Eurotrip Day 5: Rain, rain go away

Nicole and I got up very groggily, since the commotion the night before had interrupted what few hours we had to sleep so much. While we were enjoying our light continental breakfast, the somewhat hung over Australians began emerging, smelling like breweries. They were all going up Mt Pilatus to see the snow, and apparently the cable car driver told them that they stink!

Nicole and I skipped the trip up and decided to take a bus into Luzern, where I managed to find the church that was home to an organ that my father in law helped build. The church is obviously quite old, with its ornate door, large columns, and arched painted ceilings. Nevertheless, the church has an app, twitter account, and facebook page.

On the way, we took a stroll along the gorgeous lake, where they were busy selling Christmas trees. It was like a scene from a postcard. After the church, we headed for the Lion monument, a sculpture carved into the stone cliff face in honour of the Swiss mercenaries that died for King Lois XIV. Can you believe the Swiss had mercenaries? Seems so against their policies.

On the way from there to the chapel bridge, Nicole and I stopped in some shops to see if anything interesting was on sale. We found some really excellent bargains, and by the afternoon, we had some very heavy bags cutting into our hands because they have super thin raffia handles. It didn't help that Nicole's feet were starting to hurt as well.

It had started to rain, so I suggested that we head to the Bahnhof station where we'd find toilets, seating, and the Christmas markets. Finding a seat in Switzerland is nowhere near as easy as it is to do in Paris. Seems the Swiss are not big on relaxing, since we even struggled to find seating at the station.

The Christmas market wasn't super impressive, but we did try some white gluewein (it's very sweet) and some jagertee (alcoholic tea) that was different. The bathroom was quite an experience. We had to pay R20 each to use it, but it was the cleanest bathroom I've ever seen. In fact, as soon as you walk out of the toilet cubicle, a lady goes in behind you to clean the loo. And this is a train station bathroom!

We headed back through the rain to the bus stop over the river, we finally got a chance to sit and rest our feet. It was cold, but at least it was dry. While we waited for our mountaineering group to arrive, I popped into a bakery to spend the last of my Swiss Francs. I got a little choc chip pretzel man that is called a hug (how cute is that?) and a little chocolate mouse stuffed with a strawberry centre. I asked Nicole if she wanted a man or a mouse, and we decided to share.

Eventually, the remainder of our group arrived, and we headed off for our Swiss lunch. At quite a snazzy restaurant, we had a fondue starter. Kaylee, one of the Canadian girls, dined with us, and it was her first ever cheese fondue. I showed her how to dig the burned cheese off the bottom the way my Swiss inlaws like to do. She loved the whole experience. Fondue was followed by Bratwurst and Rosti, accompanied by a glass of wine, and finished with more Swiss ice cream cake.

After that, Jen took us on a walking tour of Luzern. We headed back to the Lion monument, where she pointed out that the "cave" the loin is in has been shaped like a pig, symbolising the sculpture's contempt for French nobility. We then headed back to the Chapel Bridge, where she explained that some inconsiderate fool in 1996 had dropped a cigarette butt that started a fire that nearly destroyed the whole bridge.

It was very quickly rebuilt to look exactly the way that it used to, with even replicas of the murals depicting the town's fishing history positioned in the rafters. Apparently, the first time Jen was here, and she told her tour group about the paintings, it was Carnival time in the city, and the paintings had been covered with pictures of ghosts and monsters, so it looked like the town had a very scary and demonic past!

After that, everyone went to buy swiss knives and chocolates. Nicole and I decided to rest our strained fingers in the shelter of yet another Starbucks (one with a loo that we didn't need to pay to use!). We've decided that it will be our final American coffee, since we'd rather use our money to pay for tours or something fabulous to take home. I'm thinking of buying a pair of shoes in every country, but that dream may die in Nice if I can't find anything that I can afford.

By the time we left, it had begun snowing, which was really nice for us, since we'd missed the mountain snow and the tobogganing (that had left quite a few members of our tour group with injuries). It was just super cold, so we quite happily jumped back onto the bus and headed home.

