Today was a travel day. We had to have our luggage down to the coach for loading at 5:20am!
We drove down to the White Cliffs of Dover. It was great to see them again. We boarded the P&O ferry for the two hour trip across the English Channel. The white caps were out today and the ride was a sea-sickness nightmare for many adults and kids. I typically don’t get sick from boats, but it was rocky enough to make me stay close to a bathroom at all times.
We arrived in Calais, France and moved out clocks ahead one hour. We are now 7 hours ahead of home.
The drive through the first hour of France was no different than driving through parts of Minnesota or North Dakota. Lots of farms and rolling hills. The one difference was that now road signs were basically useless to use because we couldn’t read them. We are officially the minority now.
Once we arrived in Paris, the first thing I noticed was the architecture. There were no sky scrapers that we could see. Everything was pretty packed in close and no more than a couple of stories high.
The big story here was traffic! These drivers are INSANE! They weave in and out of each other at break-neck speeds. Now add motorcycles to the mix, zipping in between lanes on the white lines and you have an amusement park ride!
Now would be a good time to introduce you to our coach driver, Alfred. He’s the owner of his own coach (400,000 euro to buy). He’s the best driver I have ever seen. He weaves that coach in and out of the crazy traffic like it was standing still. He takes this monster vehicle down narrow streets with literally a few feet to spare on each side. He’s from Austria and has been driving trucks for many years. A quite (but burly) man, he’s polite and professional. We have all grown to love Alfred for always getting us there on time.
We arrived at the Restaurant Saulnier where we will be dinning as group each night. We were treated to an authentic French meal and this was the first night that the kids (with permission slips) were allowed to have a glass of wine or beer with their meal. Sommer ordered a rose wine and was not impressed. I told her to try a red wine the next night. It’s an exciting moment for them.
We then headed over to the Saphir Hotel on the outskirts of Paris. Our home for the next three days.
Internet connectivity still continues to be an issue. The hotel had limited WiFI connections and I was not able to connect until after midnight most nights. Ugh. I’m still grateful to be on this trip however.
Tomorrow starts another whirlwind tour day.
