Tour, cont. Assisi and Rome

Sunday
We resumed our schedule with optimism! We left Florence by coach and headed to Rome via Assisi. We stopped at a pottery factory, which is a nice place to shop. Assisi was a favorite for all. It was quaint with small streets, which was a break from the capital cities. We could safely break into small groups and just wander around. Several in the group went to a restaurant for homemade pizza, which they said was delicious. John and I had a romantic lunch outside, dining on pizza and bruschetta. We shopped a little, ate gelato and toured the basilica, which is adorned with beautiful frescoes. The others basically did the same. After a few hours there, we motored down to Rome. We went straight to our restaurant, which was across the street from the coliseum. We dined on pasta, again, but it was good. Afterwards, we had a night bus tour of Rome, narrated by Chris, our director. We drove a very long time to our hotel, the Hillary, in Villetri, over 50 miles from Rome. The hotel was very nice, but the location really messed up our time in Rome. I deeply regret that for our participants because it left us with no free time. Overall, I was happy with EF and our hotels were all very nice, but this location was unacceptable.

Tour 2011 Cont.

Friday
We continued our stay in Paris for most of the day. We toured Le Louvre that morning, splitting into small groups. Thanks to John David's research, we saw many of the famous works, including paintings by Italian and French artists and statues. Our group, Janet, Sarah, Toby, Robynn, John and moi, left and crossed the Seine to find a lunch spot. We enjoyed sitting outside eating quiche. Toby enjoyed a real lemonade (citron presse). We rejoined the large group and walked to L'Opera, splitting into small groups for free time. My group, John David, Jackson, Carol, Sarah, and Stephen, actually went inside and toured the Opera. This was a highlight for all of us. I had never been inside, and it was truly spectacular, rivaling anything at Versailles. Afterwards, Jackson went to his favorite shop, Zara, and bought a yellow shirt. Carol bought a blue and white striped shirt, very French. We met the large group and returned to the hotel to prepare for our overnight train ride to Milan and then to Florence.

The Train Ride from Hell
I warned everyone that of all my adventures in life, the craziest ones had happened on trains. We would not be disappointed. I'll just list everything that went wrong:
1. We were supposed to go from Paris to Florence, which would mean leaving early that evening and arriving early the next morning, around 7:30 a.m. Then we would eat breakfast and tour Florence. We had big hopes for shopping, eating a relaxing lunch by the Arno and seeing all the wonderful Renaissance architecture.
2. EF decided to put us on a train to Milan, which would arrive at 5:00 a.m. and then another train to Florence.
3. A tunnel in Switzerland closed due to a fire, which rerouted all trains. Thus, we knew in advance that we would run 4-5 hours late.
4. Our train left an hour later than planned--9:30 p.m. We knew we would not arrive in Milan before 10:00 a.m.
5. Once onboard, we actually had fun. We were in three cars. Car 1: Carol, Debbie, Joy, Sarah, Cathy, and Robynn; Car 2: Janet, Toby, Sarah, John, Jackson, and Dawn; Car 3: Josh, John David, Stephen, Armon, Aaron, and Claudia. I thought it would be wise to put the ladies in the first car away from the students. However, they had French women next to them who partied and entertained the train workers ALL NIGHT LONG!
6. We were having a good time, having found the bar car, when we realized we had stopped in the middle of nowhere. At some point we realized we were stopped for THREE HOURS! The next day we found out that someone had died on the train, and we had to stop for the investigation.
7. Around 1:00 a.m. we decided to call it a night. Jackson and Sarah slept on the top bunk, Janet and I had the middle, and Toby and John the bottom. We settled in for some much-needed rest.
8. Early that morning I heard the screeching sound of brakes and the teacher from Hawaii screaming, "Who did that?" One of her students had "accidentally" pulled the alarm, which resulted in our stopping for another hour.
9. Finally, at 2:30 p.m. we pulled into Milan.
10. We could not catch another train until 6:30 p.m. so we reached Florence at 8:30 p.m. that night!
I have to brag about our group. They were fabulous. They lost their day in Florence but graciously made the most of the rest on the train and the shopping/eating in the Milan train station. I have to admit that the train station was very nice, if you have to be stuck somewhere. Jackson went to Zara's and bought another yellow shirt.
Once we got to Florence, we ate pasta, which was very tasty. We walked around for about an hour, not really long enough except to see what we had missed! Unfortunately, these things happen in our travels and our life. We just make the most of what we have and move on.