We had the option to head to a pub nearby for a drink after dinner, but we decided to save some money and get to bed early. Instead, we hung out in the bedroom of the South African trio and compare tour notes on how expensive things are, how different the Aussies are to us, and what our opinions of all the places we have been to has been.

They're actually a lot of fun and had us in stitches, so I didn't get any of the blogging done that I'd had planned. Eventually, though, we had to say goodnight so that we could pack our bags for the next day and catch up on some sleep. Luckily the Aussies got home early from the pub and we slept soundly for a change. Shopping is tiring! Seems you literally can do it until you drop.It's just more expensive than the sleeping pills I've been taking before bed...

Eurotrip Day 4: Driving and drinking

Our trip between Paris and Luzern in Switzerland would be our longest drive of the trip, but it was surprisingly eventful! At breakfast, we found out that some of the Aussie guys had found a jacket in their cab ride home and taken it to their room, where they discovered a passport and wallet inside.

They nobly decided to give it to the concierge in the middle of the night to return it to its rightful owner (even though they'd drunkenly taken it, which was a dumb idea in the first place, but anyway). Nevertheless, the French police were waiting for them in the morning with the taxi driver whose jacket it was.

The driver wanted to press charges and the police wanted to take the guys for questioning, so things got really tense. Jen managed to appease everyone, though, by giving the driver the 20 Euros that he insisted was missing from his wallet, and we were finally able to get on our way.

The French seem really clueless when it comes to crime, both in preventing it (burglar bars, for goodness sake!) and in identifying it. Coming from a country with a high crime rate, I can tell you that criminals don't willingly give things back. The Aussies may have been foolish because they'd been drinking, but they hardly needed a trip downtown for it. The police should spend their efforts getting that other poor girl's passport back (the one robbed in her hotel room!)

Anyway, I must say that I'm quite surprised that the guys allowed Jen to fit the bill for that one. It was their mess, after all. Chivalry may well be dead, at least in Australia. I hope that they thanked her, at the very least. That's all I will say about that for now.

I tried to use the drive through the French countryside to catch up on my blogging, but goodness I was feeling lazy! I fully intended to get my blog done by our lunchtime stop so that I could use the wifi to post it, but then I couldn't focus long enough to think through our very busy Parisian day.

At the lunch stop, I also couldn't get the wifi to work, which was super frustrating. Wifi wasn't even available at our late afternoon stop. I thought I might go mad. I genuinely am an addict. It has been really frustrating for me to have such patchy and limited connectivity.

At our first stop, Nicole and I had a very delicious lunch of a ham and cheese baguette with a little pastry dessert. We shared a flan and a raspberry tartlet. That meagre meal totaled R100 per person! Nicole tells me to stop thinking that way, but the bank smses me every time I swipe my card, so it is thinking that way for me...

Nicole and I tend to sit in front of the bus, since we actually are not doing much sleeping on the coach, and that way we can get some great views on the drive. One such view actually included a car accident. A car ahead of us smashed quite hard into the back of a truck. The driver climbed out of the car, so it seems that he was ok, but the windscreen of his car was completely smashed and the front bumper was in pieces on the highway.

That's as dramatic as the drive itself was. Otherwise, I spent it lazily trying to blog without getting too much done very quickly. Chatting to our travelling companions and enjoying the rural French countryside with all its chateaus. Everyone also got the opportunity to introduce themselves to the bus over the microphone system and choose secret santa names out of an envelope.

We didn't do any sleeping on the bus, but we figured we'd be having an early night in Switzerland. Boy, were we wrong about that! Jen had organised for us to do a pub crawl through Luzern. The Swiss pub crawl? Why had none of my inlaws ever taken me to do that when I've been here? It is so much fun!

It's just expensive! At each bar, we were given a welcoming shot, which was something super sweet and cordial based. At the first bar, the speciality drink is a cocktail called Gema, which has nine shots in it and simply described as "surprise surprise." Nicole and I shared one because they cost R250 each! One Australian dropped hers and it spilled everywhere. At that price, I was tempted to lap it up off the floor!

The Aussies do not handle their booze well at all. A drink that had no effect on us already had them tipsy and giggling. On the one hand, I guess that makes things cheaper for them. On the other, though, it seems a little bit lame that we can effortlessly drink them under the table when we clearly aren't as big drinkers as they are (at least, Nicole and I don't ever go out to get completely smashed, which they seem to do a lot).

