It has been a hectic few days. Met the Contiki Tour people on Sunday evening. Its obviously a bit apprehensive when you meet your room mate; you're praying that they are cool. When I arrived at my room I was greeted at the door by a guy who had a half finished sleeve tattoo on his right arm and looked to be very hungover. He reminded me of Willem Dafoe.
At that stage I thought I could be in for a long couple of weeks...
Turns out this guy (Scotty) is a hard case but a really good bloke. He's a pilot on leave from Afghanistan and checking out the sights and sounds of Europe.
Slowly I met the other travellers. They are a good mix of Aussies, a couple of New Zealanders a few Americans and a few Canadians. Most are terrific but there have been a few "here we go" moments with some of the Americans (in particular when one commented that he liked my accent and then complained how he didn't have an accent (all the Aussies moaned in unison)). We're all quickly becoming good friends though - a feat not helped when my roommate who inquired whether one American had an off button!
We had a night tour of Paris and checked out all the sights such as the Effiel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumph and others.
Some then went out for a night on the town but the smarter ones (ie, me and a few others :-)) decided not to as the next day would be massive. In hind sight I should have gone out - the air conditioning is not working in our room and so I got maybe one hours sleep!
Fortunately the French receptionists at the hotel were very helpful. I honestly dont know why the French have such a bad reputation. After I politely asked them to have a look at the air con she said it was working fine and then shrugged. When I asked again she pretended she didn't speak English.
Typical.
Yesterday was fantastic. Went on a cruise of the Sienne River. Took a picture under the bridge from Taken (when Liam Neeson jumps onto the boat at the end). Also went to the Louvre and checked out the Mona Lisa amongst others.
Me and what I think is the bridge from Taken.
That night we went to the Moulin Rouge where we had a 3 course meal with 4 bottles (between 6) of French wine. This accounts for the drunken texts sent to Dad and Jemma, haha. After dinner the show started (mum, better stop reading here...) ánd we were all surprised to find all the girls in the show had see through tops (and some no tops at all!). the show was pretty good (for obvious reasons, haha) and the ventriloquist and jugglers were especially spectacular.
It was then on to a massive night on the town where we had our first proper chance to mingle. Was a drunken night and to be honest I'm still feeling a bit shady!
Looking forward to tomorrow though when we head to Amsterdam.
Talk soon
Anthony
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