SUN, 10 JUL 2022 – HOTEL TRANSFER: My Globus La France tour ended after breakfast, so I checked out of the hotel and made my way to Htel du Lion dOr Louvre for a stay my visit to Paris and to relax a bit before I embarked on an adventurous, independent journey to London, ahead of my next tour. This evening, as I was signing up for the La France Facebook Group one of my opened, I saw a post from my cousin, Karen, relating that she and her partner, Wendy, were leaving for Paris the next day. A few Messenger posts and lunch was set. Overnight for four nights – Htel du Lion dOr Louvre, Paris, France. As the name implies, its within walking distance of the Louvre.
MON, 11 JUL 2022 and TUE, 12 JUL 2022 – HOUSEKEEPING: Monday I had a very enjoyable Lunch with the Cuz in Paris! Pretty crazy! During our lunch, the conversation was interrupted by the practice flyovers in preparation for Bastille Day the Thursday following. The remainder of Monday and most of Tuesday was spent on relaxation, catching up on photos and emails,
completing customer satisfaction surveys and refreshing my memory and double checking the next several weeks of travel – hotel reservations, train tickets, points of interest, etc. Tuesday morning, however, found me taking a short walk while the housekeeper tended to my room. About blocks from my hotel, I encountered a line of people waiting for Louis Vuitton to open. Then another for E. Goyard (which I learn is now Maison Goyard). Yet a third cue for Angelina. Man, that zip code should get the hotel another star just for braggin rights. This is a nice, small, Ma & Pa place thats probably been here since the For my La France Yall thought the elevators were small on the La France tour, you aint seen nothin yet – capacity 3!!! Quite obviously, a retrofit in the only space available.
WED 13 JUL 2022 – TOURISM: I stopped at this enticing pastry shop near the hotel for a couple hundred scrumptious calories before heading three blocks to the metro (subway) station and the Arc de Triomphe. It took a couple of minutes to find the stairs to the tunnel under the and to the center of
the circle, but the reward was worth the effort. Very nice, but, again, the pictures can do it justice – so, if you have the time. I waited for later in the day and lower temperatures to walk the three blocks to take a spin on The View Paris. Make no mistake, this is an old fashion amusement park of the Coney Island ilk on a much smaller scale and situated along one side of Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden). There are probably rides for all ages. I only rode The View Paris but enjoyed watching the other folks, particularly the children and the screaming teenage girls, enjoying them all. The pictures cannot do it justice, so make the time.
THU, 14 JUL 2022 TRAIN TO LUXEMBOURG: I spent the morning of Bastille Day preparing for the move to Luxembourg, walked back to the pastry shop for one more sinful visit and harvested a last glimpse of The View Paris. Had I researched adequately, I would have stayed in Paris another day or two so I could have watched the Bastille Day Parade and attended some of the other festivities. I didnt miss though. As I
was packing, I heard the scream of jet engines and made my way to the street to catch the last half of the flyover. In the taxi on the way to the train station, we drove past some military vehicles and personnel.
Negotiating the Gare de (Paris East station, known as Paris Est) for the third time in about three weeks was a piece of the proverbial cake. Fortunately, all three trips used Paris Est and not one of the other five train stations in the city. Again, for the third time, I was aboard a train. This one broke the 300 km/hr barrier at 311 km/hr. The previous high that I had seen on the coachs display was 299 km/hr. The trip lasted 2 hours and 12 minutes but seemed shorter due to my from Caen, France who spoke excellent English, albeit with a very heavy French accent.
