Wrapping Up in Paris

Tomorrow (Sunday 12 July) is the start of the ride (otherwise known as “Deployment” Day). So today we had our briefing and met as a group for the first time: you can see the list of participants and staff here.

Going back a few days: After the departure of Mary-Lynn (Monday) my days filled with a series of tours – so much so that by Friday lunch time I was worn out and declared from then on a rest day.

Tuesday was Paris by Day bike tour – which prior to the tour involved figuring out the Paris Metro. The bike tour lasted about 4 hours. You can see where I went here.

In the afternoon I went up the Eiffel Tower – what impressed me was more the design and engineering involved rather than the views – which were good nonetheless – it seemed quite light and almost lace like.

Wednesday morning was a bit of art education at the Musee d’Orsay – provided by an excellent guided tour. Preceding that though my sense of having conquered the Metro was shaken by a couple of line closures along with experiencing the fact that one can get lost in its subterranean depths.

 
 Then in the evening in was a Paris by Night bike tour. This involved a boat ride down the Seine for a hour or so i.e. Along with the 3 hours riding – kept me up well past my bedtime. The route we (the tour group) took is here.

Of course, when one is about to do 3,600km ride then one cannot do too many day bike tours in the lead up so on Thursday spent the day on another tour out to Versailles. The first and last parts of the tour were by train then we rode around the gardens for a while before actually entering the palace itself.

  
 Last of the iconic tourist stuff was The Lourve on Friday morning – same excellent guide as for the Musee d’Orsay. I was pleasantly surprised about how good a view we had of the major art works and whilst some sections were like Burke/George Street there were others sections that were very quiet and lightly populated.

  

 Witty, whimsical or more substantive observations of Paris will have to wait for some other time as it is time for bed and a good nights rest.