We got dropped near the gardens of the Louvre for some free time of shopping and sightsseeing before we had to be picked-up for our trip to Versailles.
Jo, Paul and I went for a walk through the other side of the gardens to the river for our exploration. We came across a pedestrian foot bridge that had a wholelot of padlocks on its railings with devotions of love written on them. Isabel later advised us that couples go to the bridge, write their names or message on it them throw the key into the river as a devotion of their love.
We managed to grab a quick sandwich and drink for lunch before Giordano appeared again to take us to Versailles. When we got there, the bus car park was full of buses but Giordano managed to find a spot with ease. It had also started to drizzle.
When we got to the engry gates, it was chock full of school kids and it just got worse when we were trying to get from room to room. You could hardly move. There was a group of Asian tourists that kept pushing us in the back trying to get us to move and then trying to push in front of us. We were all in the same boat so I don't know why they thought that it would help their plight. As in the Louvre, there were groups of really young school kids not even remotely interested at what they were looking at.
By the first two rooms, some of us had had enough but, unfortunately, there was no quick exit - you have to go through untl the end. It was a freaking nightmare!
At the end, we had tickets to go outside to the gardens. One slight problem was that it had started raining harder. Some of us crazies went out anyway for about 5 minutes then went in search of shelter. We found some of the others taking cover near the exit. All of us decided to go back to the bus - and we still had 45 minutes before we had to go.
There were about 9 of us in total making it back to the bus, only to find the others were already on the bus. All but the honeymooners and the American women Sharon and Di. So, we could've gone early but had to wait for them.
We later found out that on Tuesday's, the Louvre is closed. On Mondays, Versailles is closed. This explained the amout of kids at both of those locations during our visit. Bumber.
After arriving back to our hotel, I dried off my jeans, hung up my wet jacket and umbrella in the bathroom and started wirting this blog. Then, it was time to get ready for our Farewell Dinner at a restaurant close by.
The restaurant had five tables set up and as I was the first inside, I chose one of the long tables. Paul, Jo, Jeanne and James joined me. And I thought it was a great little group - except for the empty chair next to me.... and the spare chair in front of Brenda (the woman I don't like).
As the last to enter - as always - were Carla and Ken, Simona asked me to move so that they wouldn't be separated. Not bloody likely! If it had been a spare chair at the other end of the table, I would've done it in a flash. Luckily for me, Jo and the others were on my side and I remained where I was, with Ken sitting next to me and Carla sitting in front of Brenda. Of course, Jo, Paul, Jeanne and James knew how I felt about Brenda and backed me up.
Then, it was photo time with everyone getting out their cameras, going from table to table while everyone was still sober!
Then, after the appertisers were served, Simona made a speech thanking us for being such a great group, etc. Then, Sally made a speech on behalf of all of us praising Simona and Giordano. Simona and Giordano were sitting apart from us, in a little corner of the restaurant so one of the guys got Giordano up next to Simona and some took photos. Of course, it was then Giordano's turn to do a speech - well at least we thought so. His response to our request? Turning bright red while smiling and sayin an emphatic "NO WAY!!".
We all gave our Gratuity envelopes to both Giordano and Simona and we each thanked them individually.
Paris my lights is ust beautiful. Of course we drove up the Champs D'elysees and went around and around the Arc de Triomph - very nerve wracking!
Our final stop was the beautiful Eiffel Tower in all her lit-up glory. We were all given a chance to hOp off the bus and take our pictures.
Then, back to the hotel and bed.
Tomorrow, we're all off to our different destinations and, for some, our holidays are over.
