This morning we met at 6:45AM at the Royal National Hotel to check in, weigh the bags, and load the bags on to the coach. I met up with Ryan, Michelle, and Christine the same Contiki’ers that I went to dinner with last night.

The four of us got seats in the same row so it worked out quite well. We left Royal National Hotel around 7:30AM to head for Paris! On the way, our Contiki Tour Manager Kennett explained to us a little more about our trip and some of the rules of the road. He seems really outgoing and funny. We’ll be spending the next 3 weeks traveling and listening to him so it’s comforting to know that he has a good personality.

We arrived at the White Cliffs of Dover where we had to cross the border and the bus was randomly picked to be searched! The border patrol took six random suitcases off of the bus to be searched and each person that owned a suitcase tha was chosen had to get off the bus and be searched as well. Luckily I wasn’t one of the six!

After we crossed through the border, we arrived at the port where we would take the ferry from England to France. We drove on to the ferry, parked and we all got out and headed up to the top deck so we could get a few photos of the White Cliffs of Dover before we departed England. After we took a few snapshots we headed downstairs to grab some breakfast.

After breakfast we headed back up to the top deck and took a few more photos before we arrived in France. Once we arrived at the port in France we all loaded back on to the bus and started what was a four hour journey south to Paris.

At first we thought that we wouldn’t make it to the Louvre before it would be closing at 5:30PM, but thanks to our speedy bus driver we made it just in time to run into the Louvre and catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo. After the Louvre we headed to our hotel so that we could check in real quick before dinner at 7:00PM. The dinner was included in the Contiki Tour and it was roasted chicken and white rice.

At 7:45 we met outside at the coach so that we could take a tour around Paris. Kennett our Tour Manager gave us sort of a guided tour around Paris with all sorts of cool facts about monuments, buildings, and more.

After the tour around Paris we came back and ended the night in the hotel bar. I had a pint and conversated with all sorts of people from my tour. It was great getting to know everyone a little bit better. I have pretty much met most of the people at this point. Everyone seems to be really cool so far. Hopefully it stays that way!

Tomorrow we have a free day to explore Paris. We’re going to go check out the Catacombs, Nortre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph and more.

Til’ next time…

Day 1 – London, England

The flight from Dublin to London was only 55 minutes. It felt like we took off and then landed a few minutes later. I grabbed my luggage off of the conveyor belt and headed straight for the tube, or “Underground” train system here in London. The Picadilly Line took me right to Russell Square where my hotel was located and I arrived just at check in time at 2:00PM. I dropped my bags in the room and headed off to explore the city for a bit before my Contiki Orientation meeting at 6:00PM.

I decided that I wouldn’t get a map, and that I would just ask for directions everywhere as I tried to make it down to the London Eye, The Thames River, and Big Ben. After a few “excuse me’s” I ended up right in front of big ben. It wasn’t a short walk though! I didn’t realize how far it actually was, and I had been wondering why everyone I asked for directions would say it’s far though at the end of the instructions. Hmm, maybe it could be FAR? Yeah, so I found out the hard way. Although I saved a few precious pounds in the meantime and I might have shaved off a few lbs on the walk down there.

As I walked up to Big Ben, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was really? It was just as my father explained it, a giant clock. As simple as that! I wasn’t super impressed, maybe I pre judged due to my fathers description of it, but either way it wasn’t nearly the coolest thing that I’ve seen so far on my adventures in Europe.

Around the corner from Big Ben lies the River Thames, and the London Eye, definitely a sight to see. It looked really cool, and I would have probably took a ride on it but the line for it was down the river, and I didn’t have much time before my first Contiki Orientation meeting here in London.

I decided to head back to my hotel and of course I didn’t go back the same way I came, I think I went an even longer route this time. Again, everyone I asked for directions was explaining to me, “Ohh Russell Square, that’s FAR!”. Once again I didn’t listen. After about 35 minutes walk I finally arrived back at my hotel. I changed my clothes and headed off down to the meeting.

After arriving at the Contiki Orientation meeting I realized that there were two seperate tours meeting at once, both of them are leaving tomorrow morning at 6:45AM. The Contiki Tour Managers read off the rules about baggage, the meeting times, and more. I ended up meeting up with two people that I had talked to in the Contiki Forums website months ago and we decided to head to dinner because we were all starving. I saw another guy named Ryan and I asked him if he was alone, and he was so I invited him to come out with us. The four of us headed to a pub next to the hotel and had a meal and a drink.

After dinner we decided that we would head off and explore the city a bit more considering we only would have 1 night here and we would be leaving early tomorrow morning for Paris. We took the Underground out to the Picadilly Circus stop and walked around a bit. it reminded me somewhat of a miniature Times Square. We then headed off to Leicester Square where we spent a few minutes gazing at all of the architecture, street performers, etc but we jumped back on the tube pretty quickly so that we could get a good nights sleep tonight

Paris in the morning!