So it begins

Escargood!

Published Date : April 27, 1999

We were up early today and on the bus for 8am.  No sightseeing this morning, it was a drive straight through to Dover to catch the ferry over to France.  Pip took the opportunity to go over some housekeeping information get us all up to speed on how things were going to work for the trip.  Our group “theme song” for the trip is “Save Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry – I can handle that!

http://www.talesfromthebackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/1999/04/Eagle-Eye-Cherry-Save-Tonight.mp3

After the housekeeping was done, it was a game of pass the microphone and everybody had to stand up and introduce themselves to the rest of the group.  Most of the group is in their mid to late twenties, there are only two of us who are 18.  I’m the baby of the trip!

The two hour drive passed quickly as we all took in the English countryside and got to know each other.  There was a fair amount of confusion getting onto the ferry and by the time we were organized and on deck, the famous White Cliffs of Dover were rapidly shrinking behind us.  I managed to get one picture of them at least!

Before we knew it, we were landing in Calais.  Hey guess what?  I’m in France!!  Our destination for tonight is Paris.  We arrived at the campground and got sorted into our rooms, quad-share cabins with two per room.  Very basic, but everything you need.   I’m sharing with a Canadian girl and two Australians.

Lessons on eating escargot – Paris

Once we were settled we were called outside to be given our Welcome to Paris escargot and champagne.  One of the on-site Contiki reps was wearing a shower cap as a beret, with a painted on moustache and a terrible impression of a French accent.  He demonstrated the technique for eating escargot.

“You hold ze snail in your left hand, like zis,” he began.  “You take ze toothpick in your right hand like zis.  Then you take ze toothpick and ze snail and you STAB IT BETWEEN ZE EYES!!!  You may have to stab it several times.  They’re tough little buggers!!”

Between the entertainment and the champagne everyone was in stitches.  Great way to start the trip!!

After everyone had their fill of gastropods and bubbly, we were back on the bus for an evening/night tour of Paris.  First stop was the Eiffel Tower of course.  We also drove around the Arc de Triomphe, along Champs-Elysees and by the Louvre.  Once it got dark, we headed to an overlook and enjoyed a view of the Eiffel Tower lit up.  There was an illuminated sign on the tower counting down the days until the Millennium – 248 days to go!!

Belle Paris

Published Date : April 28, 1999

Today is a free day in Paris to explore at our leisure.  Our first stop was Notre Dame Cathedral at about 9am.  Wow!  What an amazing building.  I understand now why everyone talks about this place – it’s equal parts art and engineering.  It’s hard to believe that it was built so long ago.

After the tour of Notre Dame, the bus dropped us off at the Eiffel Tower and left us to our own devices for the rest of the day.  The group immediately broke up into two main groups – the lazy and the crazy!  Getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower involves a long wait to take the elevator, or no wait to take the stairs.  The majority of the group elected to take the elevator, but 5 or 6 of us decided to be crazy.  We also decided to issue a challenge and see if us crazies could beat the lazies to the top!

300+ stairs to get to the first level and we were still well ahead of the group waiting for the elevators.  All of us started to slow down on the next 300+ stairs from the first to the second level.  We ended up in a dead heat with a mad dash to the line for the mandatory elevator from the second level to the top.  The crazies won by a nose thanks to some acrobatics from Shaun!!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Some of the group stuck around at the top of the Tower just long enough to snap a picture or two.  Rob, Mike and I hung around a bit longer.  We wanted to savour the experience, or maybe we just wanted to catch our breath from the mad dash up the stairs.  Either way, we took advantage of the bird’s eye view to plot our route to our next destination: the Arc de Triomphe.

It was a lovely sunny day, if a little hazy, and perfect weather for wandering the streets of Paris.  The trees were nice and green and it was just a nice temperature for walking, the smell of cherry blossoms and dog crap in the air.  Rumour has it there are 3 dogs to every person in this city.  Unfortunately, the road we chose to walk along reeked of dog poo.  Yuck!

Stench aside, it was a lovely walk.  We took the pedestrian tunnel under the notorious Charles de Gaulle Etoile and visited the grave of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.  By then it was midday, so we decided to stroll down Champs-Elysees, a gorgeous road of high-end shops, manicured trees and quaint cafes.

We still had plans to see the Jardins des Tuileries before we had to meet the bus, but we found we were running short on time.  It had taken us longer than we had anticipated walking around the city, so we did the unthinkable: we ate McDonald’s for lunch.  The shame

Unfortunately, we still didn’t have time to see the Jardins.  We made it as far as Place de la Concorde, but had to turn back.

Darren and Pip picked us up and it was back to the campground to freshen up before our night on the town.  Tonight is a nice dinner and a cabaret at Nouvelle Eve.  I’ve discovered that I really enjoy live performances; I’m going to have to see more of them when I get home.

Le vin rouge

Published Date : April 29, 1999

Statue at Fontainebleau

This morning we said au revoir to Paris and headed south into Beaujolais country.  We took a brief photo stop at Chateau Fontainebleu before continuing on to Chateau de Cruix just outside the town of Theize.  It was a beautiful drive through the French countryside.

Our first order of business on arriving at the 16^th century chateau was a wine tasting event.  Apparently there’s a whole lot more to wine than just drinking it.  I found the whole thing very interesting.

Tonight was the first theme party of the trip as well: fancy dress night.  We were given instructions to dress up in a costume using only what we brought with us and assemble in the pub located in the basement of the Chateau.  Much drinking and revelry was enjoyed by all.  The party continued well into the night as people explored the Chateau and enjoyed their downtime.

The climax of the night was the screams echoing through the hallways at 2am.  A couple of the guys had decided to throw sheets over themselves, pretending to be ghosts and scare a couple of the girls.  Good times