Day 39 Tues 23rd July Chalon to Paris

We said our last goodbyes and sadly left the ship to go by coach to Paris.  We stopped at Beaune (bone) for 3 hours to do some last minute shopping. (I was thinking of you Sarah!!) Beaune was such a pretty town but it was still very hot and the shops all shut from 12 noon until 2pm. Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy and we drove through some stunning landscapes along the way.  The vineyards went for miles in all directions

Back on the coach and on to Paris, 3 hours away. The hotel we are staying at is HUGE, over 900 rooms but is in a good location in a district called Montparnasse and our roomon the 19th floor is spacious. (The city of Paris is made up of about 20 districts called arrondissements. A circular road goes around it and the suburbs are outside this.) We are on the left bank and could walk to the Eiffel Tower in about 20 mins.

We found a café for tea and 8 of us (the four from WA joined us) for a very cheap meal.  The most annoying thing about Paris cafes is that people can smoke inside and out and we can’t get over the number of smokers throughout every country we have been to. Our meals cost around 14 euros each which we though was pretty good.

At 9.45pm about 30 from our tour went on a night lights tour of Paris by bus and ended up at the Eiffel Tower at 11 pm to see the spectacular light display.  It was so magical (but very hot and VERY crowded) and we had to pinch ourselves to believe this was real. The night photos were impossible out of a moving bus so are of very poor quality.

wildflowers growing on side of road

Beaune was such a pretty town. So many flowers

the three farmers!!

panoramic view of tea in a cafe in Paris

view from our hotel room

night lights tour

the lights on the eiffel tower at 11pm

just to prove I was there!!!