Paris - The Finale!

Week 26 – 26th November to 2nd December

It’s our final week and we are heading to Paris for the finale.

On the day we leave The Loire, we spend the morning at the rather lovely Chateaux de Chenonceau; it’s a grand castle which spans the river, has beautiful grounds and is very imposing inside; they had also lit huge log fires in many of the rooms which were certainly very welcome as it is now feeling pretty damn cold!






Leaving the castle, a quick re-fuel of the Lunar and we shall be on our way to Paris, or will we…

The Lunar has been problem free for the entire journey but as we turned over the engine, the electrics simply died and the Lunar was lifeless; our hearts sank. Andrew did some man checks of the engine and discovered a blown fuse; he replaced it but still nothing so we called upon our breakdown service. It was Sunday, in France, and all credit to our insurers, Sureterm (I feel they deserve a mention), as they were with us within an hour of placing the call. It turned out the battery was completely flat so something, and we never found out what, must have drained it in an instance since we had been driving that very morning and had only been stopped for 5 minutes to fill up.

Who ever said the French were not friendly? Whilst we waited for the mechanic, we were stranded in an unmanned petrol station and a little old man ambled over to offer his assistance, him not speaking English and us not sufficient French, he proceeded to pull a few of the wires under the bonnet much to Andrews unease and then muttered ‘un moment’ and disappeared. We did suspect his intention and we were proved right as we heard the chugging approach of his old Peugeot which he thought would tow the 3.5 tonne Lunar to safety; bless him for trying and not understanding that there just wasn’t enough space for him to tow and swing round the Lunar, and thank you to the car load of chaps who helped to push the Lunar out into the car park.

By the time we were on the road again, it was well into the afternoon and we still had a long drive to Paris; we decided to plod on and so arrived at EuroDisney (the nearest overnight stay place to Paris, since campsites are closed) that night.


Paris

We had been looking forward to Paris very much and felt it was a fitting end to our European Adventure. We spent 2 days in the city and were not disappointed. It was clean, romantic and beautiful. The big sites were fabulous, the architecture striking and it was simply a delightful city to stroll around.

On the 2nd day, we wandered away from the tourist trail a little to try and see a little of Parisian life which was interesting but probably needs to be planned a little bit. For a couple of days it’s still the biggies that draw your attention. Predictable maybe, but the Eiffel tower is truly remarkable for its sheer size and by night in particular, makes for a stunning scene.

EuroDisney

Staying at EuroDisney was fun, since the eateries and bars are open to all so we could pop in there of an evening for a beer and some live music.

We also had one spare day and so headed into the parks for some childish festive cheer on our final day. We loved it; there were some good rides and we ran around like kids so we could get on everything we wanted to in both parks in a day.

It was approaching Christmas time of course, and also the 15th year of EuroDisney Paris. At the end of the day there was a show from all the Disney characters with the final scene lighting up the magical kingdom. As Mickey and Minnie walked towards the kingdom waving, we both turned to each other with tears in our eyes; we will take the ridicule from you all and freely admit that this was the end of our trip and we felt and believed that Mickey and Minnie knew this and were waving goodbye especially to us. We left EuroDisney elated and emotional, happy and sad, with warm hearts and cold toes so what else was there to do than go and fill our mouths with a big, all American burger!

Return to England

After an overnight stay with Nicola, Andrews sister, in Lille, a stock up of booze at Calais (may as well!) we were on the ferry home with sad faces…

It was a strange feeling; we were ready to return as 6 months for a trip of this nature is plenty but did we want to return to the same life we left?

What we do next, only time will tell, but for now, we have had an incredible journey, seen many remarkable places and shared unforgettable experiences. A trip of this nature is either going to make or break a relationship and some may say that embarking on it with someone you only met 6 months prior is a risk, but we never had any doubt as to what it would do for us and I’m very happy to say it proved true. Of course we had our moments but they were few and far between; we loved Europe, we loved the experience and we loved being with each other.

There is a big wide world out there and Andrew and I will continue to explore it; should you want to share that with us, check out the new blog!

www.the-a-to-z-of-life.blogspot.com