At the second bar, where there was a very cheerful and colourful disco ball, Nicole and I opted for a glass of wine each, since that was the cheapest thing on the list, costing us *only* R60 each. The glass is only half filled with a little measuring line on it to ensure that you receive exactly what you pay for: no more or less. Nicole then impressed everyone with her amusing rendition of the Ganham Style dance moves. Much to her delight, she got hit on by a very stylishly dressed white British guy.

We left him behind at closing time to go to our third and final bar of the evening, the Roadhouse. There, we shared another cocktail, Sex on the Beach, that was half the price of our first drink of the evening. We also got to hit the super crowded dance floor, which was fun. The clubs in Luzern play a much nicer selection of music than those in South Africa. It was hard to leave!

Eventually, though, a song came on that we didn't really recognise, so we took that opportunity to escape the addictive fun with a couple from New Zealand who also didn't want too late a night. We caught a taxi outside the train station that was driven by an African man from a country we've never heard of. Amusingly, when we asked if he had ever been to South Africa, he replied that he hadn't because it is too dangerous! Even other Africans are afraid of us...

Our trip home set us back another R200, but it sure as hell beat walking all the way up the mountain. It was about midnight when we got back, so we went straight to bed (well, after I did a little washing). We didn't sleep too well, though, because as the Aussies started coming home in drips and drabs, they made an incredible noise! It was like an elephant parade.

One even went from door to door trying to open them all to find his room. Luckily, we sleep with our door locked because Nicole and I were both sleeping in our undies since the rooms are so unbearably hot. If he'd walked in on us in that condition, it would've been somewhat awkward. Helps to be South African and paranoid after all!

Eurotrip Day 3: Never a dull moment in Paris

If you've seen the photos on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you can probably tell that Paris has been busy! We've just left and are on the way to Switzerland now, so I'm taking this opportunity on the long drive to get my blog up to speed on the events of the past day and a half.

So, remember that lady crying in reception who had all her stuff stolen? Turns out that she'd left her hotel window open while she was in the bath and they'd broken into her room. Seems Paris is actually less safe than we expected it to be. I think, as South Africans, we just assume that anywhere we stay would be safer than our own country, but I've never heard of people breaking into hotel rooms!

Apparently it's a thing in Paris because, before we even checked in, Jen told us to ensure that our bags are locked every day before we leave the hotel room. Now, I don't want to be funny, but if you are having problems with break-ins, shouldn't you consider putting burglar bars on the windows? That's a pretty low tech and simple solution to the problem. And it's not as though it would significantly obstruct the view of the back of the building next door or anything...

The French don't seem very savvy when it comes to safety, it seems. Instead, their skill seems to lie in decorative lighting, if the Christmas lights on the Champs Elysee are anything to go by! The night we checked in, we battled some crazy traffic (they don't drive very well, either) to get to the Arc de Triomphe, where we were blown away by the beauty of the city by night.

Everything is bigger than I remember it being. The glass pyramid outside the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and my word, the Eiffel Tower is insanely big. Apparently they intended to only leave it standing for 25 years and then intended to take it down. Honestly, I can't imagine why you would build anything that incredibly large if it was intended to be a temporary structure. Taking down the tiny Statue of Liberty or Egyptian Obelisk would make more sense.

As we were driving by, the Eiffel Tower, it got all flashy and for a full five minutes the entire thing sparkled with flashing lights. It was really stunning. We felt super spoiled.

After our drive through Paris, we headed back to the hotel. The streets are too narrow for the bus to get to the door, so we got dropped off under a bridge nearby. At least we were in a large group, since after the events at the hotel, we were getting the impression that we were in a rather dodgy area.

Luckily, our possessions were still intact when we got back to our room. We took the opportunity to do some washing in the bathroom basin before we hit the sack (classy, I know). We have packed very little clothing because we were hoping to do a lot of shopping, but if the next day in Paris is anything to go by, we are not going to have the time!

