading back to the hotel.