Day 3
I was once again pulling my belongings behind me on a cobblestone sidewalk except this time it was worse – 7 am in the rain! I arrived at the hotel in which we were having weight in around 7:30 in a bad mood, ready to fight. When I walked up to my tour manager she let me know that even though it was “wrong” for them to make an exception for just one person (WHAT?) that I was allowed to bring both my bags. I said that was fantastic and thanked them. Amen and amen.
We traveled through the countryside to the English Channel. I saw the beautiful white cliffs of Dover and Dana and I grabbed food and met as many people as possible. I met two cute quiet girls from Houston, a couple from New Orleans, several people from Australia including my roomie, a cute blonde former psych major now grad student. There is an South African guy, a girl from Cali, a few couples, a brother and sister, two brothers – there are 34 of us traveling together, but there were people from several other tours on the ferry.
I was a little bummed to be a part of a group, especially considering the fact that I was having SO much fun doing my own thing. . . but I was attempting to go with it. The tour manager is cute, blonde and peppy, and she really loves her job. The driver is a chill older dude. So thank God for that. . . Dana was hoping for two hot, young guys but I think we’ll have a good set up.
We arrived in Paris in the early evening and were told we had 20 minutes to be down for dinner and ready for our cruise – TOO MUCH STRUCTURE!!! UGH – so I showered quickly and went to dinner. THE FOOD WAS DISGUSTING – fried chicken, French fries, and everything covered in think brown gravy. I had so had it with Contiki at this point. . . I went to the balcony and took pictures of the view from the dining area of the hotel. To make things worse, I locked my key in the room and the French woman was NOT happy to have to let me in – LIKE IT’S SO INCONVIENT TO HAVE TO DO YOUR JOB?! AHHH! This contributed to my frustrating. Upon entering Paris, we did an hour tour on the coach to see the layout of the city and was just beyond tired of feeling like a tourist. I wanted to put on a cute dress, and go get lost amongst the Parisian cafes and fabulously dressed people. The “cruise” around Paris was a 6 Euro tourist trap that Contiki so graciously paid for us to take?!?! One flat boat of cheap orange seats and a lady giving us the history of random pointless things. . . I decided to take control.
After the “cruise”I found a local working the tour and asked were to go in Paris to get away from the tourists. I begged Dana to go explore with me and announced to the bus that anyone who felt adventurous could come – Rose and Cameron jumped off and the four of us set out into the town. We wandered down streets and squares until I saw an alley with bright Christmas lights stung over the top. It was perfect. We found a cute café full of people and sat down. Our waiter had spent a year in England and knew our language! YAY! It was wonderful. I took a chance and ordered a Manhattan. It knocked the socks of any American Manhattan I’ve had. So delicious. It came with a straw, a glow stick and a marshmallow in it. Lol Hilarous. Dana made plans to meet Cameron in South Africa later this year while Rose, who has a degree in social work, and I talked about research and nonprofits. The French waiter gave us a small French lesson and shared a pizza with us. We navigated the subway system while Dana made ridiculous games for us to pay. It was a great night. . . I feel that I just have to make sure I get the authentic experience that I am looking for a veer away from as much tourist crap as possible. It may be hard with Contiki, but I am sure I can work it out.
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