The next morning, we woke up to a fantastic breakfast. The hotel may not be particularly secure, but they make up for it in their kitchen. There was scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausages, super crispy bacon, croissants and pastries, fruit, yogurt, and cereal, and coffee and orange juice on tap (with your choice between pulp or no pulp).

It's a good thing we ate well in the morning because it would be a long time before we stopped to eat or drink again. Our morning was mostly filled with our trip up the Eiffel Tower. Since our tickets were already paid for, we breezed past the queue and were taken straight up in the lift. As we stepped out on the first level, we were greeted with the amazing smell of French pastries. You can even have croissants while up the Eiffel Tower!

We continued higher and higher, taking another elevator, until we were as high above Paris as we were going to get. It was freezing cold up there, and the wind threatened to blow my camera out of my icy fingers. My hands actually hurt from the cold. Despite that, it was great to be up there. We were able to make out the many sights below that we'd seen on the bus the night before and took some great pictures.

We didn't have much time to hang around, though, since Paris is a big city and we had a lot that we wanted to do. We stopped to look at souvenirs, and then we made the long trip down to the street (that's how big it is - the elevator rides take forever).

From there, we went to the Metro train station with a group of the Australians and Canadians. Working out the train and ticketing system took a bit of time, especially since it was all in French, but eventually we had made our way to the catacombs, where we had to queue for a bit.

Everyone spent the time comparing driver's licenses, which was interesting, since they look so different. In Canada and Australia, they actually have different looking ones from different regions. Some look better than others, which look like student cards!

We were finally let into the catacombs, taking a very long and steep spiral staircase that made poor Nicole feel motion sickness on the way down. It actually took a really long time before we got to see any bones. There were some information boards, then a lot of very gothic tunneling, some carvings of buildings in the rocks done by bored but artistic diggers (who were also prisoners), some wells, and then finally the rows upon rows of very neatly stacked bones and skulls.

It appealed tome a lot more than it did to Nicole, who is more into art than gothicness, like I am, and she wasn't thrilled by the second dizzying spiral staircase up to the street. She was amused, though, by the low roofs of the tunnels, saying that medieval french people were probably her height. From there, we were completely disorientated, but the super sweet and friendly French people (and I don't mean that sarcastically at all) helped us find our way to the correct Metro line to take us to the Notre Dame.

By this point, we had lost all of our travel companions in the maze below the city. It was unfortunate, but we were able to make much better time as just the two of us. The queue into the gothic church moved quickly, and we were able to admire the incredibly high arched ceiling and the large, intricate stained glass windows. There was actually a mass taking place while we were there, which was awkward. It almost felt like we were interrupting.

We took a quick look around, then headed to the staircase outside that leads up to the bell towers, but that queue was moving very slowly, so we decided to give it a miss and go get some lunch instead. Our day seemed to be slipping by faster than we were able to get through Paris.

On our way to the Seine, we past a vendor selling sandwiches and bought ourselves Croque Monsieur (a French toasted cheese and ham sandwich). We sat on a bench on the bridge over the river to enjoy our little French picnic, while an accordion player next to us played some typically French music. It was unbelievably romantic and so quintessentially Parisian. Without question, that is the best lunch I've ever had and one of the favourite moments of my life.

Following that, we headed off for the Louvre, getting directions from more helpful locals. The street signs in France are somewhat obscure and confusing, but we eventually arrived. Luckily, we didn't have to queue to get in, since Jen had told us about a "secret" entrance that many people don't know about. We got our tickets with no trouble at all and set off in search of the Mona Lisa.

The Louvre is one unbelievably enormous maze (something I did accurately remember as being huge), but luckily the route to Mona is very clearly marked at every turn. The Mona Lisa, on the other hand, is something else that I remember as being smaller than it actually is. The last time I was at the Louvre, we were not allowed to take photos, but at some point since then they have relaxed that law.

Once we'd taken our photos, Nicole collapsed into the first available seat to rest her feet. She hates hiking, and I always thought it was because she hated the outdoors, but it seems that hiking through Paris was not appealing to her either. After giving her a quick break, I convinced her to take a look at the Napoleon III Apartments, which has some of the original furniture and decor of King Louise XIV.

On the way, though, she kept taking a break on any available seat that she could find. She was really taking strain, so we decided to head back to the hotel via the Christmas markets along the Champs Elysee. As we headed through the park, which is charmingly decorated with pretty hedges, statues, and ponds where children were sailing there boats on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

As I was taking photographs, Nicole had spotted another seat at a pond. The French really love to sit, it seems, because there is seating absolutely everywhere. You don't even realise how much of it is around until you are with someone that has very weary feet and is snatching breaks everywhere she can.

We finally made our way to the edge of the Christmas markets, where I let her wait while I went to get us some "hot wine" as the French call it. We relaxed for a while, savouring the warm deliciousness (Woolworths microwaved gluewein has nothing on this!) It did wonders for both Nicole's spirit and the condition of her feet because she hit the Champs Elysee with a decided spring in her step.

On the way, we got some more wine and a gingerbread heart to share while we looked at the quaint markets. Considering we were n Paris, and the Christmas markets with gingerbread and hot wine are quintessentially German, it was amusing that American carols were being played in the street. It was an interesting cultural mix.

Beyond the markets, we got to catch a glimpse of some of the designer stores that the street is so famous for, but we had run out of time to do any more exploring. We needed to find our Metro and get home to get ready for our big night out. With the help of more friendly Frenchmen (I don't know why everyone thinks they're so rude, really I don't), we found our the Metro and managed to find our way back to the hotel.

Nicole had been convinced that her feet would hurt too much to wear heels, but she seemed fully recovered when she finally emerged looking gorgeous! A few of our travel companions commented on how lovely she looked, and as we were standing outside the Moulin Rouge, a French guy hit on her and actually kissed her twice!

We were seated at our tables for dinner, which was served immediately. Nicole and I enjoyed Foie Gras, which was divine, followed by steak, which was tough, served with potatoes and green beans, which was lovely. We also got to enjoy some Champagne, Reisling, and a Bordeaux blend. Dessert was a layered chocolate mousse of white, milk, and dark chocolate.

The Moulin Rouge looks nothing at all like the movie and is much smaller than I expected it to be. The show itself was a lot of fun. The costumes and set were excellent, making up for the less impressive music and dancing. There was a lot of lip synching, I think. Since it is advertised as THE cabaret show in Paris, I must say that you do expect a bit more, admittedly.

Nevertheless, I loved the experience! Even the weird part where a naked lady wrestled enormous snakes in a tank of water (might have made more sense if I understood French). Oddly, even though the dancing ladies were topless, the show is not all that sexual. Lady Gaga was fully clothed in her show but was much more sexually provocative. Still, I can imagine that the soldiers during the war loved it!

The supporting acts were actually better than the show itself. There was a guy that juggled seven pins, some very impressive acrobats, a very funny mime, and a contortionist (which kinda freaked me out). Right at the end, when everyone returned to the stage, the supporting acts got the loudest applause.

Regrettably, I don't have many photos from inside, since you aren't allowed to take photos. I snuck one of Nicole and a few of my food and the wine we had. I have discovered that I just can't eat unless I've taken a photo of my food. Nicole reckons I'm an idiot, and everyone else seems to think it's odd too, but I'm collecting the cheapest souvenirs because of it.

After the Moulin Rouge, some of our traveling companions wanted to go out drinking. I was still considering joining them, but we'd had a very long day, and Nicole wasn't feeling it. At the hotel, I began uploading some photos of our day. When I woke up, it was 3am. I'd fallen asleep in my clothes on my iPad.

I found out the next morning that Nicole had tried to wake me (by tried, I mean that she said my name, which is less effort than she implied) and I just apparently growled and rolled over, so she just switched off my light and left me in that position. Guess I wouldn't have been much fun if I had gone out after all!

Eurotrip Day 2: Water, water everywhere

As it turns out, thanks to our ice cold Starbucks frappucchinos, we did not get to nap at all. We lounged about a bit in our tiny hotel room so that Nicole could give her swollen legs, ankles, and feet a break, but then we hit the rainy streets again.

The constriction of Nicole's boots were really causing her so much discomfort that she actually began limping, so we went to go buy her a new pair of shoes that would be more comfortable.

