Day 8 – Sunday 29 May 2016

Another early start, 5.30am for a 6.45am departure, with a great breakfast in the grand ballroom. Today is overcast with a light haze, threatening rain as we drove through the Kentish countryside down to Dover, admiring the lush green grass & the fat sheep. The sides of the road are covered in white daisies mixed with other flowers, it is very pretty. Our driver did a superb job finding his way through the countryside so much so that we arrived early at Dover & were able to catch an earlier ferry to Calais in France across the English Channel. After passing through French customs Tereza & I were fortunate enough to be picked out for a security search of our bags along with 4 others on our bus. We didn’t have long to wait & we drove onto the ferry in the bus and had a relatively easy crossing of the channel, though it was very windy on deck. The misty haze was still around so the white cliffs of Dover were not as clear as we would have liked.

The motorway to Paris is great allowing for fast passage, the speed limit is 130km/hr. As we left Calais we passed a large camp of refugees with a high fence & a collection of police vans full of police strategically located nearby. The fields of France are very green, with lots of wheat fields and large patches of green forest. We kept on seeing cemeteries near the side of the motorway filled with headstones of soldiers who died in the First World War. Our tour director told us that there are hundreds of cemeteries in this part of France with millions of men dying in this region. It is all so very peaceful now & is unbelievable that so much senseless & needless death occurred so close by.

The misty haze stayed with us & eventually it started to rain as we neared Paris. The driver did a great job navigating through the many convoluted streets of Paris to deliver us to our hotel for the next 2 nights, the Pullman Montparnasse (4.45 pm we also lost an hour by crossing over the channel). We only had a short time to refresh & organise ourselves for our night out at a Parisian cabaret, the Nouvelle Eve. The drive there was interesting, passing by so many amazing & interesting buildings, the French certainly do have a lot of style. Our tour guide is very knowledgeable about the history.

The Nouvelle Eve is fairly close to its more famous cousin, the Moulin Rouge, though smaller & more intimate. We were placed at a table right next to the stage with Tereza’s shoulder right against the stage. Our dinner was superb, starting with a pate for an entrée followed by one of the most delicious steaks we have ever tasted, chateaubriand. This was followed by a delightful small cheese platter (fromage) then followed by a very tasty meringue. We were served wine, beer soft drinks, juices & champagne both before & after dinner. The young women & young men danced so well – such athletes & so energetic. (Their legs were whooshing past my face). The girls wore more often than not just a G string, they were beautiful & it was all in good taste. A lady sang some beautiful haunting French songs. A couple of jugglers & an acrobat were exceptionally good, very funny & even more so when they included some people from the audience to participate. One of the dancers picked out 3 men from the audience – Ron was one of them – she taught them to dance & then they had to compete, the audience had to choose by clapping. They were hilarious. Ron didn’t let the Aussies down, even though he was a lot older, he came second. The winner’s prize was a topless dancer who pulled him behind the curtain & he ended up with a face full of red lipstick. The cabaret was a great way to finish a long tiring day.

On the way back to the hotel the bus got stuck in a very narrow street as it was trying to manoeuvre past a fire engine. The 2 drivers worked out a strategy & we drove off.