Dear fellow MDUK members,
I made it to Paris!
Forget searching for Leonardo da Vinci though - The Louvre was crazily busy and queuing for half an hour to get a glimpse of Mona Lisa, she wasn’t worth it! Instead we found a secret tunnel in the arch and entered through there, missing the hoards, seeing everything we wanted in our own time.
That was after a slow morning eating pain au chocolat with coffee and learning how to ask for a proper baguette, “une tradi s'il vous plait”.
We had a relaxed Plat du Fromage cheese platter for lunch (and wine) in a café by the Seine River, viewing the sad burnt out Notre Dame. Then we headed up a skyscraper to view the city and Eiffel Tower for free from the restaurant floor (the practical and economical best place!)
According to our guide Herbert, someone proposes every 40 minutes at the tower but Herbert said if he catches us with a man down on one knee he would come and slap them! I made sure to tell him I don’t intend to get married anytime soon.
Then after being reminded about dear old Dom Perignon who invented champagne by mistake for the customers of the largest brothel in town, we dined in a bouillon*. All in the good company of our guide who regaled us with the history of this and other restaurants.
Then we headed to the Moulin Rouge for a compulsory Marilyn Monroe shot. Who knew that there is a secret alley next to the Irish pub next door? Anyway we headed down there and turned right, ending up at a back door that led up to the Parisian drinking hole by the infamous windmill.
My memories are a little dim after that...
Lots of love
Emily
*bouillon (French: bouillir, English: to boil) is a traditional (late 19th or early 20th century), spacious restaurant that usually serves traditional French cuisine, in particular a Bouillon (broth) which has provided the name for this class of restaurants.
Our regular columnist, Emily Bonner, who lives with limb girdle muscular dystrophy, has been on a virtual trip to Paris as one of eight virtual holidays which she has been trialling for Limitless Travel. The virtual trips are not currently available but will be soon.
Emily thoroughly enjoyed the trip. She said she learnt a lot with the brilliant guides who put the whole trip together in a thoroughly imaginative way.