Of course, this is Nicole we are talking about, so comfort was only one essential aspect. The shoe still needed to be cute, match her outfit, and (probably even more important than comfort) be affordable. Luckily, there are some great sales on at the moment, and she bought the most adorable pair of red gumboots - so they were even practical, when you consider the weather conditions we have dealt with in London!

Eventually, though, not even coffee could keep us awake anymore, and so we did get a chance to nap before we went to our pre-tour meeting. Held in one of the hotel function rooms, we got to meet some of our travel companions - ok, we met one. She's very pretty Canadian girl called Rebecca, who is very bravely travelling alone. We also met our tour operator, Jen.

We had the opportunity to socialise with the rest of our tour mates at the pub of the hotel, but Nicole and I weren't quite up for pub grub just yet. We will have some fish and chips or bangers and mash when we get back to London in three weeks time.

Instead, we headed to the pizzeria (also part of the hotel) where, to our horror, we paid R175 for a pizza to share and two soft drinks! We then waited over an hour for our meal because they had forgotten to make it! Thankfully, when we did finally get to eat, it was quite delicious and actually worth waiting for (although still hellishly expensive, if you ask me).

After that, it was straight to bed. Our quick nap earlier that day was not enough to make up for nearly 40 hours of sleeplessness before that.We had a very early wake up call the next morning, so we needed as much sleep as we could manage.

Despite my tendencies towards insomnia and the super busy (and noisy) street below us, I slept pretty well, only waking up one at about 3am but falling asleep again fairly easily. Nicole was out stone cold, not even waking up when my phone alarm went off.

Actually, stone cold may not be an accurate description. Our bedroom was overheated. We'd packed super warm clothing to sleep in and ended up going to bed in our underwear because we didn't have anything lighter than that.

The only relief was to open the window a little to let some cool air in, but the noise from the street prevented us from keeping the window open all night long. Seriously, there are a lot of emergencies in London. Either that, or emergency vehicles in the city just like to drive around with their sirens blaring.

Despite being almost 7am when we collected in the courtyard to have our bags weighed and packed onto the bus, it was still dark out. They're super strict about the weight of the bags allowed on the bus and were pretty impressed that Nicole and I had such light luggage.

I left her to keep an eye on our stuff while I quickly rushed to a nearby store to buy a new toothbrush. Most oddly, as I was brushing my teeth last night, my toothbrush snapped into three pieces. It was really weird. The new toothbrush has set me back R50 even though it is nothing fancy, but it sure as hell for that price better be less likely to break!

When I got back to the courtyard, I found Nicole (or rather, she found me, since I couldn't see her in the dark without my glasses) busy chatting up a group of South Africans who will be on our tour with us. They have all just finished their HR degree at Potchefstroom and seem quite nice.

We sat together on the bus, and Jen (the tour operator that we'd met the night before) pointed us out as the group to go to for safety advice in avoiding pickpockets. Apparently we will be picking up a few more South Africans in Paris, so it will be interesting to meet them as well.

Meanwhile, we have just boarded the ferry that will be getting us across the English Channel. We've watched the "white" cliffs of Dover disappear (really, they are more like sand dunes in colour than chalky, if you ask me) and so I'm killing some time blogging.

Like a tool, I have forgotten our money on the bus, so we can't buy anything to eat and drink. Maybe that's a good thing, though. We'll save some money rather than eat out of boredom. Well, I'm not sure that Nicole would've eaten much, anyway, since she is feeling her stomach unsettle a bit as the boat sways to and fro.

Maybe we should go explore the boat a bit to distract her, since my butt is getting sore from all this sitting. Also, maybe we can go find a wifi hotspot, since I am starting to experience internet-connectivity withdrawal. That's a direct hint to her, actually, since she is busy reading as I type this. Nicole, do you want to go and look around?

***

Ok, so after about 15 minutes of exploring, I can tell you that, for our entertainment on the ferry, there are about six different places to get food or something to drink (even stiff drinks that they will double up for only a pound extra), lots of gambling machines (which they call "video games"), and a large duty free store that takes up moat of the deck below us.