London, Paris, Florence, Rome 2011 EF Tour

Participants: Dawn Thompson, group leader; John, John David, and Jackson Thompson; Janet, Toby, Sarah, and Josh Atkinson; Sarah and Armon Momenpour; Stephen Caton, Aaron Lin, Claudia Williamson, Robynn Wiggins, Carol Moore, Debbie Grissett, Joy Norris, and Cathy Dowd

Day One Sunday
We left for ATL on Sunday, June 5th at noon, traveling by private vehicles. We left at 9:30 P.M. that night, flying British Airways for London

Day Two Monday
We landed in London around 10:30 and were met at the airport by an EF rep. She took us to our hotel, the Ibis in the Docklands by bus. We passed many famous sites along the way. We stored our baggage and left by train for Westminster Abbey. After a brief tour, we took the Tube to restaurant, Mr. Fish. Unfortunately, we were late; therefore, we ate fish and chips out of a box, sitting on the sidewalk. However, the food was delicious. Afterwards, we took the tube back to Westminster. We took lots of pictures of Big Ben and Parliament by the river Thames. Then, we crossed the bridge and headed for the London Eye. We thoroughly enjoyed our 30-minute ride, seeing all the sites of London. We took the Tube back to the hotel and settled into our rooms.

Day Three Tuesday
We got an early start with a bus tour of London, stopping at St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Our guide, Barry, was fantastic. We walked from the Abbey to Buckingham Palace where we saw the end of the Changing of the Guards. We loaded the bus and headed for Windsor Castle. There we ate at the Cinnamon Cafe, enjoying delicious food, such as jackets (baked potatoes) and apple pie. We toured the castle, which was a favorite of the travelers. We took the bus back to London and ate near St. Paul's. We had cottage pie and apple tart. That evening we rode the tube and then walked around, seeing Trafalgar Square, Leichester Square, and Picadilly Circus.

Day Four Wednesday
We loaded a bus for Pancras Station, which serves delicious croissants BTW. We took the EuroStar to Paris. This is a very pleasant 2-hour train ride. We arrived at Gare du Nord and took a bus to our hotel. We did not travel through the city center but took the perimeter to Porte de Versailles to our hotel, Aparthotel, which was very nice and spacious. Chris, our tour director, urged everyone to stay at the hotel and rest, but our group left and took the Metro to the Place de la Concorde. After visiting the square, we walked all the way up the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triompe, stopping along the way at a crepe stand and McDonald's for hamburgers, fries, macaroons, and coffee. We rode the Metro to Place de Guichy where we met the group at Les Balcones. We ate chicken and wild rice, which was very tasty. We took the Metro back into the city for our Paris Evening Tour. First, we took a cruise of the Seine. The weather was warm enough for us to sit outside. It was a beautiful evening. When we returned to the pier at 10:00 P.M., the Eiffel Tour lights began to twinkle. We visited the Tour Eiffel and then took a bus ride around the city. We returned to our hotel late that night, exhausted but thrilled with all we had seen.

Day Five Thursday
We began our day with a city tour, stopping to take pictures along the way. Our guide talked the entire time and gave a very informative tour. Many of our travelers took brief naps due to our late night the previous evening. For the afternoon we headed to Versailles where we ate lunch (croque monsieurs, sandwiches, pizza) and toured the palace. Although the tour was good, it was crowded due to a throne exhibition. We didn't have time to tour the gardens so first-time visitors really didn't get the full view. I highly recommend watching the movie Marie Antoinette. One really has to have studied French history and style to fully appreciate the grandeur of Versailles. Louis the XIV was a genius. Unfortunately, the excessive living and neglect of the commoners led to the downfall.
We returned to Paris for a dinner at Flam's, which serves very thin pizzas. We rode the Metro to Montmartre, visiting Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre.