Day 11: Au Revoir to France

Although Marie had advised that the Hilton La Defense breakfast room would not be opened until 6:30 am, misterpiggy was lucky to be let in early and he savoured his last breakfast of fresh juices and croissants. 



Marie was there to bid Adieu to those leaving at 7 am to catch their morning flights.  The check in line up was long so it was lucky that misterpiggy got to the Charles De Gaulle airport early that day.
Thanks again to Marc, our competent and skilled driver!

In summary, Misterpiggy was impressed with the professionalism of all the Trafalgar staff and would highly recommend the French Escapade tour to anyone wanting to get a taste of Paris and the south of France.

Misterpiggy enjoyed many aspects of the tour including the chance to visit a perfumery and a winery, because he would never have done this on his own.   The villages of St. Paul du Vence, Eze and Avignon were a photographers delight.  Nice was a beautiful city in it's own right and misterpiggy would like to to revisit it in the future.  The visit to the Dulac patisserie in the Rhone valley was a nice surprise also.

There were little things that delighted Misterpiggy though seemingly trivial.   Listening to the string symphonie outside the Comedie Francaise.  Light, flaky and delicious croissants and pastries.  Ditto for the crepes.  And french fries!  Now misterpiggy knows why they are called "french" fries, so crispy and light.  Ok here's a surprise one, the paper napkins in all of the hotels were as thick as linen.  Misterpiggy was so impressed with them, that he brought one back as a souvenir!

If there was one part of the tour that Misterpiggy found disappointing, it was the visit to Monte Carlo and Monaco.  Misterpiggy wasn't allowed in the hotels (he didn't bring a tuxedo) and couldn't take pictures in the casino, so he wished he had spent more time by the waterfront. Perhaps Trafalgar could make Monte Carlo an optional tour in future.

Well this wraps up Misterpiggy's trip report. He will definitely return to Paris one day to see Versailles, The Louvre in it's entirety and visit Montmartre, the Latin Quarter and stroll along the Seine.

Stay tuned for future blog posts to see and hear what misterpiggy has to say about the hotels which he stayed at duing the course of the trip.

A bien tot from misterpiggy!

Day 1: Misterpiggy's in France!

Well, misterpiggy finally made it to France, sorry to keep you all waiting.  His Air Canada flight was only delayed by one hour due to lack of tailwinds.

The arrival gate at Charles De Gaulle aiport in Paris.

Paris airport has a squishy baggage area.  It was a long walk from terminal 2A to terminal 2C.  From there the waiting Trafalgar reps directed him to the waiting coach one level below the arrival level where Marc, our most capable bus driver for the trip, helped everyone with their luggage.

 Here's an old Concorde jet on display that misterpiggy saw as the tour bus left the airport.

Misterpiggy was lucky enough to ride in the front seat of the bus, right behind the bus driver on the way to the hotel.  He enjoyed the great views of Paris through the large tour bus windows.

He saw lots of graffiti on the highway, some of it looked like art!

The Hilton is located in the La Defense  business district not too far outside the Paris city centre.  It looks like a giant aircraft hanger but was actually an exhibition center, now converted into the hotel and shops and offices. The metro subway line runs right up to the hotel in the lower level, convenient for travelling into the centre of Paris.

Here is Misterpiggy's review of the Hilton La Defense in Paris.

After a short rest, misterpiggy attended the orientation and welcome meeting held in the Hilton Tangerine bar, with our members of the tour group. Marie Dubois, our Trafalgar tour director,  cheerfully introduced herself and provided much useful information about the upcoming excursion.

Following the meeting, misterpiggy located the metro station underneath the hotel, bought his tickets from the ticket kiosk, checked his subway map for directions and headed to the Champs Elysees and the Arc De Triomphe.

It was sunny and cool so misterpiggy did some sightseeing around the Champs Elysees. Here he is at the Arc De Triomphe.

Here's misterpiggy on the Champs Elysees .

There was beautiful architecture everywhere and he bought some tasty macarons from Raymonds to snack on.

After having some dinner, it started to get rather chilly, so misterpiggy made his way back to the hotel by metro.

He stopped for a pic of le Grande Arche before making his way back to his toasty hotel room.

Feel free to post any comments or questions for misterpiggy.  He will try to answer them the best he can. Bon soir for now!