Paris - Aachen

Sunday, 10 July

It was foggy to begin with. We left in the bus at 9am and drove around the city for a while before being dropped off near the Arc de Triomphe for 3 more hours of free time. I wanted the girls to get a closer look at the Notre Dame so we walked down the Champs Elysee, past the Louvre (no time to have a good look inside anyway) and arrived to see another long queue. So we didn’t go inside but admired the gargoyles on the outside.

Had a brief look at some sort of pet market on the way back. Walked back along the Seine, past the sellers of art and books and souvenirs, crossed the Place de la Concorde and back up the Champs Elysee. We bought some expensive baguettes and drinks near the Place de la Concorde, but still way cheaper than anything on the Champs Elysee.

The bus picked us up and we started the long trek back to Aachen. There was some confusion once back at the collection point as to who needed to stay on the bus for the final stop-off point and who needed to get off for transfer to Aachen. I asked the woman if the bus we were on went to Aachen and she said yes, but the driver told the others for Aachen to get off. I didn’t realise this until too late and a disgruntled driver dropped us off at a different point in Aachen. G, meanwhile, waited for us at one place while we were at another. Cellphones to the rescue. I asked K how to get to where G was and we walked there – not that far, thankfully. The whole confusion arose around what they called the collection point – naming it after a nearby shop which I had no idea about and everyone else did (being locals). Ah well. Was well worth it for a lovely trip to Paris.