Monday 19 November 2012

Paris - Day One


Henry is bubbling with excitement as we arrive at Kings Cross Station in the early hours of the morning.


He studies the map intently to work out where to go next.


Having worked out the route, he sets off towards to Underground to catch the tube to Great Portland Street where we were to meet the coach.


We didn't have to wait too long once at Great Portland Street for the coach to arrive.  As we drove through London on our way to Dover we delighted in the Christmas lights.




Wonderful!


Aboard the Ferry - it was quite cold out there!


Back inside in the warm, Henry watches the sea.


Before long he settles down with this little car and Buzz to play.


No explanation necessary! ;-)

It doesn't seem long before we pull into Calais and have arrived.


The huge doors open and we are ready to drive off the coach.


I have to say driving round Paris was CRAZY!  This part wasn't so bad, but man oh man the round about system is incredible!  No lanes, cars crossing everywhere, crazy give way on the round about rules, so the flow of traffic is inhibited, I'm amazed there wasn't any accidents and can only commend our driver on how well he got us around Paris.


It was a foggy afternoon when we arrived at the River Seine for our River Cruise.  The top of the Eiffel Tower was barely visible.


Henry really enjoyed the cruise and was very excited about being on the boat and seeing all the sights!




Pretty soon he realised just how cold it was and donned his coat!





The architecture was amazing and the statues incredible.



We all thoroughly enjoyed this cruise.  The one and only time I have been to Paris before was day trip when I was home-educating my eldest son.  The River was flooded, so there were no cruises  possible at all, and it was absolutely dismal with rain pouring the whole day we were there.  My only memory of that trip is of being very wet and cold!


No, Henry didn't fall in!



Enjoying ourselves.






After the cruise we drove down the Camps Elysées  


The Christmas decorations were up and it was bright and cheerful.





No, we didn't stay here ;-)

Our hotel was much less grand!


Our room - rather small and disappointingly no tea or coffee making facilities, but otherwise no complaints.

We went out to the nearby Bercy Village and had a lovely meal in an Italian Restaurant...excellent service, menu's in English provided and lovely food.  

More to come...


8 comments:

  1. I hope I'm not repeating myself because my first comment seemed to get lost in cyberspace.
    I loved all your Paris photos, what a lovely trip you had with Henry! Henry, you are a very lucky boy to go to Paris and see so many of the sights. Thank you so much for sharing!
    Hugs Sharon in Spain x

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  2. Glad you had a good trip and have arrived safely home!
    Great pictures!

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  3. My comment got lost too...I was saying that Paris is so lovely; I was there in the summer, just overnight, and thoroughly enjoyed mooching around and looking at stuff. My hotel was a bit crummy but it had the most wonderful bread for breakfast. Mmmm, French bread!

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  4. What beautiful scenery! And look at you! You are adorable! As well as Henry, of course. :o)

    My daughter wants to go to Paris one day, and I really hope she eventually can.

    Enjoy yourself! :o)

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  5. I know what you mean about the Paris traffic, 4 years ago we caravanned in Paris so had to negotiate the outer areas towing the caravan! so glad you and Henry had a better time than your previous day trip.

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  6. Oh boy, Henry! You have brought it all back to me! What a lovely trip you had and your Mummy takes the best photos! Glad you got your portrait painted in Montmartre! I am not surprised you caused a stir! xxx Karin

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  7. Cant wait for you to come and stay so we can catch up with it all.
    Lovely photos Lorraine.
    See you soon. xx

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  8. You are very brave to drive in Paris! :)

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