I found the company "Expat Explore" via an Internet search and although it is based in England it is owned by a a South African and has a local office in Gauteng. Whereas most trips are expensive for single travellers this one offered the opportunity of sharing accommodation and was very reasonably priced and I could pay in South African rand.
The trip started from Surrey Quay south of the Thames on the 4th June at 6h30 so I planned to travel on the Jubilee Line to Canada Water. As it was an early morning start I stayed overnight with Ian and Claire in Kensington and Ian dropped me at Earl's Court before 6am.
The coach was easy to spot with its Expat Explore logo.
On the way to Dover our tour guide, Paula, introduced herself and our driver Dean and then asked each person to step to the front of the bus and introduce themselves to the rest of the group. There were four others from South Africa and they were also from Pretoria! Thailand was the best represented country with six travelers, there were four from Columbia, three Canadians, three from New Zealand, three from England, two from the Philippines, two from Malaysia, one from Singapore and one American. Twenty nine in total.
My roommate was Tammy from Ashville, North Carolina.
There was Bob from Fleetwood with his Thai wife Fon.
Hein and Madelein from Elardus Park in Pretoria
Dane Gloy and her mom Daleen.
Troy and his Thai wife Lek from Canada
Francis and Joyce originally from Mauritius now living in Toronto
Samantha, Emma and Shaun from New Zealand
Cindy from Singapore
Aom, Man, LingLin and Long from Thailand - they were all studying law in England
Ricardo, Gloria, Juglio, Mauritzio and Leanne from Colombia
Ash from Leicester and Sony from Leeds
Lin and MK from Malaysia
Lorna and Marvin from the Philippines
We were given strict instructions never to hurt Dean's feelings by referring to our coach as a bus! In fact a penalty of one beer on a driving off day was imposed!
Our trip to Paris used the ferry crossing from Dover and took most of the first day. We checked in to the Ibis Porte de la Chapelle in northern Paris, not far from the Stade de France and regrouped later for a sightseeing drive around Paris.
The coach drove south alongside Le Canal Saint Martin, passing Place de la Republique, the Bastille and crossing to the south bank of the Seine at Pont D'Austerlitz. We drove along the Seine passing Notre Dame, admiring the Pont des Arts bridge where people had placed hundreds of padlocks.
Then to the Tour Eiffel where we crossed the Seine again alighting from the coach at the Trocadero to admire the view and listen to the band playing.
Then past the Grand Palais, Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde and Place de l'Opera, to the Louvre.
Along the Champs Élysées,
three times around the Arc de Triomphe and then along Boulevard De Courcelles and Bd Des Bangnolles to be dropped off in Montmartre.
We walked up the endless steps of the Sacre Couer
and had a pleasant supper at a nearby restaurant.
Bob, Sony, Cindy and Ash
Then afterwards we walked back down towards the Metro, stopping for photos of the Moulin Rouge.
We caught the metro back to our hotel at Porte de la Chapelle and each of us planned how to spend the following free day in Paris.
As we travelled and arrived in each new city Paula used the time spent on the coach to hand out maps and to explain how to get around. In Paris the Metro lines are referred to by colours and numbers and the RER (Regional trains) by colours and letters. At some stations the two systems interlink as they do in London.
In Spain the previous year I had realized that a good thing to do when visiting a new city is to go to a high point and get a bird's eye view. This and also to take the Hop on Hop off bus. The Eiffel Tower often has long queues, not good if you only have a day, so I decided to visit Tour Montparnasse - la plus belle vue pour aimer Paris! The observatory at the top of the 210 metre office tower gives a great 360 degree view of Paris, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
Having agreed to meet Paula at 19h30 at the Jussieu Metro Station I had the rest of the day free and decided to catch the train to Versailles.
Line C on the RER terminates at Versailles and Viroflay Rive Gauche is the correct station for the Chateau. To get there from Montparnasse I walked to the Bienvenue station which sits on lines 4,6,12 and 13. As on any metro you need to know the end point of the line, or the direction of travel so that you catch the correct train. I needed to take line13 blue to Duroc and change to line 10 to Javel Andre Citroen in the direction of Boulogne Pont de St Cloud where I could get on line C. The cost was €3.35 each way.
At Versailles there is a fairly long walk past tourist shops and up to the palace.
The queues to enter the palace where long and it was a beautiful sunny day so I decided to spend it in the gardens which had free entry and no queues.
Unfortunately the famous fountains were being renovated but the panorama stretched to the horizon and invited me to walk down the long straight pathways to the stretches of grass alongside the water where people were enjoying boating.
Amazing "hedges"!
I lay on the grass and listened to a book on my iPod, basking in the sunshine for a couple of hours.
As I walked back I was passed by people who had hired bicycles or golf carts to explore the grounds. There were also small "trains" with guides.
I strolled back to the station and caught the RER to Gare Austerlitz from where I had caught the train to Spain in 2011.
Not far from the station is the Jardin des Plantes and I spent a couple of hours admiring the stunning roses and enjoying a giant hot dog and a croissant from a street vendor.
As the park closed I walked towards the Latin Quarter, bought an apple and waited at the metro station at Jussieu for Tammy and Paula so that we could walk to the cabaret, Paradis Latin.
The show was wonderful, we were up in the gallery looking down on the coach tours of tourists eating their 3 course suppers. Soon the five Columbians arrived and joined us.
There were topless dancers, a pickpocket, a juggler on a unicycle, singers and many other acts.
Afterwards we caught the metro back to the hotel where Tammy and I were sharing a room. The next morning it was another buffet breakfast and back onto the coach at 7h30 for a last driving tour of Paris before heading off on the A6 and A36 through fields and forests to the border between Mulhouse and Basel and our next stop in Switzerland.
Location:Days 1 and 2 - from London to Paris
