As I did my shopping in my local Sainsburys one evening I picked up a joint of beef that had been reduced. As I looked at it I noticed it had a little sticker on it ‘Win a trip to Paris’. I dropped it in my basket and when I got home I peeled off the sticker to discover the prize was 3 nights in Paris, flying on Concorde and returning first class on Eurostar. I sat down and compiled my slogan:
From first mouthful to final bite, no flight of fancy, sheer delight.
I didn’t realise until we arrived at the hotel to await our flight from Heathrow that the company arranging this were called Flights of Fantasy, obviously my tie breaker was close enough to catch the judges eye!
I
am not a very good flier (I mean I tend to feel air sick, not that I can’t
flap my arms fast enough!) but I came to the conclusion that Concorde was the
ultimate flying experience so sat back to enjoy it. Hmmm, well we were pinned in
our seats at take off, I have never experienced anything like it, we literally
bombed along the runway before lifting off, then the fun started. According to
all the stewards on the plane, it was the worst flight for turbulence they had
experienced. Great. I couldn’t eat anything, all I could think of was ‘it’s
only an hour and a half’. It was a very long hour and half. When we finally
arrived we were taken by coach to our hotel, the Ambassador Hotel right in the
centre of Paris. It was a wonderful room and we settled in then went on an
organised coach trip around Paris. It was a very effective way of getting our
bearings, but didn’t give us much time to actually see very much.
On the first day we walked around the city, taking in the Louvre and all the wonderful architecture, what struck me was how clean all the buildings are, and how well kept, we didn’t see any that looked uncared for. We took a boat trip along the river, a lovely slow way to see the wonderful buildings that run the length of the Seine. We were amazed at how much commercial traffic is on the river, there were vast amounts of barges of all shapes and sizes, some of them articulated because they were so long. So unlike the Thames in central London. After leaving the boat we walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral. Very ornate, but I couldn’t help imagining Quasimodo swinging from the gargoyles. Walt Disney has a lot to answer for!! We strolled back along the Champs Elysses and collapsed into bed, Paris has a lot of interesting things to see, unfortunately they are quite widespread within the city, and we must have walked miles.
The
following day we did the Sacre Coeur. It was a Sunday and the church was full.
It is very high on the hill behind the city, but looked spectacular against the
sky. It was a very ornate, impressive building, very attractive. There was a
cable car type thing running up the side of the steps, which I would imagine is
essential for all the old (and young) people for whom this is their ‘local’
church. Climbing up the hundreds of steps each week would either make you very
fit or kill you. Our next stop on this day was the trip to the top of the Eiffel
Tower. This was very much easier – we went by lift. I was very wary of
going to the top as I don’t particularly like heights, but you make your
way up the levels in three steps, stopping at each level, so it didn’t seem
quite so bad. The views were quite incredible, an absolute must if you go to
Paris.
The journey home started well, we were taken to Gare du Nord by coach, but then ‘dumped’. We had to find our own way to the Eurostar platform, we tended to follow the person in front, and hoped they knew where they were going! We got to the correct platform with plenty of time to spare and got on the train. It was a delightful journey home, silver service waiters, wonderful food and a chance to see the beautiful French countryside albeit at a very high speed. All too soon we arrived back at Waterloo and to the queues and rainy British weather, but this was a never to be repeated experience, at least for us, unless I can win another holiday, and they don’t ground Concorde indefinitely!!
© Karen Taylor 2000