That is, of course, considering that you have money! And, well, we don't. *Blush*

For those of us with our funds locked away on the bus, there is plenty of seating as well as some passing landscape and other ferries to watch. People watching is also available, if that's your sort of thing. It's kind of funny to watch our fellow passengers nodding off but trying not to. I don't blame them, this isn't super exciting. And there isn't any wifi. Not for anyone.

Luckily, we've just heard an announcement that we need to head back to our bus, so it seems our journey is nearly at its end! We already cleared customs before even getting on the bus. It's something I find quite nerve-wrecking with my passport that has pictures of AK47s in it (thank you Mozambique), but we breezed right through.

So it is French landscape from here to Paris. Woo!

***

The French landscape was less impressive than I'd hoped :P It was very flat and mostly farmland. Turned out that the area was used as a battle field during World War 1. There's actually a small section of it that is still owned by the Canadians - so cute.

Most of our drive through that region was spent listening to Jen explain how our tour works, what to expect is Paris, and a sales pitch for the Moulin Rouge. I never went to the cabaret the last time I was here because it is SO expensive, and I have always regretted it, so I've been trying to convince Nicole (from when we were in South Africa already) to go.

She was very against the idea because it is still SO expensive, but I'm guessing Jen's sales pitch worked because Nicole finally agreed to take me as a Christmas gift to me. (Sorry dad, I know you were with Nicole on this one...) I think what sold it might have been the fact that we get to really dress up for it! We can never turn down an opportunity to dress up!

Afterwards, we spent some time playing musical chairs crossed with speed dating so that we could get to know our fellow passengers. The last time I did a Contiki through Europe, almost everyone was Australian. This time, the group is only about half Aussie, with some New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians, and the South Africans.

I like the two Canadians a lot (don't let my husband find out) but everyone seems really nice, actually. They're all quite a bit younger than me, but I get along well with young adults, so I don't mind. Nicole will tell you that its because I'm immature!

We stopped at a rest stop for a late lunch, where they had a fast food place called Quick, which is the French version of McDonalds. It was so expensive, though! For a burger, chips, and coke, it set each of us back R90! Thankfully, it was much tastier than McDonalds, but still. I'm actually quite amused that the French even have their own fast food chain. You'd think that'd be beneath them!

Anyway, I discovered at that rest stop what a wifi addict I am! There was free wifi there, and I literally spent almost all our time there uploading pictures and downloading messages. I had to wolf my food down at the last minute to ensure that I got back to the bus on time. I am really missing the constant connectivity that I enjoy in South Africa.

I know I am not alone because, when we finally got to our hotel in Paris, we had access to free wifi again and everyone's cellphones suddenly popped out to connect to it while we were all queuing for the lift to our bedrooms. It's actually taken me forever to upload the photos of our hotel because it has slowed connectivity down so much. But I can access the wifi from my bed, so I am not complaining.

I went down to reception to see if I could get better wifi reception there when I was uploading the pictures, and I overheard a lady crying over the phone because all her things had been stolen, including her credit card, which had already been used by the thieves.

She was tired, upset, and frustrated with whoever was on the other end of the line who didn't seem to get what she was saying. I feel so enormously sorry for her. What an awful thing to happen to you on holiday. Back upstairs, I spoke to Nicole about the importance of safety and we discussed the ways in which we can make sure that we will not find ourselves in tears at reception.

Of course, I think we're probably a lot less likely to get robbed than anyone else on the bus since, as South Africans, we are quite savvy about criminal activity. The people I should really be giving safety talks to is the Canadians, rather than Nicole. They live in the world's safest country and apparently don't even lock their doors. I will keep an eye on them so that their holiday isn't ruined by crime either.

Anyway, the rooms here in Paris are much nicer than the ones we had in London. Much smaller, too, though! I can literally just fit my suitcase upright between the two beds. I have to put it on my bed to open it! The other South African girls have it even worse than us. All three of them are in one room, and they have to stand their suitcases up in the space created between the room and bathroom door.

From the wet streets of London to the shores of the English Channel and now a very rainy Paris, we seem to be surrounded by water today. We're off now to see the city of Paris at night! Expect photos, and lots of them!

