Been lax on the blog, a combination of internet conditions on the boat and a lack of time and or inclination when there is time, will catch up over the next few days.

Paris Friday 24th to Monday 27th

Geoff arrived at the hotel first carrying his own bags from the train, Michele sms’d from the airport notifying a safe arrival but lacking luggage!

Apparently this is not unusual in Europe where, either or both, a transfer is involved or Paris airport is involved. The concierge at the hotel had a list of customers, and not a small one, with lost luggage which he followed up every two hours and our regular bulletin for over 24 hours was “no new news”.

Michele without a change of clothes, nor make up for two days, unheard of!

A situation relieved with the purchase of a new skirt and a couple of tops and make up at Paris prices. It’s a good thing that well organised Geoff carries a spare tooth brush and other small essentials. The luggage finally arrived at 2.30am (yes am) on Sunday morning, apparently having been offloaded at Madrid on the way between Valencia and Paris. To say Michele was pissed off would be an understatement!

We had been warned, but boy o’ boy is Paris expensive. At the hotel internet was 7 Euro an hour (free everywhere else we had been, a cup of tea, crepe and beer 40 Euro ($30)! We later heard of a couple who had a room service cup of tea.... 40 Euro (80 $A)

In fact the whole hotel, the Westin was a joke, the blurb, including the compendium in the room, assured us that every room had a safe, iron and ironing board in the wardrobe. In our case in our very small room (rack rate 750 Euro per night!!!!), without joking, our wardrobe was not big enough, at 800mm deep, (just big enough for a jacket and a couple of shirts), to contain the safe let alone the iron and ironing board.

It was far and away the smallest wardrobe we have ever come across in a hotel of any star rating. The drawers were 100m deep and 100mm high, you could not even put your smalls in them! The staff from reception up to the duty manager insisted that there was a safe in every wardrobe in every room, however housekeeping told us that around us none did so. Whilst waiting for Michele, Geoff being the sort of troublemaker he is had taken the in room compendium down to reception and the duty manager had been summoned. An indictment on either their knowledge of there own hotel or an entrenched dis-information policy from management down!

But Paris, cost of living aside, what can you say, surely one of the finest cities in the world by any scale of measurement. We had a ball.

If there was a particular highlight it was Monet’s water lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie followed by dinner on the Eiffel tower, the tour of the Opera and of course the finish of le tour on Sunday afternoon.

Our hotel was adjacent to the course, opposite the Jarden de Tulleries, just inside the 1km to the finish archway and 100m from the Place d concorde. We managed to snare a barrier spot which we held despite the efforts of the Gendarmes who kept trying to move us on, “ ja’no parle francee officer”! It gave Michele a great insight of what Geoff had experienced and she was amazed by the caravan and all the cars and motor bikes following the riders and the speed at which they all went in order to keep up. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and a great carnival atmosphere.

Monday said goodbye to Paris with some reluctance, and a bus to Amsterdam via Brussels.

This took almost all day. Lesley had caught the fast train form Paris and it only took her 2 hours. The trains top speed is 500k but they usually cruise at around 300 – 400k. While we toddled along at around 50-80k.

Met up with my brother John who joined us on the boat too, he had been to Italy and UK. So the four of us are travelling for the next 2 weeks. This is the longest time I have spent with any of my family members for years, apart from Lesley, as she and I have had a few holidays together.

The boat is quite luxurious, and is new (only commissioned in April). We have been going through some lochs or (locks) which are very tight, with the ship almost scraping on both sides, he is a wiz, the captain. I am glad I am not responsible for squeezing a huge big ship into a small space.

There is however one major problem, every time the boat stops our cabin and the cabins around us fill with sewerage gases which effectively makes the cabin uninhabitable. Thankfully the problem virtually goes away when under-sail and every night we are on the move so we can use it for sleeping.