All photos taken on July 1, 1984. Happy Canada Day.
Rolls and coffee, ’nuff said?
Luggage and passengers on the bus and we set out for the 5 1/2 hour drive to Paris, except it took Cosmos about 8 hours to get us there, through Belfort and Troyes. After, all, we could not arrive at our hotel in Paris too early, could we?
And all along the route, for all 8 hours, Allison was doing her best to drum up business for her “Cosmos $13.50 Extra” tours. After 3 hours of the hard sell, she came to us to see which tours we wanted to book and was surprised when we said “None”.
Well, how will you get around Paris, she asked? Well, Allison, I have my high school French and Paris has a marvellous subway system. She walked away shaking her head. She did find plenty of takers.
Lunch along the route consisted of salad, fruit flan and orange juice.
Still near the back of the bus, Patty was getting increasingly uncomfortable and began feeling quite ill. She was happy when we reached our hotel (Hotel Ibis on Rue Bagnolet). Hmmm, not too bad. We were near the good bits.
Patty opted to stay in the room and recuperate while I opted to go walk the streets with John and Dean. We had been warned that there were a lot of snatch and grab incidents where tourists were robbed by bandits zipping by on scooters. This never happened to us, but one of our tour group members lost a necklace in this fashion.
On the street, we dined on sidewalk food, croque monsieur, crepe Grand Marnier and Nutella crepe and oh yeah, a beer. I took some of the croque and crepe back to the room for Pat. Just a warning, never hand cold fried sidewalk food to someone with an upset stomach, even in Paris.
Later on, we went out for the included Cosmos city lights tour, a kind of drive around with a couple of stops.
Back to the hotel around 10:00 PM. Tomorrow would be another day.
PHOTO DROP 
Good that you got a city highlights tour that evening.
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That was the only included tour in France. All else we needed to pay for. We went on our own with other travelers and had a great time. We have been back to Paris a few times since then and still love all it has to offer. Thanks for reading Marion. Allan
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👌👌👌✍️📷🤗
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Thanks for reading and commenting. Allan
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I’ve enjoyed a number of trips to Paris, but I think the best part is the food! I hope that Patty recovered quickly. It’s never fun to be ill, but suffering through while travelling is a double insult.
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The best part is the food, for sure. She recovered once we got back home. Changes in diet and a busy travel schedule can be problematic on such a long trip. Thanks for reading. Allan
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You sound like rebels at the back of the bus, but I agree, there’s no need for a guided tour of Paris, it’s better to visit at your own pace and choose your own attractions, there’s so much choice. I think I recognised a few famous sights 🙂
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Ha ha. You are right. The Florence conundrum was still fresh in our minds and Allison and Enzo were not going to ruin Paris for us. Even before the internet and Google, we knew what we wanted to see and how to get there. Thanks for reading and commenting. Allan
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It’s too bad Patty wasn’t feeling well, but at least you got to stretch your legs and go for a walk. The city lights tour actually looks like it was pretty decent.
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The lengthy time away from home, change in diet and bouncing around on a bus had taken their toll. The City Lights tour was a nice short tour of something we might not have seen. Like others said, where were all the other people. Paris appeared deserted at that time of evening. Thanks for reading Linda. Allan
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