That time I did a 28-day European bus tour — Part 2

This article will cover Days 1–2 of the tour

If you have not read Part 1 of my story, here’s the link:

So, as I mentioned, we took a Topdeck tour bus to Dover (in the south of England), then we took the ferry to Calais (France) then we got on a separate Topdeck tour bus (this would be the one that I would spend the few weeks on) to Paris.

The journey took most of the day. I remember bits and pieces of it. I remember the tour guide saying a lot of things. I did enjoy looking at the scenery out the window, as it’s different to the scenery back home. In Australia, you can drive for hours and not see much difference in scenery the whole way — it’s a big, sparsely populated country. Europe is not like that.

The tour guide was an Aussie guy who was the same age as me. He wasn’t a history expert but he had learned everything he needed to know about the places we went to (and he had led quite a few of these tours). The other tour guide was a somewhat older Hungarian guy. Both were quite friendly.

In case anyone is interested, the tour group consisted of mostly Aussies and Kiwis, three Canadians, two Koreans and one Colombian... if I recall correctly. There were no Americans on this trip, but I have come across them on other tours I’ve done. No Brits either, but that’s probably because we’re in Europe and they probably wouldn’t see the point in doing a European tour like that. Also, I don’t think that Topdeck is very well known outside of Australia and New Zealand.

Anyone who has ever done one of these tours (with Contiki or Topdeck) would know there is usually a trip song or two. This was 2013, so one was Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore and the other was Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. The former was played whenever we left a place and the latter was played when we arrived at a destination. Those two songs were played repeatedly over a four-week period. So I will never forget them and they will always remind me of this trip.

I know what you’re probably thinking (as the latter song is somewhat controversial, due to its lyrical content) but I didn’t pick the songs. I don’t recall anybody caring about that though, as everyone was just there to have a good time. The song starts with the line “Everybody get up!” and it was used to wake us up (which makes sense, when you think about it).

Side note: As this is a platform for writers, you may like the Weird Al parody Word Crimes.

Eventually, we arrived in Paris. Unfortunately, we only got to spend two nights here (as that’s how these tours work) but I would happily revisit sometime.

And no, Parisians are not like in the show Emily in Paris as Ben Groundwater (Aussie travel writer) explains here (if you want an entertaining read).

I remember checking into the hostel (no, I don’t remember exactly where in Paris it was) then I remember going to dinner somewhere in the area (might have even been in the same building, I don’t quite remember) and we had boeuf bourguignon (also known as beef bourguignon). If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a beef stew, which is typically eaten with mashed potatoes. I enjoyed it. I also remember having escargot, which is proof that anything will taste good if it’s cooked and covered in garlic and butter (which French cuisine is known for).

If I recall, we got back on the bus afterwards and took a brief tour of Paris at night.

I don’t remember much else from that night. Some people may have chosen to go and party but I didn’t.

I woke up the next morning, went downstairs and had some breakfast (breakfast was been included every morning — we had basically paid for it when we booked the tour). Yes, they had croissants and I think they had, French bread, butter, jam, ham, cheese and other things. Basically, it was a Continental breakfast.

In fact, there was bread available at pretty much every meal when I was in France and it was actually good bread. Because the French know how to do good bread.

We had the whole day to basically do whatever we wanted, but the next day we would be leaving for the Swiss Alps. I remember that I and at least two others had booked a tour of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre (despite not knowing each other, we had communicated online beforehand). I sort of felt like I had to do those things while I was in Paris. I kind of wish I had seen the Notre Dame cathedral but I didn’t, so it is what it is.

So a few of us went to the Eiffel Tower (I don’t think it took us long to get there) and we were taken up the tower. I think the advantage of pre-booking was that we got to bypass the queue. I don’t remember anything about the history behind it. But the view from the top was great.

I don’t recall going into the CBD of Paris, but all the touristy stuff was outside of the CBD. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what the buildings are. But it seems like a well-designed city.

After we had seen the Eiffel Tower, I remember going for a walk and deciding on a place to have lunch. I remember having a steak (which wasn’t particularly large) with some fries and bearnaise sauce (I think). And I think I may have had some mousse or something for dessert. I don’t remember what I paid for it but the food seemed decent.

I vaguely remember doing a lot of wandering around Paris. I also remember getting quite badly sunburnt that day, because I should have been wearing a hat and sunscreen. My skin is like that. Yes, I live in Australia (where the sun is way more intense than in Paris) but my skin was always more suited to a British/Irish climate. I have that kind of skin that just will not tan. So no, I’m not one of those tanned Aussie surfers.

It was sometime around 5 pm when we met with the tour guide (at the Louvre) and they took us around to show us everything. Well, not everything. It would take months to see everything in the Louvre properly. The place is that big.

I was quite tired so I don’t remember everything the tour guide was saying, but I did see some nice artwork. And there was so much artistic detail that had gone into the whole place, as you can see.

And we eventually saw the Mona Lisa. I don’t remember being told I couldn’t take a picture of it. But either way, I have a picture of it (even if it isn’t the best quality).

I was honestly a bit underwhelmed by it, after seeing all the other great artwork. I mean, it’s a very good painting but is it that good? Then again, I don’t know anything about art, so make of that what you will. It’s quite small too compared to a lot of the other artwork.

There was a picnic for the tour group that evening, but we had chosen to miss it in order to see the Louvre. I don’t regret that because, while I don’t know that much about art, I feel like it’s one of those things you sort of have to do when you’re in Paris.

Afterwards, we took the train back to the hostel and arrived back mid-evening. I think I basically just went to bed.

Then the next morning, we got up, had breakfast again and left for the Swiss Alps.

To be continued…