Eurotrip Day 1: The longest day(s)

Nicole and I have finally left for our long-awaited European adventure! My blog has been quiet lately, I know, but it's because I had SO much to get done before I could leave. There simply wasn't time to write (except for work, of course).

That all changed on the day that day that Nicole and I were due to leave. I worked so hard to get all my stuff finished up before that day, that I literally had nothing to do yesterday but wait for my flight to depart. I cannot tell you how long that seemed to take.

Our last day in South Africa for the year was spent dying my hair brown (I'd love to know what you all think of my new look!) and watching TV with Nicole. She was even inspired to cook a delicious beef stroganoff for us to help kill some time.

Eventually, it was finally time for us to head off to the airport. Check in was surprisingly quick and painless, and we were three hours early, so we went and had a bite to eat with my dad before heading to the departure lounge.

Nicole's boyfriend, John, was supposed to meet us, but hadn't arrived and his phone was off. She was quite disappointed that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to him, but he gallantly strode in at the last minute, right before we headed to the departure lounge, like the hero of a romantic movie, to kiss her goodbye.

Although we were finally a step closer, time still seemed to crawl. We stood in two incredibly long queues just to get into the departure lounge. We then queued to board. Our plane then queued to take off, meaning that we left OR Thambo late.

The flight was 10 hours long to France, which felt even longer due to the fact that neither of us slept at all. We did have an incredible movie-marathon and LOTS of food to keep us distracted (seriously, Air France goes all out: Champagne as an apéritif, wine with dinner, Magnum ice creams as midnight snacks, pastries for breakfast... Who said airline food can't be delicious?)

On the flight, besides growing increasingly exhausted despite being unable to sleep, Nicole literally blew up into a little water balloon. You could literally watch her hands puff up with water retention. The poor thing eventually had to take her shoes off because they began constricting her blood flow and she was getting pins and needles.

She was actually in pain when we FINALLY landed and she needed to put them back on. What's more, she had to stand around in her constricting boots while we tried to find the gate for our connecting flight on the large digital displays like stock brokers at Wall Street.

We also had to walk unbelievably far to get to out next plane, even taking a train between gates! And then, Nicole set off the metal detector, so not only did they frisk her quite thoroughly, but they made her remove her shoes, and the poor thing had to endure the pain of putting them back on again for a second time. She was quite unimpressed by the time we were queueing to board our connecting flight.

We were seated at the very back of the plane. Really, there were no seats behind us. The advantage of this, though, is that we were the first to be given coffee and croissants. I really love Air France. We hadn't even entered their country yet, but we had already had champagne (the legit stuff) and croissants.

Upon finally landing in London, our plane had to wait to be assigned a parking bay. We then had to queue again to get through customs. Then we had to drag our heavy bags through the airport and onto the tube, which we rode for an hour before arriving at our station.

We then had to queue again for a lift to take us up 15 flights of stairs (no, we weren't carrying our bags up, even if they were only 1/4 full) and drag our luggage through the rainy streets to the hotel only to find that we were five hours too early to check in!

So we left our luggage at the hotel luggage desk, and took to the streets of London for a bit of window shopping. Everything is so damn expensive here, though. Nicole accidentally ordered us frappacchinos instead of lattes, which not only set us back R50 each but also made us even colder than the wet 5 degree weather had.

She offered to pay for her mistake, but we discovered that her debit card doesn't work here. She is able to draw money from the ATM but can't pay for things with her card at till points. My cheque card works fine, so we will try her card again in France to see if it's just a UK thing.

Eventually, Nicole's feet just couldn't take anymore punishment, so we bought some sandwiches at Tesco for lunch and headed to the Contiki Basement to wait out the last two hours of our pre check in time. Besides being warm and dry, it also offers free wifi so I have been able to get in touch with loved ones and upload some of the photographs I have taken so far.

Nicole has beed dozing on the couches here while I have been typing this up. It will be great to finally see a bed, though, so I can take a nap as well. We have been awake for WAY too long (over 30 hours now) and we have a super early morning tomorrow.

Really can't wait for morning. We'll be heading back to Paris! It's time to put this super long day to bed. Literally.