CherryPopper

We got into Paris earlier than expected due to some great driving by John and this allowed us to see both the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower on Monday as the Louvre is closed on a Tuesday. It also meant we got the 2 most time consuming things out of the way the day before we would normally hit Paris, which gave us more time to see the sites.

First up was the Louvre which is just an enormous palace that's now a museum full of one of the worlds best art collections including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. The palace originally had over 600 rooms but only 3 bathrooms when it was built, so you had to plan your trip, thankfully they have fixed this now. We only had 2 hours in the Louvre but it was more than long enough for a pleb like me. We got to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and both were ok but still didn't come close to the awe of the statue of David in Florence, at least for me. There is so much art work in this place you could spend a month just looking at it all.

Next was the Eiffel Tower and if you love to line up this is the place to be. We did get through the first part quickly since we were a group but we did have to line up for the rest of the lifts (2 lifts to get to the top). But it was well worth the waiting as the views really were spectacular and you could see all of Paris spreading out to the horizon. The Eiffel Tower was a lot taller than i thought it would be too. Once we got our fill of pictures and awe inspiring views we headed down and jumped on the bus back to the hotel for dinner.

After dinner we had our awards night. A few of us had the idea to give everyone an award based on what they had done on the tour. Some were quite good, i ended up with the "sex in the city award" since i apparently knew all the gossip but i'm just a good people watcher . Some of the other awards we gave out to people like Hero (a dickhead American no one liked), his award was "Person most likely to be pushed into on coming traffic", Random ended up with the "Team Blue lifetime achievement award" for his many, many Random efforts. We then went to the local pub for a few quite beers and a chat before we hit Paris the next day.

Paris is just a massive city and we tried to cover as much of it as possible on foot. First up was the Louvre courtyard to get those pics of the glass pyramid, then it was off to Notre Dame which was very gothic with lots of gargoyles and alike. The stained glass windows where enormous and very detailed. Next we headed into the city and by that time it was feeding time for us wiry travellers. We all got a picnic lunch and headed for one of the nearby parks which ended up being in front of the Luxembourg.

We had been told that the Frenchies didn't like people sitting on their grass but when we got to the park there were a number of people sitting in the shade on the grass so we thought great this must be an exception to the rule. After munching on a baguette and drinking some French wine for 45 mins in the shade we soon found ourselves being ushered off the grass by a guy with a whistle, at least we got to eat our lunch.

After lunch we headed to Napoleon's tomb to check out just how short this guy was. His tomb is just massive but they had his clothes and hat on display and he sure was a short fellow. Then we headed to the gardens beside the Eiffel Tower and onto the Arc de Triomphe to see just how crazy that 12 lane round about with no lane markings is. You just sit there and watch the madness and the accidents!!!

Then we strolled down the main shopping strip of Paris where only the top brands have shops. We cooled off in the Louis Vuitton store as it was nice and cool. We then came across the "most romantic bridge in Paris" so i got my picture taken with not one but 2 girls kissing me From there we headed back to the hotel to get ready for tonight.

Our last outing was to a Parisian cabaret show. We stopped off in front of the Moulin Rouge snapped a few pics then headed to our show down the street. Jo who won the wet t-shirt comp in Florence was wearing a very... umm... revealing top and as we walked past some locals she got a very French "oh lala". The show was good but the food was great. Yummy steak and man was i craving for red meat. The best part was the "free flowing" wine where myself and cam proceeded to drink 2 bottles each and were quite plastered walking out of the show. From there we joined the rest of the group for our last hurrah at the bar beside Moulin Rouge where most of the cabaret girls go for a drink afterwards and most of them are Australians (but very good looking ).

It was a great night to end what was the time of my life. I don't really remember getting home but it was late and i didn't get much sleep. Cam and I almost missed the bus back to London as we didn't get a wake up call as we normally did and i slept through my alarm, Cam was just useless. We ended up getting a phone call from Deano saying "Umm are you guys coming to London... if so get your asses down here now cause your 10 minutes late!!!". A quick slap of Cam on the ass and yelling at him to move as we are late, we are both still drunk but somehow manage to get all our stuff and down to the bus in a few minutes.

Most of the bus was still drunk from the night before and on the way to the airport we said goodbye to a lot of the yanks as they were heading off from Paris instead of London. It was kinda sad to be leaving everyone but i was looking forward to getting a decent nights sleep and remembering what its like not to be drunk.

We got to see the white cliffs of Dover for the last time as the last 15 or so people who were mainly Australian headed back to the hotel it all started in 20 days ago. We got into the hotel just after lunch and it was nice to get into a shower since i didn't get a chance in the morning.

But we still had that night to say our final fair wells.