A few days ago, my mum and I decided to take a trip to Paris, so I’ve spent the past couple of days planning out an itinerary (with a lot of input from Clare!). We’ve had a fantastic time, seen some incredible sights, been well looked after, well fed, and have even enjoyed a bit of luxury travel. After getting a taxi to Kettering station things almost came to a grinding halt before we’d even got going as the train to London was cancelled! After a bit of uncertainty, we were allowed to board the earlier train (without paying an extra £160 as the ticket office advised!). After running along the platform to get the attention of the train manager, he let us on without question and then his colleague said we could just take a seat in first class as ‘it’s packed back in standard class’! We sat down, caught our breath and let the train take the strain! Such drama! And it wasn’t even 8am at this point! I’ve added quite a few photos below to give a flavour of the expedition and to save me writing too much! It feels like we did and saw so many things, I’d have to write a book to give all the detail!

It was busy in London, but we ducked the queues by following signs to the executive lounge, where our passports were stamped and we were led up to the quiet and cool of the lounge for breakfast. A few minutes before departure to France, we left our arm chairs and took our seat on board. We were quite well fed already, but happy to accept a glass of champagne to see us though the tunnel followed by more tasty food.

Before we knew it, we’d reached the impressive Gare d’Nord in Paris and we set out on foot into the city heat and made the short walk to the hotel, where we dropped off our bag. Next stop, (via the underground metro train) was the Cathedral of Notre dam. Well worth the 30minute queue in the heat. It’s impressive from the outside, and incredible inside.

From there, we took a walk over the river to sample a French Crepe on our way to the Luxembourg Gardens…

As we made our way back to the river, we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!

By now it was time to eat, so we to took dinner right by the waters edge with a chilled glass of wine. There was time to rest and relax there, watching the boats go by before we crossed the bridge and boarded our river cruise, which departed at 20:15.

As we made our way up river towards the Eiffel Tower, the tour guide pointed out all the landmarks and building that we were passing. Up ahead the sky was getting very dark and just before reaching the tower, there was forked lighting, a short but torrential downpour, followed by a fabulous double rainbow then a stunner sunset!

It was almost 22:00 by the time we were back on land. The rain had stopped and the Eiffel Tower was illuminated on the skyline. With more activity planned tomorrow, we decided to call it a day and had the immense excitement of ordering our first Uber Taxi, which delivered us directly to the front door of the hotel (in St Martin!), where we arrived feeling like rock stars!….