Day 12 - Travel to Paris

Today is all about travel. We start out at 8:00 AM in hopes of making the 10:50 ferry from Dover to Calais. Just about everyone sleeps on the bus during the journey to Dover – it was a late night last night and an early morning today. Traffic getting out of London was slow, so we missed the early ferry by about 5 minutes. The next is at 1:00 PM so we have a bit of a wait. The ferry boats are huge – large enough to carry semis, coaches, cars, etc. – and are located directly below the white cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle – a great photo op! The crossing to Calais takes about 90 minutes during which we roam the decks for photos and grab lunch at the snack bars. Once in Calais, it’s back on the bus for what is supposed to be a 4-5 hour drive to Paris. Joyce (our tour guide) continues her commentary providing some history about the relationship between England and France. According to Joyce (who lives in London) the English people love France – they just don’t like the French people. We make one restroom stop along the way and hit horrible traffic outside Paris. We finally arrive at the hotel at 10:00 PM (we were supposed to be there in time for a 7 PM dinner). Our dinner is served at 10:15 PM. In Paris, unlike our other stops, carafes of wine are included with our dinner – we like Paris! Not much else to report for today – just a long ride on the bus. Tomorrow is sightseeing in Paris – only 2 days left before we come home.